Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Fate and free will in juliet and romeo
Fate and free will in juliet and romeo
Analysis of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Fate and free will in juliet and romeo
“To be consorted with the humorous night. Blind is his love and best befits the dark. If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark” (2.1. 31- 33). Among one of the most renowned contributions to literature is The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet written by the prestigious English poet, William Shakespeare. This tragedy of the sixteenth century concludes with the fate of the two star- crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, along with those attempting to see them apart. As the prologue states, The Capulets and Montagues are from separate rivaling households, both alike in dignity, whose children have fallen in love. It is believed that if the two were to marry then feuding in the streets of Verona would come to an end, but only further complications have risen. These complications result in six deaths total. Those responsible for these deaths are Romeo and Juliet themselves, Lord Capulet, and the one who holds this burden as his obligation, Friar Laurence.
The holy herbalist, Friar Laurence, is seen by the people of Verona as the most trustworthy and respectable individual of the city, and he means well but his decisions prove faulty. For instance, his first dire mistake is marrying Romeo and Juliet in sudden haste and in complete secrecy. “Thy love did read by rote and could not spell. But come, young waverer, come, go with me, in one respect I’ll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so prove, to turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (3.3. 88- 92). The Friar says this to Romeo to prove that he is willing to accept wedding the two, but only to end the turmoil between the Capulets and Montagues. As wise as this consideration may appear, the Friar did not account for the arranged marriage of Juliet to Par...
... middle of paper ...
...tch so he abandons her to kill herself, alone. This act is far too self- centered for the Friar because he is aware Juliet has the opportunity to do something regretful once he leaves, and he leaves due to him not wanting to be in a predicament. His “guidance” to Romeo and Juliet is what leads them to their downfall.
Friar Laurence, the man well respected by most characters of this tragedy, has proven to be the man most responsible in guiding Romeo and Juliet to their graves. This is so because the Friar secretly weds Romeo and Juliet without consent of anyone else, the Friar gives a vial to Juliet for her to fake her death rather than state the truth, the Friar fails to have his letter delivered to Romeo, and the Friar abandons Juliet before she kills herself.
Works Cited
The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy ofRomeo and Juliet by William Shakepeare
One of the main reasons that Friar Laurence was held accountable for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is because he married them. First of all, this marriage was done without the consent of the parents. Secondly, he could have tried to support their relationship instead of marrying them and not telling anyone. He speaks of how these two will become one in marriage; “For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone / Till holy church incorporate two in one” (Shakespeare 47).Friar Laurence thought that marrying these two lovers w...
In William Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence plays a major role. He makes not just one, but three fatal mistakes; he marries Romeo and Juliet, gives the potion to Juliet, and gets caught up in their love. Romeo and Juliet knew they could trust Friar Laurence because he was a priest, and he always did what was right. Since Friar Laurence was so quick to make decisions he made these three fatal mistakes, which is why he is most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Friar Laurence's immature actions make him part of the tragedy. For one, he married Romeo and Juliet. When told that Romeo loves Juliet, Friar replies, "Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! /Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, /so soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies/ not truly in the hearts, but in their eyes," (II, III, lines 66-69). In these lines, Friar admits that Romeo is only lusting for Juliet. Being the adult, Friar shouldn't have married Romeo until he found true love. However, the Friar was immature and married them anyways. Then, Friar came up with the idea for Juliet to fake death. Juliet is distressed about Romeo being banished so Friar comes up with the plan saying, "Hold, then. Go home, be merry, give consent/ to marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow,” Juliet is then suppose to "Take thou this vial, being then in bed/ And this distilling liquor drink thou off." After being buried and awakened, "Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua." (IV, I, Lines 90-119). This bad advise, to give a girl a drink like death and tells her to run away, is only one of many immature actions Friar takes. Finally, Friar did not stay with Juliet after she frantically woke up, in a tomb, next other diseased husband who was supposed to run away with her to Mantua. Inste...
Unfortunately, their love comes to an end, along with their lives, because of a misunderstanding and a persistent feud between their families. Although there are many characters in this play that have contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death, Friar Laurence is the person most to blame. Friar Laurence’s actions throughout the play resulted in the two star crossed lovers’ death. He assisted the two when they wanted to get married, which began the disastrous events in the play. Friar Laurence says to Romeo:
Days following, Juliet will awaken and Romeo will be there to help her run away. The Friar hopes for the best in the situation, but does not consider the drawbacks that could and will suddenly occur in his plan. He continuously tells Juliet what she wants to hear in this situation because she sees him as a fatherly figure and he sees her as his daughter. Before Juliet leaves the Friar, he tells her, “ ‘Thou hast the strength of will to sly thyself,/ Then is it likely thou wilt undertake/ A thing like death to chide away this shame,’ ” (Mackenzie 1).
The Friar knows that this is an impossible situation, which if made possible by himself will without a doubt end up in tragedy in one way or another. Under these conditions, as the Friar predicts, Romeo sinks into a deep depression as a result of the fact that he cannot see his wife. Similarly, Juliet becomes depressed and is grieving over the truth of her and Romeo's separation. Without the Friar the two lovers would not have been married, which would have prevented both depressions and future problems to come. The Friar is responsible for many problems as well, as well as assisting Juliet with her "death" plan.
