Friar Lawrence Is To Blame In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a notorious tragedy written by William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan Era. Romeo and Juliet follows the story of two young star-crossed lovers born into feuding families. Romeo, a montague, and Juliet, a capsule, are two children born into a world of hate that seemingly nothing can fix. As the story progresses through love, despair, and grief, we get the chance to see how the lovers' compassion for each other can bring the light of peace to even the darkest of hate. Sadly, the light could not reach the families without the expense of their children's lives. Many factors went into the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, however, most of the blame can be pinpointed to one individual. Tybalt, the hotheaded cousin of Juliet, is

They may say that Lord Capulet is at fault because he tried to force Juliet to marry Paris, however he only wanted Juliet to marry Paris because they thought she was too upset about Tybalt's death. Little did they know that she was not upset about Tybalt's death, but her lover's exile, which was caused by Tybalt. They may say that Friar Laurence is at fault because he gave Juliet the poison, but he only gave her the poison because she was desperate to escape the marriage with Paris. Tybalt is also the reason Romeo killed himself, as he thought Juliet's death was real. Consequently, he is also the reason that Juliet killed herself, as she didn't want to live without Romeo. Both of the children's deaths could have been avoided if Tybalt wasn't in the story. Some may defend Tybalt by saying that he brought peace to the family by causing their deaths, and while that is true, that was not the only way to bring peace to the families. Friar Laurence showed multiple times throughout the story that he supported Romeo and Juliet's relationship, one example being the quote: “Go, get thee to thy love, as was decreed. ascend her chamber, hence, and comfort her.” (3.3.146-147) This shows that he would have been willing to help them plot for peace. Friar Laurence also stated in the beginning that he believed their relationship could bring peace to the families, as stated in the quote: “For this alliance may so happily prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love.”(2.3.91-92) This means that Friar Laurence had reason to believe that the relationship itself, no death required, was enough to bring the families peace. If Tybalt wasn’t in the story, Romeo, Juliet, the Montague family, and the Capulet family could have all had a happy ending