The ending of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is very upsetting. It is a tragedy after all. The awful ending has just one man to blame for the deaths of so many people: Juliet, Romeo, Paris, Tybalt, Mercutio, and Lady Capulet. Though not all of them died at the very end, this made for a sad ending. To blame for all of this is none other than Friar Lawrence. He married Romeo and Juliet, gave Juliet a sleeping potion, and let her die. If Friar Lawrence hadn’t agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet in the first place, none of the rest of the play would have ever happened. He could have told Romeo no, that he was being ridiculous. Romeo and Juliet would have found it hard to sneak around all the time and have given up on their “love” after a while. But, the Friar married them and he was very willing to do so. “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, / For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (II.iii.97-99). Therefore, the Friar was only …show more content…
First, he caves into Juliet when she starts weeping and threatening to kill herself right then and there. He says, “A thing like death to chide away this shame, / That cop’st with death himself to ‘scape from it; / And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy” (IV.i.75-77). In saying this, he is proving that even though he is an adult, he can’t say no or think of other less deceitful options. Also, he gave Juliet the potion, said she could drink it, make everyone who loves her think she is dead, and hope Romeo will be there when she wakes up to take her away. Juliet was not yet even 13, she was not old enough to say that there were some risks involved, she didn’t know any better. But, the Friar should have known better, showing just another reason he is responsible for the awful ending. This is the kind of stupidity that happened when he practically let Juliet