Romeo and Juliet: Who’s to Blame?
Romeo and Juliet had the ultimate love story of two “star crossed lovers,” but their love unfortunately ended very terribly. Many events and even people contributed to their sad ending, but one person stands out in particular. Friar Lawrence is the one to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet becuase of all of the occurrences he knew of and let happen when he had potentially known the consequences. He married the couple, gave Juliet a potion to fool everyone, didn’t get the letter to Romeo on time, and was just a selfish person in general. As the responsible adult in this situation, he should have known better to sit back and watch everything tumble downhill so quickly. Although he is not the only reason …show more content…
Knowing what the result could turn out to be and how badly everything could end up, he continued to help these ignorant children. Feeling they had no other option, Romeo and Juliet thought it was best to fake their death and run away. To accomplish this they needed a plan, some way to fool their family and friends. Of course, being the irresponsible adult he is, Friar Lawrence helped them fulfill their plan. When Juliet talks about killing herself Friar says, “That cop’st with death himself to ‘scape from it; And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.”(4.1 76-77) He decided to give Juliet a potion that would make her fall asleep, convincing her parents that she had died, when in reality she was just in a peaceful slumber. He describes the potion to Juliet as “A cold and drowsy humor; for no pulse. Shall keep his native progress, but surcease. No warmth, no [breath] shall testify thou livest.” (4.1 98-100) Friar’s plan was to have Juliet agree to marry Paris, and then on the night before the wedding, she would drink the potion and appear to be dead. To any other adult, and even most teenagers, this is a crazy, stupid plan. This was a very reckless and thoughtless thing for the Friar to
Romeo and Juliet had the ultimate love story of two “star crossed lovers,” but their love unfortunately ended very terribly. Many events and even people contributed to their sad ending, but one person stands out in particular. Friar Lawrence is the one to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet becuase of all of the occurrences he knew of and let happen when he had potentially known the consequences. He married the couple, gave Juliet a potion to fool everyone, didn’t get the letter to Romeo on time, and was just a selfish person in general. As the responsible adult in this situation, he should have known better to sit back and watch everything tumble downhill so quickly. Although he is not the only reason …show more content…
Knowing what the result could turn out to be and how badly everything could end up, he continued to help these ignorant children. Feeling they had no other option, Romeo and Juliet thought it was best to fake their death and run away. To accomplish this they needed a plan, some way to fool their family and friends. Of course, being the irresponsible adult he is, Friar Lawrence helped them fulfill their plan. When Juliet talks about killing herself Friar says, “That cop’st with death himself to ‘scape from it; And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.”(4.1 76-77) He decided to give Juliet a potion that would make her fall asleep, convincing her parents that she had died, when in reality she was just in a peaceful slumber. He describes the potion to Juliet as “A cold and drowsy humor; for no pulse. Shall keep his native progress, but surcease. No warmth, no [breath] shall testify thou livest.” (4.1 98-100) Friar’s plan was to have Juliet agree to marry Paris, and then on the night before the wedding, she would drink the potion and appear to be dead. To any other adult, and even most teenagers, this is a crazy, stupid plan. This was a very reckless and thoughtless thing for the Friar to