Some might assume that the term “star-crossed lovers” might mean that the affliction of two lovers might be the result of some stars. But, there are irresponsible influences in the lives of lovers that can take a serious toll on their situation. In William Shakespeare's tragic play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence, a priest who finds himself taking a part in the misfortune of Romeo and Juliet, demonstrates a lack of responsibility and his actions impact the work of literature by being the cause of the tragic end of the star-crossed lovers.
In the beginning of the play, Friar Laurence demonstrates his first act of irresponsibility when Romeo seeks his help about an important matter. The Friar knows that Romeo and Juliet are working themselves
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Juliet assures the Friar that she will go to extreme measures to be with Romeo even if it means that she might die. The first irresponsible move Friar Laurence makes in this situation is advising Juliet to take a sleeping potion in which she will be asleep for forty-two hours and will be perceived to be dead by her friends and family. The meaning of responsibility is having the obligation to take care of someone. Encouraging Juliet to take part in this risky plan is already irresponsible enough especially knowing that many things could go wrong if the plan isn’t executed cautiously. This definitely does not prove that he cares for her safety. Another irresponsible aspect of Friar’s action is that he does not stop to view the negative impact that this plan could result in. This scheme is exceedingly risky, to begin with and many things could go wrong, so the fact that the Friar disregards the possibility of the plan going awry is …show more content…
In order for the plan to go smooth and sound, Romeo must receive a letter which entails the details of Juliet’s ruse. If Romeo is unaware of the details and does not go and rescue her, many faults can happen such as Juliet being trapped in a casket and suffocating. Friar Laurence chooses Friar John to deliver the letter to Romeo which is a big mistake. First and foremost, Friar John knows nothing about Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage or even what the letter involves. If he did, he would’ve known that he must go to all measures to deliver it. The person to blame for this mistake is none other than Friar Laurence. The Friar could’ve chosen someone like Balthasar, Romeo’s assistant, who had earned Romeo’s trust to carry out the letter. If this responsible decision had been made, the letter most likely would’ve been delivered on time and Romeo wouldn't have taken Juliet to be dead and kill
With Mercutio’s last moments he cursed the houses Capulet and Montague for his death and events that happen during the course of the play. Could this very well be a fair assumption, with the toxic behavior coming from the Capulets and the passive behavior from the Montagues, would it be any wonder that the adults of the story are the true cause for all the troubles that befall Romeo, Juliet and company?
This is not say that Friar Laurence does not feel responsible for Romeo and Juliet's deaths, he recounts his tale to the Prince and offer 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.
Love is dependent upon the slightest change, but it can cause the utmost drastic consequences. This is the truth of two lovers in William Shakespeare’s furthermost celebrated play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, love is inimical. Romeo comes from the family of Montague while Juliet comes from the family of Capulet. For reasons unknown, these two families are sworn enemies. However, Romeo and Juliet are not. In fact, they are in a secret relationship that only two others know about. The only two that Romeo and Juliet trust, the Nurse and the Friar. While the Nurse, Friar, and Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, all have good intentions, they are all responsible for the suicides of Romeo and Juliet in the
There is a lot of blame to go around in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare but in the end, Friar Laurence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death. He agrees to marry them, which Romeo took as an act of approval for his and Juliet’s relationship. He also mapped out risky plans that he could have taken more caution when executing. Lastly, he was too wrapped up in the fact that their relationship could bring the Montagues and the Capulets together after too many years of conflict to see that the relationship would bring many dangers and that he should have at least attempted to slow it down.
It’s hard to believe that one person can be responsible for the deaths of the two main characters in one of the history’s most famous plays. This is exactly what happened in Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet. In this play the person who is trying to help Romeo and Juliet throughout the story is the person that is most responsible for their deaths. That person is Friar Laurence, the man who devised a plan for Romeo and Juliet to converge one last time before Romeo is banished from Verona. His plan goes horribly wrong, causing the deaths of the two lovers. The friar not only made one mistake, but rather three mistakes that led to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence is responsible for the tragic outcome of the play because he gave a potion to Juliet to make her act dead, he did not deliver a letter of great significance and importance to Romeo, and he fled when Juliet was in the most danger at the Capulet’s tomb.
