Friar Lawrence Is Responsible For The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

Henry Mossman

Ms. Basinski, and Byrne

English 1

18 May 2023

English One Final Essay The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well-known plays of all time, but the question is who is truly at fault for the tragic events of the play. Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare is a famous play about two star-crossed lovers from two rival families. And in the end, they end up both killing themselves for one another due to an unfortunate series of events. Even though Romeo and Juliet committed suicide their untimely death are ultimately the fault of Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, and Tybalt, Juliet's cousin. Some people believe that it is Friar Lawrence's fault for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. This is because he married Juliet

For example, Benvolio encourages Romeo to go to the Capulet ball. He did this because he wanted Romeo to get over Rosaline and find a new woman but it caused the two star-crossed lovers to meet too soon and ultimately leading them to commit suicide. “The beautiful Rosaline whom you love so much will be at Capulet’s traditional feast, along with every beautiful woman in Verona. Go there and compare her objectively to some other girls I’ll show you” (Shakespeare 1.2). He could have also stopped the duel between Mercutio and Tybalt. If he did stop the duel or helped his ally it would have made Tybalt retreat from the altercation and Romeo would never have had to kill Tybalt for vengeance and he wouldn't have been banished and Juliet would not have had to fake her death and cause Romeo to end his own life. Lastly, Benvolio told the prince what happened that left Mercutio and Tybalt dead. After the duel, if Mercutio ran with Romeo then the prince would have no idea who is responsible for what happened and there is a chance that Romeo would not have been banished and Juliet would not have to fake her

Firstly he instigated the fight at the beginning of the play. If not for the big fight at the beginning of the play when Romeo kills Tybalt as vengeance for Mercutio he would not have been punished because the prince had not given his final warning and because of Tybalt that was the case “I hate the word peace like I hate hell, all Montagues, and you. Let’s go at it, coward” (Shakespeare 1.1). Tybalt also instigated the duel where he kills Mercutio and then Romeo gets vengeance for him by killing Tybalt. If he did not initiate this fight Romeo would never have gotten banished and that would mean Juliet would not have to fake her death causing Romeo to take his own life. Lastly, Tybalt killed Mercutio curing the duel between the two. Because Mercutio is the cousin of the prince who made the decision to banish Romeo from Verona. Him being the cousin of Mercutio could have been emotional and may have made a rash decision because his cousin was just