“These violent delights have violent ends [a]nd in their triumph, die like fire and powder,” said Friar Laurence, in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, before he married the two lovesick protagonists of the play (954). The two main families of the play share the same status of wealth and also express hatred for each other. The Capulets and Montagues are very wealthy and powerful and have sustained an ancient feud. This hatred causes much violence throughout the play, as the prologue interprets, “ . . . [f]rom ancient grudge break to new mutiny [violence]” (Shakespeare 901). The first protagonist, Romeo Montague, had been in love with a nun (Shakespeare 908). The nun, Rosaline, “forsworn to love [anyone]” (Shakespeare 909). …show more content…
Friar Laurence ignores his concerns about Romeo’s desire to marry Juliet (Shakespeare 943-945). Friar Laurence thinks it is unwise but marries them the next day (Shakespeare 943-955). Like Juliet, if Friar Laurence had been more stern, the marriage would have slowed preventing much conflict. Friar Laurence overlooks Juliet’s instability (Shakespeare 991-992). Juliet would “ . . . leap, rather than marry Paris, [f]rom off the battlements of yonder tower . . . “. Friar Laurence neglected the seriousness of such a threat and replied, “Hold, then. Go home, be merry, give consent [t]o marry Paris . . . “ (Shakespeare 992). Friar Laurence develops unnecessarily complicated plans for Juliet (Shakespeare 992-94). His plan was thirty-two lines long and included: consent to marry Paris; lie in bed alone; drink the sleeping potion—meanwhile, Friar Laurence will disclose the plan to Romeo; and, last, Juliet will wake up in the Capulet’s tomb and will ride with Romeo to Mantua (Shakespeare 994). Instead of feigning her death, Juliet could have fled to Mantua. Friar Laurence’s self-appointed messenger does not deliver the important message to Romeo. Friar John prioritized helping the sick over the delivery of Friar Laurence’s message (Shakespeare 1012-13). Friar Laurence did not emphasize the letter’s importance, exclaiming that “ . . . neglecting [the letter] [m]ay do much danger” (Shakespeare 1013). Romeo would have received the letter, debunking his reason to commit suicide. Likewise, Friar Laurence allows Juliet to commit suicide by leaving her alone with her dead husband (Shakespeare 1017-18). Friar Laurence heard a noise and left Juliet and the tomb (Shakespeare 1017). Juliet then killed herself saying, “This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die.” (Shakespeare 1018). The tragedy could have been salvaged—Juliet would have lived “ . . . [a]mong a sisterhood
The letter needed to get to Romeo so he would be aware that Juliet was not actually dead. By this point, Friar Laurence should be expecting the unexpected. Romeo’s and Juliet’s threats of suicide if they couldn’t be together should alert the friar that the flaws in his plan could lead to death for Romeo or Juliet or both. Subsequently after Juliet drank the vial, Friar Laurence made three lesser mistakes; yet, these mistakes would still lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence made his first mistake when he encountered Friar John, who was sent to Mantua to deliver the message to Romeo that Juliet was indeed alive.
Friar Lawrence was a man who did not think before he acted, he was disregardful. He never thought through the idea of two people that barely new each other should get married in secret. The friar married Romeo and Juliet, “for this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households’ rancor to pure love. ”(2,3,91-92).
He should have advised Romeo to slow down and not rush into marriage. The families of Romeo and Juliet have a long standing hatred of each other. The feuding between the two families often ends in fighting and violence. When the guards from each family fight the prince said “the next outbreak both families will die if another outbreak happens” (1.1.80-100). Friar Lawrence is often trying to stop the fighting between the families and when Romeo told him that he was in love with a Capulet.
