Romeo and Juliet’s Tragedy: Who is to blame?
“Morality is the judgement to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it … and integrity to stand by the good at any price” (Ayn Rand) In Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, misjudgements lead characters to be blinded by a false reality, negatively impacting the lives of two star-crossed lovers. To start, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence's (Friar L’s) “parental” role in Romeo and Juliet's (R and J’s) life lead them to try to fix the feud between the families which hurt R and J. Next, the lack of understanding of how deep R and J’s love is lead them to give bad advice. Lastly, though they loved R and J, some of their choices are made based on fear. Overall, Friar
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When Juliet is talking to the nurse about love, she never takes her seriously, as in her mind love is only physical. When talking to Juliet before the marriage she cackles “I am the drudge and toil in your delight, but you shall bear the burden soon at night.” (2.5.68-69) Her loose views on marriage misguide Juliet’s views because she trusts her Nurse showing the character foil between them both. Instead of making this sexual joke the Nurse could have been more nurturing. Comparing Nurse’s understanding of R and J’s love to Friar L’s we see that though her ideas are not always the best, Friar L takes his bad advice to a whole other level. After Romeo is banished he is so sad he becomes suicidal. When Friar L tries to soothe Romeo’s grief with arguments, he speaks about looking at things philosophically. Friar L wisely says, “I’ll give thee armor to keep off that word - adversity’s sweet milk, philosophy - to comprt thee though thou art banished” (3.3.54-56) Friar L uses a metaphor to compare philosophy to sweet milk because in the end it helps adversity. Due to the Nurse and Friar L’s lack of understanding they both make wrong decisions which need covering up, therefore ending the play making choices on the basis of
Then Prince Escalus banishes Romeo from the city. Juliet who hears the news from the nurse is naturally heart broken. The nurse promises to bring Romeo to Juliet so she sets off for Friar. Laurence's cell where Romeo is hiding. Upon arrival she sees a broken down by Romeo.
In act III, scene III, Friar lets nurse in and let her meet Romeo and talks with him. After nurse claims that Juliet sent her, he let her come inside the cell as saying, “Welcome than” (Shakespeare 797). He should’ve sent her back or at least welcome her after Romeo hide someplace other so he doesn’t meet her, because after Romeo talks with her he realize that Juliet is still in love with him and finds hope to meet her again and continues the love. If friar did not allow Romeo from meeting nurse, he would’ve lost all hopes and would have banished from the town alone. Friar Laurence reveals his tragic flaw again after giving Juliet a sleep potion. He promised to send a friar to let Romeo know about the plan. Friar says,”…I’ll send a friar with speed to Mantua, with my letter to thy lord” (Shakespeare 819). His overconfidence make him let go of the tension down and to make a mistake. First, he should’ve sent a men with more speed, not the friar with a donkey. Second, he should’ve warned Romeo beforehand to make sure message does get to
The Nurse was a go between the two lovers so therefore was helping and encouraging the relationship. The nurse however was very careful in her encouragement and made sure that it was as secretive as it could be ‘I am the drudge, and toil in your delight’ here the nurse feels that she is doing right by being Juliet’s messenger but as we learnt at the beginning of the play in the prologue the lovers will end in disaster. ‘a pair of star crossed lovers take their lives’ this provides dramatic irony as we are aware that once they in love it will end in disaster.
Most movies portray friars as wise mentors, or strict religion-followers, that lead lawful, moral, and virtuous lives. But this tragic play of Romeo and Juliet begs to differ, as the friar does nothing but help achieve the forbidden plans of two star-crossed lovers. As Friar Lawrence gets involved more deeply into the schemes of Romeo and Juliet, he too begins to warp sly plans out of his head, such as the potion plan.
The forbidden wedding of Romeo and Juliet could not have happened without the Friar. First of all, the Friar unwisely agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though he knows it will cause later problems. 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 senses that this whole wedding is happening too fast and starts to have second thoughts. If the Friar had thought this important decision clearly through, he may have prevented many future tragedies. Therefore, the Friar knows all along that, "These violent delights have violent ends." (II vi 9) The Friar knew 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.
In the story “ The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet “ the main characters get themselves in a pickle by falling in love knowing that their families are sworn enemies. Soon Romeo kills Juliet's cousin by accident, Juliet drinks a potion, some words get twisted and at the end both of the lovebirds end up dead. At the end of the story both families are devastated that both of their children pass away, but there are also many unanswered questions. The most asked question in the story is “ Who's to blame? ” and overall I believe everyone has a little part in influencing their death, but I believe that one person is to blame for most of this and I believe that it is the mother and father of Juliet.
