Responsibility In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

“Miscarried by my fault, let my old life be sacrificed some hour before his time unto the rigor of severest law” (Shakespeare 119). This quote was stated by Friar Laurence in Shakespeare’s sixteenth century tragedy Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare was an English playwright who, during his 52 years, wrote 32 plays and 154 sonnets. Romeo and Juliet is one of the most known plays of all time. Even though this iconic piece of literature was written almost 400 years ago, its main theme, responsibility, still plays a major role in society today. People still have trouble accepting responsibility for their actions which just make things worse. In summary, the play talks about two star-crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, born …show more content…
From the Prologue, Shakespeare tells the reader that Destiny is involved in the actions of the play. He uses the word “star-crossed lovers” to show that Romeo’s and Juliet’s paths were made to cross and that it ends in an unlike fashion. The first reason Destiny is to blame is that the Capulet’s servant asked Romeo for help. He told him “God gi ' good e’een. I pray the sir, can you read... and if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry!” Only destiny could have made Peter, the servant, ask Romeo for help. There could have been so much other people to go ask but he went to Romeo. Moreover, he then invites Romeo and his counterparts to come to the Capulet ball. In an ironic fashion, he tells him if he is not a Montague, of which he is, to come to the great feast. If this would have not happened, Romeo would have never met Juliet and no action would have happened during the play. The second reason Destiny is at fault with the death of the passionate couple is that Friar John was locked up and quarantined when transporting the important letter to Romeo. After being released from quarantine from fear of the plague, he returns to Friar Laurence’s cell to tell of his failure to deliver the important message. “Sealed up the door and would not let us forth. So that my speed to Mantua there was stayed” said Friar John (Shakespeare ). Only …show more content…
Friar Laurence was the mastermind behind most of the schemes conceived in the play. He was well intentioned, but all of his good deeds turned bad. Ironically, when the reader is first introduced to the Friar, he said “virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, and vice sometime’s by action dignified” which means good deeds can turn bad, and bad actions can turn good. The fact that the outcome of the Friar’s actions differed from his initial intents happens several times during the play. Before marrying the couple, Friar Laurence had a feeling that marrying the couple was not the best idea. Moments before the wedding he said: “So smile the heavens upon this holy act, so no pain with sorrows chid us not”. This quote indicates that the Friar himself was uneasy with his action to marry the couple. He was asking the heavens to bless the wedding. Since the beginning, he had a bad feeling that the wedding was going to cause pain and suffering but he still married them to stop the fighting in the streets in between the Montagues and the Capulets. Consequently, without the marriage, most of the problems that happen during the play would have not happened such as the suicide of the couple. Although the Friar is very wise, he was also incompetent. During the beginning of the play, the readers see the intelligent and respectable side of him. He was knowledgeable in the art of medicine because he was