“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare has been read in schools around the world ever since schools have existed. One of the characters in the play is Friar Lawrence, who makes many influential decisions that affect the story. Friar Lawrence marrying Romeo and Juliet causes more problems than it solves. Also, Friar Lawrence’s plan for Juliet to fake her death is one of the worst decisions in the play that leads to terrible tragedy. Finally, Friar Lawrence had the chance to save Juliet from killing herself after she awoke, but he gave absolutely no effort. Shakespeare used Friar Lawrence as a major driving force in the tragedy. To begin with, the first way Shakespeare used Friar Lawrence as a driving force in the tragedy is when he performed the marriage ceremony of Romeo and Juliet, it caused more problems than it solved. For example, in the story it states,”In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households to pure love.”Normally, when two people get married it brings their families closer together, not farther apart. Also, another example is when Mercutio died trying to protect Romeo from Tybalt, who was unaware of Romeo and his cousin Juliet’s marriage. Generally, when a person is aware of information involving their family it can affect their decisions. Finally, the last example is when Tybalt was killed by Romeo who was acting in a state of vengeance for the murder of Mercutio. In most cases when a person’s loved ones are hurt or killed, they will act out in a state of anger or revenge. In addition, the second way Friar Lawrence impacts the play and moves it forward is he came up with the plan for Juliet to fake her death which led to tragedy. For example, in the story it states,”I could not send it, nor get a messenger to bring thee, so fearful were they of infection.” Generally, when someone knows the importance of something, they will try their utmost hardest to make sure it gets done. Secondly, in the story it states,”Hold,then:go home,be merry,give consent to marry Paris:Wednesday is to-morrow:to-morrow night look that thou lie alone; let no thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber:Take thou this vial,being then in bed and this distill
Even the best of intentions can have tragic ends: a lesson well portrayed by the holy friar of Verona. At a first glance, one would consider Friar Lawrence only a minor influence in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. However, he is much more significant to the development of the play. Friar Lawrence acts as a catalyst to further sequence love and peace. He is without a doubt, a very complicated individual, and it is his complex nature that makes him such an interesting character. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is seen as a tragic hero because of his noble status, his good intentions, and his naive fatal flaw
The Roles of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse in the Deaths of Romeo and Juliet
Through his tragedy structure, Shakespeare creates complex characters with layered and flawed personalities such as Romeo’s. This is portrayed through Shakespeare’s use of literary technique, which highlights the characters who play a significant role in the wedded lover’s death. The character who is primarily responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s unfortunate catastrophe was Friar Lawrence due to his actions and choices which escalate the tragic events in the plot.
In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there were many people that played important roles, but one would think that Friar’s role was the most important. In the play Romeo and Juliet meet Friar Lawrence. He is a priest that lives on the outskirts of Verona and he is always there to give a helping hand. Romeo first met him when he was going to ask Friar to marry him and Juliet. From there through the rest of the play he has always been someone to give support to Romeo and Juliet.
Friar Lawrence is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death because of his efforts to control their
1 In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare puts a lot of emphasis on the theme of fate. Specifically tragic fate. Friar Lawrence is a secondary character in the play that is a key factor in the tragic ending. Friar Lawrence is respected character in the play. Without Friar Lawrence, Juliet would never have thought to stage her own death.
In the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence is to blame for the events that transpire. From marrying an underage couple without their parents’ consent to lying about the “death” of a young girl, Friar Lawrence’s errors in judgment lead to nearly all of the major events in the play and the deaths of six people. Friar Lawrence’s first error in judgment, marrying Romeo and Juliet, was his largest and most far-reaching error in judgment and set the tragic events of the play into motion. When Romeo approached Friar Lawrence in Act 2 to ask permission to marry Juliet, Friar Lawrence voices his concerns and tells Romeo that young men often love not with their hearts “but [with] their eyes” (2.3.72).
The tragic death of Romeo and Juliet was majorly influenced by the works and words of Friar Lawrence, due to his impulsive nature and his selfish, cowardly actions. Shakespeare demonstrates Friar Lawrence’s impulsiveness when Juliet comes to him, seeking a way to get out of marrying Paris while Romeo is away. Friar rashly comes up with a devious plan which had doom written on it from the start. Friar told Juliet to take a potion to fake her death so she would be buried and later found by Romeo. This shows Friar’s impulsiveness because he didn’t think out the possible outcomes or the safety and fool-proofing of the plan; and he just rashly decided to fake the death of a precious child in a great family—which was not only sneaky but unmorally right in the eyes of a trusted friar.
In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare the character that was most responsible for the deaths of the star-crossed lovers was Friar Lawrence. Not only was Friar Lawrence the one to marry them in secret, he also created the plan which tragically ended with their deaths. The friar was the voice of reason throughout the play, giving counsel to Romeo when he vowed to marry Juliet and giving hope to Juliet when she promised to kill herself if she had to marry Paris. In Act 2 Scene 2, Romeo comes to Friar Lawrence while he is collecting herbs. Romeo confesses his new found love for Juliet and asks Friar Lawrence to marry them.
The Friar had good intentions in the beginning of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, but his promotion of their secret relationship contributed to the events that all ushered the lovers to their death. He had originally wanted to make Romeo happy and attempt to put an end to the feud. This is true because Friar Lawrence clearly states his intentions in this quote, “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your household’s rancor to pure love.” (Act 2 Scene 3 Lines 91-92) This shows that his intentions were good in the beginning before everything went downhill, but not everything worked out the way he had planned. He wanted to do everything he possibly could in order to make it that Romeo and Juliet could be together and not have to have any worries. However, the help that he offered both the lovers ended up backfiring in his face with so many problems arising for the plan to be properly executed. His letter never made its way too Romeo which caused the whole plan to fail as a result. Although, the he can be blamed for helping push the lovers in the direction of their doom, but he can’t be completely blamed for the mistake with the letter. Throughout the play there seemed to be forces like fate which are bigger than the characters and that are working to guide Romeo and Juliet to their end. So, despite Friar Lawrence playing a
Friar Lawrence was one of the few people to know about the marriage, and the most to blame. He assisted them in lying to and deceiving both families. In the beginning, he is one of the only people who knows what is happening with Romeo and Juliet. He is the one who marries them. He goes behind their backs and marries the two without their parents consent. This is a huge secret to keep
By trying to amend hatred and hostility Friar Lawrence made critical mistakes that lead to the death of Romeo and Juliet. Even though the Friar had good intentions and only the best in his mind, he was attempting to fix a long bittered hatred that should not have been tampered with. This can be clearly seen when the Friar states in Act 2, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant
The prologue to Romeo and Juliet is a pretty big piece of text in the play and it gives a detailed view about events that are to follow in the play and pretty much prepares and establishes the audience for the "two hours traffic on our stage", and gives meaning to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
In this essay, I will present a variation of ways in which Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting a classic case of ‘love at first sight’. In the play so far, Romeo has attended the Capulet’s party in search of Rosaline- Romeo’s previous ’love’. Instead he finds himself falling for Capulet’s daughter, Juliet. In turn Juliet discovers Romeo and they have their first encounter. In the extract given, it shows the first conversation between the soon-to-be star- crossed lovers.
While watching Romeo and Juliet being performed on stage, I felt that it was executed really well. I enjoyed watching characters such as Peter, Nurse, and Mercutio, as they were quite hilarious in their acting. They gave a the original story a slight twist so that, in entirety, the play is not as emotional.