Friar Lawrence In Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, follows the couple Romeo and Juliet. After meeting at a ball, the two fall madly in love. However, their family’s ancient grudge creates a barrier between the forbidden lovers. The pair relies on Friar, Nurse, and their servants to seal the deal. Even though Friar Lawrence tries to help Romeo and Juliet, in the end, he becomes the one who is most responsible for the untimely deaths of the star-crossed lovers due to his poor plans.

The disaster starts when Romeo turns to Friar for the marriage. After questioning Romeo, Friar agrees by stating, “For this alliance may so happy prove / To turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (2.3.91-92). Friar’s motive for the marriage is to stop the quarreling between the Capulets and Montagues. This plan has good motives; however, it doesn’t do any good if no one else knows about the marriage. For the rest of the play, only a few people know about the secret marriage. Romeo and Juliet’s parent have no clue which defeats the purpose of the marriage. As a result, Friar accomplishes nothing and creates more conflicts down the road.

He comes up with a plan to fake Juliet’s death and orders her to, “Take thou this vial, being then in bed/ And this distillèd liquor drink thou off/ When presently through all thy veins shall run/ A cold and drowsy humor” (4.1.96-99). Friar’s concoction makes it victim’s pulse stop. It literally stops your heart from beating, making the user a pale lifeless corpse. Juliet’s fake death convinces everyone she is dead, and they all mourn the loss of another Capulet. They even replace the wedding with a funeral. In fact, the arrangement is so successful, it even fools Romeo and causes him to commit