A variety of things have the possibility of leading up to a tragedy, and it does not exclude the people whom one may know personally. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare, two characters whose names are Romeo and Juliet both succumb to the state of depression due to the actions of somebody they have known and trusted. The characters’ intense adoration for each other in the end has inevitably lead them to the worst possible fate; suicide. Friar Laurence, a man known to be trusted by both Romeo and Juliet, is the person to blame for their tragedy because of how he impetuously agreed to wed Romeo and Juliet, devised a plan that would end up taking the lives of the important characters, and ran away from Juliet instead …show more content…
Coincidentally, during the short ceremony for Romeo and Juliet’s wedding, Friar Laurence may have accidentally foreshadowed the tragedy that would await the recently married couple when he stated, “So smile the heavens upon this holy act / That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!” (Shakespeare, 225). Through this, Laurence is asking for the heavens to bless the marriage in hopes that it does not end up resulting in regret. Friar Laurence foreshadows again by loosely mentioning to Romeo how “violent delights have violent ends” (Shakespeare, 226), which means that sudden enjoyment can also have sudden endings. Readers can take the lifespan of the marriage into account and discover that this eventually seems to be the case for Romeo and Juliet in the …show more content…
After telling Juliet, “Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead; / And Paris too” (Shakespeare, 275), he neglects the fact that Juliet is especially clingy when it comes to Romeo, and so with that fact, it is not a surprise when Juliet becomes extremely attached and stubborn with Romeo’s corpse. Laurence drove the final nail in the coffin for the plan he had devised when he mentions how the “watch is coming,” and says “go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay” (Shakespeare, 274). Friar Laurence practically left Juliet alone in her tomb with Romeo’s deceased body and did not bother with taking the opportunity of helping Juliet regain her composure. Because of that, Juliet was able to decide what choice would be better for her—to be with Romeo or to escape the tomb—and in spite of love, she ultimately chose to take away her own
Then Juliet awakes in the tomb and finds Romeo dead next to her. Friar Lawrence rushes into the tomb to find both Paris and Romeo dead along with Juliet sobbing over Romeo. He insists of Juliet coming with him to leave because the watch is coming, but she is too depressed to move. Friar Lawrence leaves Juliet alone in the tomb while knowing about her state of mind. “I dare not stay longer,” (Shakespeare 869). Knowing the love of Juliet's life is dead right in front of her, he still abandons her. She then also kills herself with Romeo's dagger to be with him.
In Romeo and Juliet, there are many guilty parties that contribute to the deaths and demise of Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Tybalt, Count Paris and the many other victims of the bitterness and grudge between the Capulets and the Montagues. However, the three most culpable parties are the set of opposing parents; the Montagues and Capulets, the prince; Escalus of Verona and ultimately the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The blame lies mostly on these three parties because their decisions greatly influenced the outcome of this Shakespearean tragedy. In this essay, I will prove and condemn the prince, parents and lovers for the losses of life and the confusion in Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy- but it did not have to be. Romeo and Juliet is the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who are the son and daughter of two feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Written by the famed playwright Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet take place in the 14-15 century in the cities of Verona and Mantua, cities in northern Italy. After a series of events that involves Romeo getting banished from Verona and Juliet getting forced to marry a count, Paris, they kill themselves. It has been argued for centuries about who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. But, once reading the book thoroughly and consulting several sources, it is obvious who is solely to blame- Friar Lawrence. Because of the actions of Friar Lawrence, the play ended with two grieving families instead of two happy newlyweds. Although many characters contributed to their deaths, only Friar Lawrence was solely responsible for them. Friar Lawrence’s cowardice, secrecy, and miscommunication led directly to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Youth and Age Should Friar Lawrence and the Nurse have been more careful about the way they encouraged Romeo and Juliet’s love? To what extent does Shakespeare present them as being to blame?
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.
Friar Laurence, through his lack of good judgment, is largely responsible for the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. Rather than being supportive of them and helping them disclose their loving situation, Friar Laurence took the “easy” way out. He succumbed to their desire to elope. He secretly married Romeo and Juliet instead of standing behind them and encouraging them to confront their families with the facts about their commitment to and love for each other. As a result, an even stronger bond between them was created through marriage: "For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone / Till holy church incorporate two in one" (2.6.36-37). Friar Laurence married Romeo and Juliet, hoping that their union would bring an end to the constant feuding between their two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Though the friar’s intentions were good and above reproach, they were certainly missteps along a pathway to tragedy. None of the tragedies would have occurred if Romeo and Juliet were not married. When Tybalt challenged Romeo...
Throughout history never has there been a piece of literature as well known for its tragic end as that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Although many factors contribute to the grief and misfortune that this play represents, human actions play the principle role in the final outcome. At first glance, one may look over the character of Friar Laurence dismissing him as only a minor player in the plot. However, upon closer examination, it becomes obvious that the Friar plays an essential role in the development of the play and, although has good intentions, is responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
First of all, the dishonesty of Friar Lawrence, who married Romeo and Juliet, foreshadows the probability of his continuity to take even more insincere measures in manipulating the consequences faced by the young lovers. The Friar carries out an erroneous act of secretly marrying them under the church’s license without manifesting it in the public and encourages them to deceive their parents by keeping their relationship to themselves. He then agrees to marry Juliet and Paris, a county, and plans on faking her death, in order to avoid the marriage instead of revealing the truth about Romeo and Juliet right away. “I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it,/On Thursday next be married to this County.” (4.1.49-50) In short, various incidents in the lives of Romeo and Juliet, controlled by Friar Lawrence’s cowardice result in undesirable circumstances.
Throughout time, there have been many tragedies caused by romance. For example, the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is known for its romantic tragedy between two star-crossed lovers. With all the deaths, who is truly to blame for Romeo and Juliet's deaths? Friar Laurence is most to blame for many obvious, yet overlooked, reasons. The forbidden wedding of Romeo and Juliet could not have happened without the Friar.
Friar Laurence’s interference in the families of Romeo and Juliet set much of the fighting, rage and death of these characters into motion. Romeo and Juliet is the title of a great tragedy. This tragedy has been caused by Friar Laurence’s involvement in the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, the Friar’s lying to Capulet and his family, and his involvement in the false death of Juliet.
The story people adore; Romeo falls for Juliet and they get married. They are forced into hiding which leads to Juliet pretending to be dead. The love struck Romeo kills him self, when Juliet awakes to actually kill herself, a fantasized love story. However another side to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy that fans don't look at is who is responsible. The dominant male characters, Friar Laurence, Lord Capulet, and Romeo are most at blame for the story.
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.
"Romeo and Juliet," a famous love story about two star-crossed lovers who take their lives in order to be together. Their deaths are at the fault of one Friar Lawrence who, being an adult, a man of God and a trusted person in the community, betrayed that trust and attempted to cover up his wrong doings with a plan that ended in tragedy.
Shakespeare's play of “Romeo and Juliet” is well known, and leaves the audience asking: Who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Most of the play’s characters closely related to Romeo and Juliet carry some responsibility, but there are three characters or groups who had the greatest influence on the story’s outcome. Friar Laurence could be blamed for marrying them and keeping it secret. Juliet’s nurse encouraged Romeo’s pursuit of Juliet, even helping Juliet sneak out to marry. Last and most deserving of blame, however, are the parents, Lord and Lady Capulet and Lord and Lady Montague. If not for the family feud and hatred, Romeo and Juliet would’ve lived, not tasting the bittersweetness of death.
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 sees Juliet dead and immediately tells Romeo about it.