The letter explains the plan for Juliet and Romeo to eventually escape and live their lives together, but since it never sent to Romeo, that did not happen at all. Friar Laurence’s rashness is evident when he sends Friar John alone to Mantua, forgetting the rule that forbids a friar (John) from travelling without the company of another friar. Meanwhile, Friar Laurence is aware that a contagious plague is spreading throughout Verona, yet he does not choose to go with Friar John himself. There is a huge risk that John would find a companion that has to be quarantined due to the sickness, which is the case in the story. Kriegel announces regarding the Friar’s impulsiveness, “Had Friar John left the city immediately in the company of a “safe” member of his order, he would never have been delayed and would have been able to send the letter to Romeo.” Now, the Friar is mindful that his plan is destroyed and he needs to do everything he can to repair his fault. In Shakespeare's tragedy, John explains to the Friar how he was unable to deliver the letter, and Friar Laurence replies, “Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood/ The letter was not nice but full of charge/ Of dear import, and the neglecting it/ May do much danger” (V.II.17-20). The Friar recognizes his flaw of being unable to deliver the significant letter to Romeo in order for his plan to succeed. Laurence’s unthoughtful plan only led to further problems days after, specifically the death of Romeo and
Failing to uphold his end of the plan, causing the plan to fail and resulting with both Romeo and Juliet dying. Friar Laurence admits to being responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence made a huge mistake that he could have avoided himself, if only he had thought out his plan better. He trusted Juliet an unstable fourteen-year-old with a potion to make her appear dead just so she would not have to marry Paris. Resulting in the death of herself, Friar Lawrence had even said, "If…thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself…take thou this vial…no warmth, no breath shall testify the livest." He should have been more careful, Friar Laurence's idea for Juliet was very risky and because of his own ignorance has ended up in tragedy. He also admits that he left the tomb and left Juliet there. The Friar knew that Juliet had previously threatened to kill herself, yet he still abandoned her with Romeo's knife. If the Friar truly cared about her safety, he would have forced her to come with him or stayed to prevent her from making any irresponsible
This statement is important as it shows the Friar does not truly believe in the affection between the two lovers and that he believes Romeo cares only about the looks of Juliet. The Friar claims, "…this alliance may so happy prove/To turn [their] households' rancour to pure love"(2.4.90-93) yet he denies his responsibilities by failing to notify anyone of the large secret he holds. It is obvious that Friar Laurence is not simply ignorant of the potential disaster being created but plainly disregarding it when he states, "These violent delights have violent ends/And in their triumphs die, like fire and powder"(2.6.9-10). 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.
Friar John was not able to bare the letter to Romeo about the plan and Laurence says, “Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood,-... The letter was not nice but full of charge of dear import, and the neglecting it May do much danger….”(Doc E). Friar Laurence is talking about how the letter was full of important stuff. Friar Laurence might think Romeo would do harm not knowing; If Friar Laurence would have sent the letter earlier to Romeo then Romeo would not have killed himself by Juliet and Juliet would not have killed herself if Romeo was still alive. In conclusion, Friar Laurence is the one to blame for Romeo and Juliet
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.
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...
Romantic love stories are often ended with a tragedy, because of loss of passion or a loved one. These tragedies are often the result of one person’s actions that ended someone’s life or love. In the Romeo and Juliet play written by William Shakespeare, two citizens of Verona come together and fall deeply in love. 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.
Finally, the friar gives the letter about "the fake death plan" to Friar John when he should have delivered it himself. Despite any other "at fault" characters in Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is the most responsible for the tragic events that occur in the play because of his miscommunication, dishonesty and poor decision making. Beginning with Friar Lawrence's first mistake, he marries Romeo and Juliet not knowing that it would create a controversy. When Friar Lawrence marries Romeo and Juliet, no one knows and there is no parental consent. By not telling anyone, Romeo and Juliet are put in danger because of this secret.
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.
Primarily, the lazy and neglectful Friar Lawrence is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death. First of all, Romeo discovers Juliet supposedly dead, unaware that she is actually not dead. Romeo is obviously not informed about the plan, Friar Lawrence’s thoughtlessness is clearly shown when Romeo says “Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide! / Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on / The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark! / Here’s to my love! [Drinks]. O true apothecary” (Shakespeare V, iii, 116-119). If Friar personally went to tell Romeo about Juliet’s plans, instead of promptly assuming that Romeo would get the letter, then Romeo would have not killed himself. The Friar should have taken the time and energy to make a face to face verbal exchange with Romeo, therefore it would have been merely impossible to