She always wanted to keep Juliet happy. As Juliet fell in love with Romeo The Nurse went behind the backs of Juliet’s parents and was sending messages between the two. “By my troth, it is well said. “For himself to mar,”/ Quoth he? Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I/ May find the young Romeo?” (2.4.60). The Nurse was someone Juliet went to whenever she needed help, and The Nurse always delivered, but this time The Nurse helped her do something that was never thought about in the house of a Capulet, to marry a Montague. Furthermore, Juliet’s actions were very childish, but the person that was supposed to guide her did not do anything to stop her. Instead of going to Juliet’s parents and telling them what was going on between the two, The Nurse helped them get married. “Then hei you hence to Friar Lawrence's cell./ There stays a husband waiting to make you his wife.”(2.5. 60-65) She could have put it to a stop by telling Juliet she was not allowed to get married. Instead The Nurse gave Juliet her blessing and was helping her get married. By the time The Nurse realized she should not have been helping Juliet it was already too late. All in all, The Nurse failed as a God Teacher because she had the power to stop all of this, but instead she put Juliet's happiness before her best interest and that did not end well resulting in the death of Juliet
In short, various incidents in the lives of Romeo and Juliet, controlled by Friar Lawrence’s cowardice result in undesirable circumstances. Secondly, the imbecile wet nurse of Juliet plays an unsupportive parental role during Juliet’s misery of losing Romeo in ba... ... middle of paper ... ... re her fake dead body is kept, and drinks the poison he brought with him, hastily, without giving it a second thought, assuming that Juliet was dead and that he might not be able to live without her.
The Nurse disregards Juliet’s feelings for Romeo and takes the easy option, telling her to marry Paris, “I think you are happy in this second match, for it excels your first”. Juliet despises the Nurse for saying this.
Unlike the Nurse, Friar Laurence displays wisdom, but contradicts it through rash guidance: “Take thou this vial, being then in bed/And this distilled liquor drink thou off.” (4.1.193-194) Terrorized by a suicidal Juliet, Friar Laurence devised a plan through an illusory ploy of a sleeping potion. His hasteful consolation through a thoughtless scheme contribute to misunderstandings that lead to a tragic end. In similar fashion, the Nurse betrays Juliet’s trust by rashly advocating Lord Capulet’s proposal of marriage: “I think you are happy in this second match/For it excels your first; or if it did not/Your first is dead…” (3.5.223-225) Beforehand, Nurse’s maternal instinct toward Juliet buoys her meddling. However, Lord Capulet’s rage led her retreat submissively, driving Juliet to adhere to the friar's shortsighted plan. Although rich in heart, the parental figures display hasteful judgements that led to the lovers’
WHO IS THE BLAME? Good afternoon, my fellow audience. I am here today to persuade you on who I believe to be the character most responsible for the death of the two main characters in the play, Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is almost an ironic play because of its open and easily known ending, but yet its ending raises the controversial question, WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE DEATH OF ROMEO AND JULIET? I believe every character in the book contributed to their deaths, even Romeo and Juliet themselves, but Friar Lawrence bears a monumental deal of the blame because he was the principle and most reliable adult that could have steered the ‘inexperienced’ couple, but his incompetency led Romeo and Juliet to a violent death.
This quote shows how Shakespeare handled an emotion, then translating it into something that gave Juliet strength to continue the Friar’s plan to be with Romeo. The love between Romeo and Juliet makes them forget about their commitments to the world and everyone around them, they both get consumed in a self-centered world of their own, overlooking their commitments to everyone else. The nurse acts as a parental figure to Juliet, where she cares for her as if Juliet is her own child, and gives advice and help whenever she is in need for it. The nurse believes that Juliet is still gentle and young, therefore is always on the look out for Juliet, making sure she doesn't get hurt.
When Juliet found out she was being forced to marry Paris, Juliet believed Nurse would be on her side about not marrying Paris but she was wrong. Because the Nurse knew that there was no other option, she advised, “I think it best you marry the County./ O, he’s a lovely gentleman!/ Romeo’s a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam, (3.5.219-221)” Nurse was trying to tell Juliet that Romeo isn’t here Paris is and he is way better looking than Romeo. Juliet felt betrayed and hurt for what the nurse said and yelled “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend (3.5.237)!”
The Friar's willingness to ignore such strong predictions of death for the mere possibility of a good outcome, for which he will be recognized, shows his appalling judgement as well as his distorted morals. Another example of how Friar Laurence's actions lead to tragedy is his attempt to aid Juliet in a way that cannot be defended as rational.
One reason why the nurse is responsible for this is because she enables Juliet to experience passionate feelings for Romeo. She complimented Romeo when she knew it was wrong. “Your love says, like an honest gentleman, and courteous, and a kind handsome, and I warrant, and a virtuous,” (2.5.40). Instead of saying negative things about Romeo, the nurse says compliments about him. She should be saying bad things to discourage Juliet from falling in love with him. One of the reasons that the nurse is responsible for the deaths is because of all the good things the nurse said about Romeo, therefore causing Juliet to fall in love with him. This causes them to have a relationship which later lead to their