A “Holy” Mans The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is the tale of two star-crossed lovers from opposing families who, due to an ancient feud, suffer a tragic, ill-fated death. One of the characters, Friar Lawrence, is typically characterized as a wise and trustworthy advisor for both Romeo and Juliet. In reality, the Friar is a poor decision-maker, negligent, and foolish. Was Romeo and Juliet's death really fate or was there something or someone that played a part in the lover's demise? Friar Lawrence ultimately causes the pair's untimely deaths through his misguided judgement First and foremost, Friar Lawrence is a poor decision-maker. In the story, there is a feud going on between Romeo and Juliet's families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The Friar believes that the lover's marriage might resolve the feud. He decides to marry them off because he thinks it is right, but he does not think about what the consequences will be. It says, "For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your households' rancor to pure love.''(2.3.91-92). …show more content…
Instead of giving the lovers a reality check, he contributes to their mindless and impulsive love and misleads them. Friar advised the teens against marriage, considering it was less than 24 hours after they had met, but with a little bit of convincing from Romeo, he quickly changed his opinion. If the Friar were truly a wise man, he wouldn't have changed his opinion so quickly. '' But come, young waverer, come, go with me/In one respect I'll thy assistant be''(2.3.89-90). I also believe he is foolish because of his faulty planning skills improper communication of the plan accordingly as well as not thinking about what Romeo would think when he saw Juliet thus convincing him to kill himself. "Miscarried by my fault, let my old life/Be sacrificed some hour before his time/Unto the rigor of severest law."(5.3.267-269). The Friar's brainless thinking furthers the lover's
The Friar could have helped him figure out a future with Juliet in Verona. Juliet’s parents suppressed her wants and opinions, so Juliet was eager to jump on any decision she could make herself. This led her to make an impulsive decision to marry Romeo and eventually
Both Romeo and Juliet went for him to help them out and he couldn’t just turn them down. He did what he thought was the best. Therefore, Friar only hoped for the best out of the marriage of Romeo and Juliet.
“In one respect. I'll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happily prove. To turn your household’s rancor to pure love.” This can be found in act 2 scene 3 lines 90-92. This example shows that the Friar knew what he was doing was risky because the houses hated each other and him thinking that trying to get them married could end the feud, but all it did was contribute to Tybalt and Mercutio's deaths.
Romeo, who was not informed of Friar's plan about Juliet and the potion, kills himself when he thinks that Juliet is dead, when she really isn't. Juliet arises and sees Romeo dead, and takes her own life. Friar is overcome by guilt and realizes that he has "a short date of breath." He says this because he realizes he is at to blame and he's being a coward about it. If Friar was not the reason for the two suicides he would have no reason for guilt.
If the Friar would have given the letter to Romeo, he would not have committed suicide (Shakespeare 868). The Friar didn't think that letter was that important, but regardless he shoul've given it to Romeo. Marrying Romeo and Juliet after he had only known them for a day was also a big mistake (Shakespeare 814 - 815). He didn't have to marry them, they weren't ready. He should have waited and married them later.
Though the Friar sees no harm in his actions at first, we must also take into acountability that he was the adult in the situation. Maybe he truly thought he was doing something right, but he had to also have known that his fatal decision could have had a bad outcome. There was no way that the Friar did not know that there would be consequences to marrying Romeo and Juliet. “For this alliance may so happy prove / To turn your households' rancor to pure love” (2.3.91–92). The Friar doesn’t ask or receive consent to marry Romeo and Juliet.
As Friar and Juliet are talking about a plan to be with Romeo he says, “I do spy a kind of hope, / Which craves as desperate an execution” (Shakespeare 4.1.68-69). Friar does have a plan for Juliet but only someone extremely desperate would do it. If he knows that it would take a desperate person to do it, he knows it is not a very good, well thought-out plan. Juliet is desperate and is willing to take risks to be with the love of her life. Before going through with the plan and taking the poison, Juliet says to herself, “What if this mixture do not work at all” (Shakespeare 4.3.21).
He tries to be the best of help to the lovers, but in the end it was his actions that got them killed. When Juliet threatens to kill herself for Romeo, the Friar comes up with an insane plan that could
Imagine a trusted counselor who betrays others by giving terrible advice. In Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, a similar situation occurs among Friar Lawrence, Romeo, and Juliet. The opposition believes that Friar Lawrence would not be responsible and it would be Romeo and Juliet’s fault due to do the several years of the hatred toward the two families. After analyzing all the information, it is Friar Lawrence’s fault for the death and Romeo and Juliet because the Friar constantly left out valuable information that he is supposed to tell Romeo or Juliet.
Friar Laurence is to blame for Juliet and Romeo’s untimely death because of his inability to make smart decisions which are thought through.
Not only that but handing a poison to a teenager without explicit instructions of what to do and how the entire plan should work is just plain foolishness. Another example of his poor decision making is marrying Romeo and Juliet. He agrees to officiate in act 2 scene 3 by stating,
But come young waverer, come go with me. In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households' rancor to pure love”(Shakespeare 2.3-411). What the Friar is saying is that he does not think that he is making the best decision by marrying Romeo and Juliet, but that he will do it in hopes of peace. The Friar made a hasty decision that even he didn’t agree with. His decision to marry the couple helped to set into motion the tragic events that could have been
Friar says, "For this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households' rancor to pure love." This ended up escalating tensions between the Montagues and Capulets. Friar Lawrence's misguided optimism and failure to anticipate the consequences of their forbidden love highlight his responsibility in the tragedy. The act of seeking marriage foreshadows the potential complications and challenges that Romeo and Juliet will face due to their fighting families. It hints at the struggles they will encounter as they try to navigate their forbidden love and highlights the tragic consequences that will arise throughout.
He was trained to be kind, responsible, and believe in humility, but one of the Friar’s biggest issues was his ego and his lack of following through. He thought that he was the only person smart enough to make peace between the two feuding houses. He thought that marrying Romeo and Juliet would automatically make peace and when it didn't, he makes up a plan that could had fixed the families and saved their children if he had executed it correctly. He was so pleased that he made a plan that seemed infallible, he sent away a letter to Romeo explaining his idea and not to worry if you hear about juliet dying because she is just under a sleeping potion, But He did say of the urgency of the letter to the deliver and it doesn't get sent in time. Meanwhile Juliet is alone in a tomb with nobody watching her, The Friar should had been there making sure she was safe.
To put it bluntly, because the Friar acted too hastily both Juliet and her Romeo