In the end some people might blame the friar for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, but the friar was some results of personal choice, because of “faith” they believed they were meant and nothing could stop them from being together in the end, choosing to do the things the friar said that would help the problem of Romeo’s exile. But it all was a matter of personal choice that lead up to these events, and this story is a very good example
Thus, he leaves Juliet alone in a vault filled with dead ancestors, as well as recently dead Romeo and Paris, and she kills herself. This is not to say that Friar Laurence does not feel responsible for Romeo and Juliet's deaths, he recounts his tale to the Prince and offers his life as a sacrifice if their deaths are his fault (5.3.228-68). In every step of deceiving Romeo and Juliet's parents, the government, and everyone who thought Juliet to be dead, Friar Laurence was attempting to: end a great feud between two families, help Juliet keep her marriage vows (by helping her out of marrying Paris), keeping Juliet alive, keeping Romeo safe from imprisonment or death, and ultimately, protecting the lovers' love from outside influences. He sees his acts as acts that are working for the greater good, and therefore they are just.
In the course of the play, Romeo and Juliet immediately fall in love. Also, they know they are meant for each other and therefore decide to get married. After this marriage, there was a brief moment in time where everything was perfect. They are married, in love and there is nothing stopping them from being together. This however quickly changes after a fight that leads to death. Once Romeo is banished from Verona for the penalty of murder, love grows tremendously between the couple and drives the need to be together. The marriage between Romeo and Juliet is hidden from their parents, so Montague decides to arrange a marriage between her and Paris. With all the conflict arising between Juliet’s family, Friar Lawrence creates a plan that unfortunately does not succeed. His plan for Juliet is to tell her father she will marry Paris then go to bed with no one, not even the nurse. After, she will drink a potion to make her seem dead for forty two hours and then have a messenger tell Romeo about it. He will have her put in a vault to wait for Friar to bring her out so she and Romeo can elope. The plan was perfect until tragedy occurs, Benvolio had seen Juliet dead and immediately tells Romeo about it. The result is Romeo and Juliet murdering themselves and the play had a tragic ending. Overall, young, innocent lovers die, through no fault of their own but a simple mistake. “How oft when men are at the
The Friar has almost contributed to every major subplot that then leads to the death of Romeo and Juliet. As if that was not enough, he ran away from the responsibility which he created, which was the death of Romeo and Juliet. He asserts, “Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay.”(5.3.164) Here in this scene Juliet had just found Romeo’s pale body lying with a dagger pierced in his heart. But what did the Friar say….? He asserted trying to run away from the tomb that they should leave. {What more is there I ask?.... T-o-…[fidgeting] watch one’s love one die and yet hear someone callously rip you apart from them on their death
Romeo & Juliet Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, but it did not have to be. Many things could have been done to prevent their deaths. Many characters contributed to their deaths. The sole character that was responsible for their deaths is Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of the lovers because he was secretive with their relationship, he was unable communicate effectively, and he had a cowardly persona.
Friar Lawrence plays an integral part in the action and plot of Romeo and Juliet by secretly marrying them, and giving Juliet the idea to fake her own death. Romeo and Juliet meet in the Friar’s cell for their marriage and the Friar says, “Come, come with me…For, by your leaves you shall not stay alone, Till Holy Church incorporate two in one.”(II.vi.35-37). The Friar marries the two in hopes “to turn [their] households rancor to pure love”(II.iii.99). The Friar is the binding power between Romeo and Juliet, by helping them be together. Without the Friar, Romeo and Juliet would have a difficult time trying to meet in secret with each other, but because of him, they are able to get married. Ultimately, the Friar’s wishes of ending the feud between the Montagues and Capulets are fulfilled, but the reason of their reconciliation being the death of their children. The deaths of Romeo ...
An if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy." The Friar comes up with the plan for Juliet to be happy and be with Romeo. This shows that the Friar is once again always trying to make other people happy, which is a quality of a hero. Shakespeare utilizes the literary device dramatic irony in this part of the play when the Friar saves Juliet. When Juliet threatens to kill herself with her dagger because she cannot be with Romeo, she does not realize that this will happen at the end of the play. The audience knows that she will eventually slay herself with her dagger but Juliet and the Friar do not. So the friar needs to save her. In Act Four scene One Juliet says" Friar, unless you can tell me how to prevent it. If you who are so wise can’t help, please be kind enough to call my solution wise. And I’ll solve the problem now with this knife. God joined my heart to Romeo’s. You joined our hands. And before I—who was married to Romeo by you—am married to another man, I’ll kill myself. " Again, The friar helping and saving Juliet makes him a
William Shakespeare was an amazing English poet and playwright, and was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. One of his most famous and well known plays was Romeo and Juliet. This play tells the story of two star crossed lovers who meet for the first time and won't let anything stop them from being together. This ultimately leads to both their deaths. Many wonder and argue who was to blame for these two lovers demise. Some might say it was their parents or the feud of their families that led to them taking their own lives. Some might even believe it was fate. Although these people make good points, the true cause of their death was Friar Laurence. Friar was the one Romeo and Juliet came to when they wished to
In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence has a major role. As a member of the Order of St. Francis, a group of wise and generous priests, Romeo and Juliet trusted Friar Laurence completely, turning to him for advice, and solutions. He was there throughout Romeo’s and Juliet's lives; he married them, came up with a plan to keep them together, and was a friend throughout their tragedies. However, Friar Laurence’s rash action in marrying Romeo and Juliet, his shortsighted plan for rescuing Juliet from an unwanted marriage to Paris, and his fear of committing sin all contributed to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.