Of Friar Lawrence's Failure In Romeo And Juliet

In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence takes on the role of being a mediator in the play as he devises a plan that can not only end the rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues but also assures that Romeo and Juliet live happily together. However, as a result of unforeseeable events caused by the actions of other characters, Friar Laurence’s plan goes awry, and his efforts to reunite the two lovers ultimately ends in failure. The pivotal events that brought about the failure of Friar's plan are Romeo and Juliet’s undisclosed marriage, Tybalt's murder, and Friar Laurence’s failure to deliver his urgent letter to Romeo in Mantua. Friar Laurence produces the first flaw in his plan when he originally begins to execute it. By rushing to marry Romeo and Juliet without thoroughly analyzing his actions beforehand, Friar Laurence’s plan sets itself up for failure. Earlier

Because Romeo did not receive this message, his misunderstanding of Juliet’s death eventually leads to the tragedy of the two lovers: the event that Friar Laurence was trying to prevent in his plan. When Juliet wakes up from her seeming death and finds Romeo dead, Friar Laurence exclaims “A greater power than we can contradict / Hath thwarted our intents” (5.3.165-166). He acknowledges that outside events can intervene with his intentions and affect the outcome of his plan. Friar Laurence’s inability to deliver his letter to Romeo results from impulsive approach when executing this plan. Furthermore, Romeo will not have the adequate information needed to follow through with Friar’s new intents. Because he neglects to anticipate this potential problem, Friar Laurence does not know how to properly respond to the unforeseeable event, thus ultimately causing his plan to