Significance Of Friar Lawrence To Blame For The Death Of Romeo And Juliet

Many debate and argue the place of blame Shakespeare shows for the untimely death of Romeo and Juliet, which some push towards fate, but truly falls on the characters’ shoulders. Forces originating from inside themselves and from other roles in the play result in the piteous death of the two seemingly “star-crossed lovers”. The betrayal of Juliet by the Nurse was a great turning point in the novel along with the half-baked plan Friar Lawrence stirred up. Together with the false love Romeo and Juliet seemed to reciprocate, the unfortunate demise of the snakebitten suitors was imminent with their poor decision making. Throughout one’s lifetime there is typically one person that they rely on, and in Romeo and Juliet, the maiden counted on her

This half-baked plan consists of Juliet drinking a potion to appear dead for 2 days, and Romeo being notified of her fake death so he could be inside the tomb to take her away. If these two were mixed together it would result in a sweet ending with Romeo and Juliet running off together, but if not, it would unravel and result in a sour conclusion. After Juliet drinks the concoction, the last and only step to do is to send word of the plan to Romeo which, due to disease near Mantua, does not occur. Though Friar Lawrence tells Juliet that, “...Romeo by my letters shall know our drift...bear thee hence to Mantua and this shall free thee…” (4.1.116-120) he fails to get the information to Romeo. He never gets the chance to learn of the scheme because, with the notion that his wife is gone forever and the sight of Juliet in the Capulet sepulcher, it drives him to down a bottle of poison. When Juliet awakes minutes later and finds Romeo unresponsive in her chamber, she too takes her life upon seeing her spouse dead. With this, the plan unravels and shows the grim result of Friar Lawrence sticking his nose in Montague and Capulet business. Comparably, this is not the only faulty relationship Juliet