Emma Kiers Kiers 1
ENG2DI-04
Friday, January 20th, 2017
Ms. S. Durocher
Who Caused Romeo and Juliet's Death
"These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die like fire and/
powder..." With these words, moments before he married Romeo and Juliet, Friar
Lawrence unknowingly foretold what would eventually happen to the newly-weds. Two
teenagers who believe they are in love, Romeo and Juliet, from William Shakespeare's
play, Romeo and Juliet, soon find themselves in a difficult position since their families
are rivals and will not approve of their marriage. Romeo and Juliet must learn the hard
way, that love does not always conquer all. Friar starts a chain of events, that eventually
lead to tragedy and death. The Friar is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths because
he is a poor-thinker, he is selfish and he is very irresponsible when it comes to dealing
with the youth in this tragic love story.
Friar demonstrates to the viewer that he is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death
because he is a poor thinker. To begin, Friar Lawrence does not think about the future
consequences when he marries the two lovers. We first see his doubts about marrying
the couple, when he and Romeo are waiting for Juliet’s arrival at the alter. “So smile the/
heavens upon this holy act, That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!" (2.6.1-2). Friar
proves why he doubts the marriage is a good choice because he recognizes that
Romeo is far too young to truly understand what love is. Friar Lawrence does not
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think consequently about the marriage and proceeds ahead with it, which is a large
reason for the tragic ending in this piece. To continue, the Friar is not rationally thinking
when he sends the letter addressed to Romeo with Friar John. When Friar Lawrence
writes the letter to Romeo stating that Juliet will fake her death and run away with him
back to Mantua, he does not think very wisely and sends the letter with the mail
deliverer instead of delivering the information himself. If he had delivered the
information personally, Romeo would have gotten the news much more quickly that
Juliet, in fact, is not actually dead and it might have prevented the two lovers deaths.
Lastly, the Friar was not thinking effectively when he proposes faking Juliet's death. “If,
rather than to marry County/ Paris, Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,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 dar'st, I'll give thee remedy” (4.1.71-76).
When Friar creates the potion for Juliet, he explains how the potion will be strong
enough to make her heart stop and will proceed to make her appear dead. Friar
Lawrence is so distracted in trying to provide Juliet with a solution to her problem, that
he does not think about the consequences that this remedy might ensue. Since the
potion is in the hands of a thirteen year old girl who is blindsided by her new found love,
the outcome may have been different if Friar Laurence had thought harder about his
actions.
Friar Laurence is selfish. To start, he flees the graveyard when the night officers
come, leaving Juliet by herself with the deceased Romeo.” I hear some noise. Lady,/
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come from that nest of death” (5.3.151-152). During this eventful scene of the play, Friar
hears the guards coming and he knows that he is breaking the law by entering into the
tomb while trying to help Romeo and Juliet. He fears getting into trouble and being
arrested, which results in him leaving a grieving and very distraught Juliet by herself
with her late husband, which presents her with the option to commit suicide since no
one was there to stop her. The Friar is only thinking about himself and his future and he
disregards Juliet. Secondly, the Friar does not think about the consequences of
marrying the couple, he just wants the credit for the two families ending their feud. “In/
one respect I'll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove, To turn your
households’ rancour to/ pure love” (2.3.90-93). When Romeo and Juliet approach Friar
Lawrence about his permission to marry them, Friar begins to realize that if he marries
the two, he will acquire the credit for the Capulets and Montagues peace. He is selfish
because he is careless about the consequences of the marriage and he only thinks
about how this would effect him in the future. Lastly, Friar Laurence tries to dissuade
Pairs from marrying Juliet. “On Thursday, sir? The time is very short...You say you do/
not know the lady’s mind. Uneven is the course. I like it not” (4.1.1-5). Friar is
conversing with Paris, knowing in his mind that Juliet is married to Romeo and she
cannot marry Paris. This is considered selfish, as the Friar knows he would be
committing a sin if he married Juliet and Paris, while she was already married to
Romeo. Friar Laurence is trying to convince Paris to not marry Juliet because he does
not want to be a disgrace and ruin his reputation in the future.
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Friar Laurence is irresponsible. First, he gives the potion to Juliet. “Take thou
this/ vial, being then in bed, And this distillèd liquor drink thou off, When presently
through all/ thy veins shall run, A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse”(4.2.93-96). The
Friar knows that if he gives the potion to her, she will drink it and she will appear dead
causing havock. In Friar Lawrence’s perspective, he is helping Juliet escape her
marriage to Paris. In reality, he is being very irresponsible because Juliet is only thirteen
years old and her family had made it clear that their decision was for Juliet to marry
Paris. The Friar is an adult, signifying that he should be more responsible and should
not give such power to such a young girl. Secondly, Friar Lawrence keeps the marriage
of Romeo and Juliet a secret from their parents. When the Friar marries the two, he
knows how the Capulets and the Montagues are enemies and how Romeo and Juliet
are not supposed to be in a relationship. The Friar should have taken more
responsibility and not allowed the marriage to take place, since he knew that it would be
unlikely to have a good outcome. He should have denied them the legality of marriage
until he was certain that their families would approve, since yet again, they were young
and needed some guidance from a more mature figure. To finish, Friar Lawrence allows
Romeo to marry Juliet even after he just got over Rosaline. “Holy Saint Francis, what a
change is here! / Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear...here upon thy cheek the
stain doth sit, Of / an old tear that is not washed off yet, If e'er thou wast thyself and
these woes thine,Thou/ and these woes were all for Rosaline” (2.3.65-70). This quote
proves how the Friar is not responsible and marries Romeo to Juliet even though he
has suspicions
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about Romeo moving on so fast. He was very doubtful that Romeo was being truthful,
and it is irresponsible to marry the two creating more feud between the families,
especially if Romeo did not truly love Juliet and she was only a distraction from
Romeo’s sadness.
In conclusion, Friar Lawrence, from William Shakespeare's piece, Romeo and
Juliet, shows the audience that he is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet
because he is a poor-thinker, he is selfish and he is irresponsible when it comes to
dealing with the youth in this tragic love story. He did not think about the consequences
of marrying Romeo and Juliet, he flees the graveyard leaving behind a suicidal Juliet
with the deceased Romeo, and he is careless when he is giving Juliet a strong potion.
Next time you hear someone talking about the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, give them
the facts about who is to blame and change the ideas of everyone around you, to Friar
Lawrence.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William . Romeo and Juliet. Print.
