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Examples Of Poisons In Romeo And Juliet

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Isabella Chen Ms. Rivera Honors English 9 4 June 2024 Poisons Disguised As Potions The poison quickly seeps through the body, touching every possible end of it. The sound of breathing begins to fade rapidly, and begins the eternal slumber. Cold. Lifeless. The. Gone. In the drama, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, two star-crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, love each other deeply, yet fate does not allow them to be together as they come from rival families. Nonetheless, since they are determined to be together, they slowly evolve from two innocent individuals into violent individuals, ensuring they do everything they can to stay together. Shakespeare’s recurring use of the symbolism of potions and poisons as a portrayal of the protagonists’ attempt to …show more content…

Friar Lawrence devises a plan: “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, / and this distilled liquor drink thou off,” (Shakespeare.4.1.93-94). Hence, Juliet must drink the potion in order to fake her death and avoid her arranged marriage with Romeo. In essence, by not succumbing to her arranged marriage, Friar Lawrence’s solution ultimately allows Juliet to assert her freedom against a patriarchal society, and obtain the freedom to be with Romeo. Regardless, her potion soon turns into a poison because her “death” results in Romeo’s depression and willingness to be violent to himself. He purchases a poison from an apothecary and states: “Come cordial and not poison, [to] go with [him],” because Romeo is also relieved that he found a last resort to be with Juliet (Shakespeare.5.1.85). The protagonists’ willingness to exert violence upon themselves inevitably leads to both of their deaths: Romeo illegally purchases and consumes poison, and Juliet dying from a “happy dagger”

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While Friar Lawrence initially gave the potion to Juliet in order to help her, he did not think of what problems he could create outside of just Juliet's life. As shown in the quote her mother takes her “death” very hard and threatens to take her own life. While devising the plan Juliet the Friar states, “Hold, then. Go home;be merry; give consent/ To marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow./ Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone;/ Let not the nurse lie with thee in thy chamber.”

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In Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, they are trying to be together, but their families won't stop fighting. But from being from different families that are fighting, they won't let them be together so they have to do it behind their parents' backs. (Act 2) Friar Lawrence is the one to blame for giving Juliet the potion to make her look dead. Friar Lawrence thought that it would be best for Juliet to fake her death.

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Undoubtedly, Romeo and Juliet relied on Friar Lawrence’s unethical plan. Friar explains the vials effects, “A cold and drowsy humor; for no pulse/ Shall keep his native progress, but surcease./ No warmth, no breath shall testify thou livest./” (A4:S1:98-99) Friar Lawrence tells Juliet what she is going to feel after drinking the poison. He exaggerated his plan in an attempt to move along.

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When Juliet drinks the vial given to her by Friar Lawrence, she does not know if it will work and just make her fall asleep, or if it has the possibility to make her never wake up again. Her venturesome behavior is clear when she says “What is it be a poison which the Friar subtly hath ministered to have me dead, lest in this marriage he should be dishonoured,”(4.3). Romeo takes a risk when he goes to the apothecary to get the poison that will end his life. This is dangerous, because both him and the apothecary could get in serious trouble for being in possession of the drug. After the apothecary sells Romeo the poison Romeo says “I sell thee poison, thou hast sold me none farewell, buy food, and get thyself in flesh”(5.1).

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His intentions “To turn (their) households rancor to pure love” while not entirely untrue in the end, was not the outcome. This impulsive act highlights Friar Lawrence’s fault of misjudging the strength of young love and the intricacies of the situation. While Friar Lawrence did end the family's rancor, he did it by unintentionally causing the death of Romeo and Juliet. Furthermore, Friar Lawrence’s role extends past his involvement in Romeo and Juliet's marriage. Following Romeo's banishment for killing Tybalt, Friar Lawrence creates and provides Juliet a plan, Juliet would fake her death with a vial of potion, to meet with Romeo once again.

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Gabe Melendez Ms. Rivera Honors English 9 4 June 2024 The True Poisons of Verona in Romeo and Juliet Two families share a hatred running deep for each other. However, despite this hostility between the houses, the two lovers fall for each other. In the tragic play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, two young people named Romeo and Juliet are born into rival families and are forced to battle fate in order to stay together. The Montague family and Capulet family have been at war in Verona for many years, and their loathe for the opposing family blinds them from their actions.

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This violence ultimately leads Romeo and Juliet down paths to their deaths. The events leading to

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This decision was made with the goal of uniting Romeo and Juliet away from their parents so they could finally be together. Friar Lawrence tells Juliet to fake her death by saying, “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilling liquor drink thou off” (IIII.i.95-96). This dialogue shows friar lawrence giving Juliet a sleeping potion to use to fake her death. This decision was meant to bring Romeo and Juliet together but does the opposite when Romeo discovers Juliet faking her death he takes his own life by drinking a vile of poison. When Juliet awakes from her slumber, she finds Romeo dead and uses his knife to stab herself, ending her

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He says in this scene,” In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households' rancor to pure love” .But because the Friar agrees to help Romeo in this secret marriage he goes around the parents and keeps them in the dark until it’s too late for them to do anything. Friar Lawrence is also responsible for the disaster of a plan to fake Juliet’s death in order to escape her marriage to Paris and be with Romeo. He says to Juliet in Act 4, Scene 1, “When you’re in bed, take this vial, mix its contents with liquor, and drink. Then a cold, sleep-inducing drug will run through your veins, and your pulse will stop.

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Father Lawrence suggests a potion to cause a deathlike trance and that it“ free thee from this present shame/ If no inconstant toy nor womanish fear/Abate thy valor in acting it” (4.1.120). Father Lawrence assumes that Juliet is a normal girl who does not have courage, yet Shakespeare contrasts traditional girls to Juliet’s fearlessness. By drinking the potion, she shows tenacity as she tries to protect Romeo from Tybalt’s ghost, saying, “Stay, Tybalt, Stay! Romeo, Romeo, Romeo!/ Here’s drink, I drink to thee”(4.3.58).

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(4.3.57-60).   In Act 4 Scene 3, Friar Lawrence helps Juliet arrange a strategy, so when the big wedding day comes Juliet would be seen as dead once she drinks the vial. A reason behind this was to avoid the marriage that she causes herself. Hoping that this plan will turn out as they expect, Friar Lawrence has to notify Romeo about this plan in advance.

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Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a play that is rich in symbolism, and one of the most significant symbols in the play is poison. Poison plays a crucial role in the story, representing the destructive effects of hatred and the tragic consequences of impulsive actions. From the outset of the play, poison is introduced as a potent and deadly substance. In the prologue, Shakespeare describes the lovers' deaths as the result of "a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life," foreshadowing the tragic end of the play. The audience is introduced to poison early on when the apothecary is introduced in Act 5, Scene 1.

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Friar Lawrence assists Juliet in fooling her friends and family which in the end just causes a problem so big it ends both Romeo and Juliet’s lives. This is shown when Friar Lawrence says “Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone; Let not thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. Take thou this vial, being then in bed, and this distilled liquor drink off;” (Romeo and Juliet. 4.1. 91-94) This plan to trick those close to Juliet into thinking she is dead is an immature and dangerous way of handling things that ultimately causes more problems than it solves.

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