Juliet goes to Friar Laurence for help, and he comes up with a plan to get out of the marriage; to fake her death. Friar Laurence tells Juliet, “... Then is it likely thou wilt undertake / A thing like death to chide away this shame, / That cop’st with Death himself to scape from it; / And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy” (4.1.73-76). This is a poor decision because this plan has room for many possible errors such as the potion used to fake Juliet’s death does not work on her, Romeo not hearing the news that she is not actually dead, or Romeo being misinformed causing him to believe she is actually
Friar Laurence intention was good but, giving Juliet a potion that make her look dead that was terrible idea. After giving Juliet the potion he had Friar John deliver a message to Romeo. However Friar John failed to delivered the letter told Friar Laurence that, “[Searchers] suspecting that we both were in a house / Where the infectious pestilence … would not let us forth” (Shakespeare 5.2.8-11). Thus, the letter was never delivered to
This strategy was exceedingly dangerous, relying on a sequence of unexpected events, such as Romeo getting the message of Juliet's purported death on time and without misunderstandings. He failed to ensure that Juliet's plan was communicated to Romeo: Friar Laurence sent a telegram to Romeo outlining Juliet's plan, but it never reached him due to circumstances. The Friar said “Who bare my letter, then, to Romeo?” (IIIII.ii.13). This
The marriage couldn’t have happened without Friar Laurence. Also readers might think that Friar was selfish by just wanting to end the family conflict by marrying them. You may ask why? Because Friar wouldn’t be directly involved and he wouldn’t see the consequences that Romeo and Juliet would see. Also for his far fetched plan to get them back together.
In the tragic play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, many acts of violence are interwoven throughout the plot. In this play, there are many suspects who were involved in the situation and are to blame. However, there is one individual who should be held most responsible. The many acts of violence this person caused strengthened the feud between the Capulets and Montagues, thus enabling future events to take place. This feud ultimately led to the deaths of Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Tybalt, and Paris.
Friar Lawrence didn’t want to marry Romeo and Juliet, he knew they were rushing the marriage, but he married them anyway to try and stop the feud between the Capulets and Montagues. Romeo and Juliet rushed into their marriage and because of that there were many consequences after. One consequence is when Friar
Even after Mercutio 's death and Romeo 's banishment, Friar Laurence did not see the destructiveness of Romeo and Juliet 's marriage. Instead, he continued to attempt to keep Romeo and Juliet together. The plan he concocted for this, however, was shortsighted, poorly thought out, and risky. Friar Laurence devised the plan in haste and in desperation because Juliet was there in the friar’s presence threatening suicide rather than marry Paris. “Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it.
Friar Laurence tells his plan to Juliet, but he never gets to speak to Romeo in person because Romeo is banished from Verona and now resides in Mantua. Friar Laurence then writes a letter, which Friar John is expected to deliver to Romeo. When Balthasar, Romeo’s dedicated servant, comes upon the news of Juliet, he immediately goes to Romeo saying, “Her body sleeps in Capel’s monument.” (5.1, 18). Friar Laurence did not communicate with Friar John before the continuation of his plan--sedating Juliet.
In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare tells the tragic tale of the deaths of Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet. Various characters interact with Romeo and Juliet throughout the play in ways that result in their suicides. One such character, Friar Laurence, consistently encourages the irrational actions of these primary characters throughout the novel. The actions he insists that Romeo and Juliet carry out often prove to result in negative consequences. His involvement in their lives influences their actions the most, ultimately resulting in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths.
Juliet feels as if death is her only way to go about without disappointing her parents, or breaking her vows with Romeo. She tells the Friar: “Do thou but call my resolution wise,/ And with this knife I’ll help it presently./ God joined my heart and Romeo’s, thou our hands/ And ere this hand on thee to Romeo sealed/” (4.1.53-56). Had Juliet stopped to think for a moment, she would have realized
“These violent delights have violent ends…” (Friar Laurence). This quote very well sums up the ups and downs of Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo and Juliet. In this play, Two families, The montagues and the Capulets are in a relentless struggle against each other. Through this feud, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall deeply in love but have to conceal it from their feuding parents.
Romeo and Juliet is a book centered around violence and not only does it set the tone and plot of the story but also plays a major theme throughout the famous play. The whole book is about the feud between the Montague and Capulets and many lives are lost due to unending violence. Violence is projected as something that is universal and throughout the play, the noble family as well as the servants and lesser peasants demonstrate this idea. Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo to avenge his friend, kills Tybalt. Even the lower class kill amongst each other due to loyalty to both families.