Friar Laurence Is Responsible For The Death Of Romeo And Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet Essay The play Romeo and Juliet is a great example of a tragedy caused by love and romance. This play will be remembered for the romantic tragedy from the two star crossed lovers. Throughout the book William Shakespeare shows us an assortment of deaths. In the end he leaves us wondering who is responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet are dead and the evidence supports that Friar Laurence is at fault. In the play Romeo and Juliet cannot be together because Juliet is expected to marry Paris. Juliet then needs a solution to get out of the marriage. Juliet turns to the Friar to help her. The friar responds with: 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. (IV i 94-96) The Friar's plan was to have Juliet drink a potion that made her fall into a deep enough sleep as if she was dead. This plan had many glaring holes! What the Friar doesn’t take into account is that the plan will have to be executed flawlessly to ensure that no one will be killed. In the end of the play Romeo ends up dead because the letter telling Romeo about the staging of Juliet’s death isn’t delivered on time. …show more content…

When Romeo is dead Juliet is unstable and in shock. The Friar unwisely leaves Juliet alone for a few moments. “Stay not to question, for the watch is coming; come, go, Juliet I dare no longer stay.” (V iii 159-159) This obviously shows the Friar is more concerned about himself than Juliet. it also says a lot about the character of the Friar to leave an unstable girl who just watched her fiance perish. If the Friar had stayed with Juliet instead of leaving the tomb she may have chosen to not kill herself. Also, even if she had tried to kill herself the Friar could have tried to stop her from ending taking her own