Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

For Vicennials we have been taught that Romeo and Juliet’s love was like a blaze that burned intensely yet rapidly, devouring everything in its way, until it was exterminated by the breeze of fate. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet tells the tale of the two “fortune fools,’’ two young lovers whose love was prohibited as a consequence of a feud between each other’s families prevailed after death as they die in the name of love. Although some may argue that fate was the main cause of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic ending, fate could have been avoided if Friar Lawrence’s judgment was not blinded by his own personal wishes and yearnings. Firstly, Friar Lawrence’s true motivations to marry Romeo and Juliet were impure, as he did not believe that

His impulsiveness is proven at church when Friar Lawrence says, “That cop'st with death himself to scape from it; / And if thou darest, I'll give thee remedy” (4.1.75-76). The Friar offers Juliet a second option to her apparent only option; suicide, his plan consists of a potion that will make her seem dead. Some believe that his actions were purely guided by the good beings of his persona, only looking for the well-being of the vast majority. Some may argue that Friar Lawrence was a good man whose selfless desires ironically led to the death of two youngsters. However, no one can deny his poor judgment; his plan was based on the hypothesis that it will work flawlessly, but he failed to contemplate the conceivable risks and repercussions. Friar Lawrence is accountable for the plan involving the fake death of Juliet, which goes dreadfully wrong. His plan was to give Juliet a potion that would make her resemble dead, allowing her to escape to be with Romeo. However, Romeo never received the letter explaining the plan, so when Romeo receives the news of Juliet's alleged death, believing that Juliet was truly dead, he rushes back to Verona. This leads to his own death because as an act of pure love and loss, he takes his own

If only Friar Lawrence would not have acted so recklessly and selfishly if only he would not have been misguided by his impulsive thoughts. Friar Lawrence did not believe in the love between Romeo and Juliet, even so, he accepted to marry them because he saw this as a chance for peace to reign in Verona. Moreover, Friar Lawrence’s lack of second thought was key to the final outcome of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic story as he did not consider the possible fatal outcomes of his plan. If only Friar Lawrence would have acted ethically from the beginning and would have been true to his feelings (as he did not believe that the love between Romeo and Juliet was true) and would have denied the marriage. He also had a second chance to redeem himself by telling the two young lovers’ families about the wedding, if only he had taken action, the two lovers might have been able to escape Verona and start a new life