Star-Crossed Lovers In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Star-crossed lovers are meant to be split apart. In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, one is able to witness how severe mistakes were neglected, and left unfulfilled, that led to the tragic passing of the two protagonists. Romeo and Juliet are from two families, the Capulets and the Montagues, who have past rivalries and do not associate with one another. Romeo and Juliet hurriedly marry each other, but because of their ill-fate, they eventually met their demise. Their death is caused not so much by their own flaws as by numerous obstacles in their path, which are created by other characters. Therefore, the characters that most dramatically and critically affected the circumstances that led to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet …show more content…

Last, Friar Laurence played a huge role in the lovers’ death by uniting Romeo and Juliet and forming a plan to keep them together, hoping to end the feud between the two families. For instance, after the death of Mercutio and Tybalt, Friar was still unaware of the consequences of Romeo and Juliet 's marriage. Instead, he continued his effort in uniting the lovers. The plan he concocted for uniting them was perilous and ill- conceived. He decided to fake Juliet 's death in order to help her out of her bind and unite her with Romeo in Mantua. For this reason, he gave her “a sleeping potion, which so took effect” (Act 5, Scene 3, Line __) to drink that would keep her in a death-like state for forty-two hours. Meanwhile, he sent a letter to inform Romeo of the plan, but it never reached him. Instead of delivering the letter himself, he gave the letter to Friar John to deliver it. However, Friar Laurence forgot to tell the messenger the significance of the letter. Friar John returned the letter back to Friar Laurence since he “could not send it” (Act 5, Scene 2, Line __ ). After all, if Friar Laurence had a well- thought out plan, the deaths would not have occurred. However, he proved to be too idealistic and short-sighted to see the disastrous effects resulting from his