Friar Lawrence's Decisions

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is widely considered to be one of the greatest literary works of all time. For centuries, it has captivated the audience, enchanting them with the good of the love and the bad of the tragedy. It also features powerful, underlying suggestions of the nature of man. Through Friar Lawrence's belief in doing the best, his inconsiderate decisions, and his plans ruined by things out of his control, Shakespeare suggests that man always thinks he is doing good, but whether he is doing good depends on outside forces and individuals. Friar Lawrence constantly demonstrates his belief in doing the best from his point of view. He performs an act that sets the play in motion: He marries Romeo, a Montague, to Juliet,

However, this decision, although good in Friar Lawrence’s mind, was a bad decision. Juliet ended up “dead” on her wedding day, causing the Capulets to grieve on the day of a festival. “‘O lamentable day!’/‘O woeful time!’/“Death, that ta’en her hence to make me wail/Ties up my tongue and will not let me speak’” (4.5 31-34). What the Friar did was something so terrible that it caused grown men to weep, and make others speechless, only because he thought he was doing good. Friar Lawrence even managed to upset the nurse, the most comedic character, and the character who had done the most for Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence turned what was supposed to be one of the happiest days into a time of suffering, all for no avail, to save the marriage of two teenagers. Friar Lawrence did not consider outside individuals who may have been affected by a decision that was good in his mind. He ruined the lives of the Capulets, and the life of Count Paris. Friar Lawrence also, upon hearing of Juliet’s “death”, stood and watched as people grieved, only because he thought that it was right. What was good in the mind of Friar Lawrence was something terrible in reality, and something which would have only been a good thing if the situation had everything in the Friar’s favor. Friar Lawrence put an entire