Friar Lawrence Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

Friar Lawrence is a key piece in the ending of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, and it is a constant debate whether he should be held responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence’s character can be seen as revolving around the theme of intention versus result. Although his intentions were pure in the action of marrying Romeo and Juliet, the result was fatal, as it ended in the death of the two lovers. Friar Lawrence's reaction to the idea of Romeo and Juliet getting married could be interpreted as him thinking the idea was sudden and impulsive, but after thinking it through, he saw that the marriage could do more good than bad. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Friar

While some may believe that he should be held completely responsible for Romeo and Juliets deaths, realistically he deserves a minimal punishment. He bears little to no responsibility in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Despite his misguided actions, the friar only had good intentions with the action to marry the lovers. “For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (2.3.98-99). This quote clearly shows that he believed their marriage would end the vendetta of the two families and bring peace to Verona. However, this plan failed due to circumstances that were completely out of his control. For example, the messenger Friar Lawrence sent to Romeo was unable to enter Mantua due to the spread of the plague. Since the messenger could not get to Romeo, word spread to him that Juliet had passed, although she was just in a state of unconsciousness. This caused Romeo to go into a downwards spiral, which ultimately led to the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. As can be seen, this was completely out of Friar Lawrence’s control, which shows why he should hold little to no

He could not have prevented or predicted the death of Tybalt or the banishment of Romeo. Both of which were vital turning points in the story. Both of these events can be seen as at fault for Romeo and Juliet’s suicides, but the Friar cannot. This is because at the time of Tybalt’s death and Romeo's banishment from Verona, Friar Lawrence had married Romeo and Juliet earlier that day. Since they were already married, Friar could infer that the situation could be as good as forgotten, since they were married and could end the vendetta between the two families. But what Friar, Romeo, and Juliet were unaware of, was that Tybalt saw Romeo at the masquerade party, which is the sole reason of Tybalt’s hate for Romeo, which led to the death of Tybalt and banishment of Romeo. To add on, the Friar did everything in his power to prevent the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, like helping them come up with a plan to escape Verona and start a new life with each other, by giving Juliet a sleeping potion. Friar Lawrence’s plan was to give Juliet a potion that would make everyone think she had passed away, yet the Friar and Romeo would dig her out during the night and the lovers would escape to Mantua. Once again, out of the Friar’s control, the messenger that was supposed to tell Romeo this plan was unable to enter Mantua due to the plague