The Friar Is Responsible For The Death Of Romeo And Juliet

In the play Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare, Romeo tries to go after his love Rosaline. Later on, Romeo realizes he found a girl he is truly in love with, Juliet. The only problem is Juliet is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague. Both of the families are enemies and hate each other. Romeo and Juliet quickly fall in love. They get married in secret by Friar Lawrence. A few hours after the marriage, Romeo kills one of Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt. This made the families angry and soon after, Romeo was banished. This depressed Juliet and her new husband. Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, wants Juliet to marry County Paris, but Juliet doesn't want to. Juliet goes to the Friar for advice and he gives her a potion to have her fall into a deep sleep and make

it seem like she is dead. Romeo and everyone else believes that Juliet is dead. Romeo rushes to Verona, where Juliet's body lies. Romeo find Paris near Juliet and kills him. Romeo later kills himself because he cannot live without her. After he poisons himself, Juliet wakes from her sleep and kills herself because she cannot live without him either. Although some may argue that Lord Capulet should be responsible for Juliet’s death, Friar Lawrence should be considered most responsible for her death.
One reason why Friar Lawrence should be considered most responsible for Juliet's death is because he is the one that had wedding of Romeo and Juliet. First of all, the Friar agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though he knows it will cause later problems between them and their families. In the beginning, the Friar thinks that "...this alliance may so happy prove…To turn your households' rancor to pure love." (II iv 91-92). This shows that the Friar has a slight hope of their marriage possibly working. Therefore, he decides to marry the two lovers. However, as time moves on, the Friar lets on that he has regrets about the marriage. The Friar feels that "too swift arrives as tardy as too slow" (II vi 15). In other words, the Friar means that he feels like this whole wedding is happening too fast and starts to have second thoughts. If the Friar had thought this important decision clearly though, he may have prevented many future tragedies. Therefore, the Friar knows all along that, "These violent delights have violent ends." (II vi 9). Without the Friar the two lovers would not have been married, which would have prevented both depressions and future problems to come.
Pursuing this further, the Friar is responsible for many problems as well, as assisting Juliet with her "death" plan.

When Romeo and Juliet realize they can’t be together, and Juliet is expected to marry Paris, she needs an escape plan. Juliet pays a visit to the Friar, who creates a plan for Juliet to fake her death with a sleeping potion. When Juliet asks the Friar to help her stop the marriage with Paris, he replies that “If, rather than to marry County Paris, thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself; then it is likely thou wilt undertake a thing like death to elude away this shame, that copest with death himself to scrape from it; And, if thou darest, I'll give thee remedy.” (IV i 71-76). Therefore, for the second time, the Friar agrees to give Juliet this deadly potion. The Friar has to make sure that Romeo is informed of the plan. However, the Friar puts too much trust in Friar John, who does not deliver the letter to Romeo. Friar John couldn't get the letter to Romeo because “the infectious pestilence did reign, ​seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth; ​so that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd.” (V ii 10-12). It is Friar Lawrence's' fault that Romeo is not informed and ends up confused about the recent happenings involving Juliet. The Friar played an important role in this part of Romeo and Juliet. Due to his careless actions, Romeo and Juliet could have been living happily ever after somewhere in

Mantua.
Finally, it is the Friars' fault that Romeo and Juliet are dead, which makes him the blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death.

Romeo, who did not know about Friar's plan, kills himself when he thinks that Juliet is dead. Juliet arises and sees Romeo dead, and takes her own life. The Friar is overcome by guilt and realizes that he has "...a short date of breath." (V iii 229). This could also be a confession that he is to blame. If the Friar was not the reason for the two suicides he would have no reason for guilt. Near the end, the Friar tells the two families and the prince about what really was going on between Romeo and Juliet. Friar explained that “Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet; And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife. I married them…Betrothed and would have married her perforce ​To County Paris: then comes she to me, And, with wild looks, bid me devise some mean To rid her from this second marriage, ​Or in my cell there would she kill herself….”(V iii

231-260).
On the other hand, many may believe that Lord Capulet was the one that may have been the cause of Juliet's death. Juliet’s father forced her to marry County Paris or she will “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee, Nor what is mine shall never do thee good”(III iv 192-194). When her father started speaking to her in that way, she knew she will never marry Paris and she would just rather kill herself. However, this can be considered poor reasoning because the Friar has many reasons to be blamed for the death of not just Juliet, but also Romeo. He made decisions that have affected families of people that loved each other.
It is now clear to see why Friar Lawrence is to blame for Juliet's death. Although some may argue that Lord Capulet should be responsible for Juliet’s death, It is now clear to see why Friar Lawrence should be considered most responsible for her death. The Friar should be blamed because he is the one that agreed to the marriage of Romeo and Juliet without consent of the families. While doing this, he also realized that this may cause larger problems in the future. The Friar is also responsible for Juliet’s death because he helped her stage her fake death. This fake death lead to Romeo’s death and her true death.