Who Is The Friar Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet, a tragic play by William Shakespeare, chronicles the ill-fated love story of two young individuals. Friar Lawrence, a holy man in the city of Verona, is portrayed as a man of guidance and advice in times of need. When Romeo and Juliet, the son and daughter of family rivals pertaining to the Montagues and Capulets, approach him to be united as one, Friar takes advantage of this opportunity to break the everlasting feud between them. Therefore, he mentors Romeo and Juliet by creating procedures and plans that lead to horrific outcomes and deaths, resulting in the lover’s tragic suicides. Friar Lawrence triggers the demise of the pair due to his encouragement for their marriage, his lack of responsibility, and his absence of

Friar Lawrence provides misguided advice as a mentor, initiating the demise of Romeo and Juliet by encouraging their marriage. Romeo is sorrowful following his change of heart with Rosaline, which causes Friar to question Romeo and Juliet’s marriage due to his quick shift in relationships, but he encourages it anyways. This causes Friar Lawrence to think, “Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! / Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear, / So soon forsaken?” (II.iii.65-67). The rapid transition from Rosaline to Juliet concerns the Friar since he believes that Romeo is moving too quickly from one woman to another. Romeo is so miserable following his separation from Rosaline and everyone in the community knows about it, including Friar. Therefore, Romeo’s quick shift to Juliet surprises the Friar based on Romeo’s past strong feelings for Rosaline only a short time ago. Despite his concerns, Friar Lawrence gives misguided information to the lovers and provokes the tragedy, leaving Friar to blame. Friar Lawrence

Earlier in the novel, Friar keeps Juliet from committing suicide when she did not want to marry Paris. Friar optimistically proclaims, “Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope, / Which craves as desperate an execution / As that is desperate which we would prevent” (IV.i.71-72). Friar has proven to ease the thought of suicide from Juliet when she was hopeless and would rather kill herself than marry Paris. This confirms that Friar is capable of preventing Juliet from committing suicide, but he fails to do so at the end of the play. As the watch starts coming to the churchyard following the deaths of Paris and Romeo, Friar is desperate to sustain his holy reputation and leaves Juliet behind. Friar briefly tries to persuade Juliet to run along and states, “Stay not to question, for the watch is coming. / Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay” (V.iii.170-171). Once hearing the watch coming, Friar is filled with terror and is eager to flee, with or without Juliet. The Friar’s selfishness and fright from the watch, results in the suicide of Juliet, due to his failure to comfort her about the death of the man she could literally die for. In Juliet’s most time of need, Friar leaves her in order to sustain his holy reputation. Friar’s selfish actions lead