Friar Laurence's Failed Plan

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Friar Laurence’s Failed Plan Plans often do not turn out as expected. One example of this is Friar Laurence’s plan in the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The Friar’s plan is to marry the lovers in secret, and eventually unite the feuding families and end the violence between them. Although the Montagues and Capulets eventually reconcile, there are many deaths along the way, including Romeo and Juliet’s. Friar Laurence’s plan fails and Romeo and Juliet die because Romeo is banished after killing Tybalt, Juliet becomes engaged to Paris despite already being married to Romeo, and Friar John fails to deliver Friar Laurence’s letter to Romeo. Friar Laurence’s plan begins as he anticipated, and he is able to marry Romeo and Juliet …show more content…

Juliet, wanting to remain faithful to Romeo, goes to Friar Laurence to ask for help in avoiding the marriage. Friar Laurence agrees to help Juliet and tells her, “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, / And this distilling liquor drink thou off; / When presently through all thy veins shall run / A cold and drowsy humor; for no pulse / Shall keep his native progress, but surcease… In the meantime, against thou shalt awake, / Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, / And hither shall he come, and he and I / Will watch thy waking, and that very night / Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua” (4.1.95-99, 115-119). Friar Laurence once again changes the plan. This time, Juliet will pretend to be dead using a sleeping potion and Romeo, who will have received a letter explaining the whole situation, will come get her when she wakes up. Then, they will run away and live in Mantua together. This alteration in the plan has changed Friar Laurence’s motives completely because now he is trying to keep Romeo and Juliet together and alive instead of uniting the