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Friar Lawrence Innocent Essay

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Many believe that Friar Lawrence is innocent because he had good intentions and did what he deemed necessary when helping Romeo and Juliet, however, good intentions do not always correspond to appropriate actions. Friar assists the lovers on numerous occasions and even marries them. Friar states after agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet, “For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (Shakespeare.II.iii.91-92). The phrase “alliance may so happy prove” means this marriage could have a good outcome. Friar hopes that the marriage will be a happy one and will be a beneficial union. The phrase “turn your households’ rancor to pure love” implies that Friar wants to convert the two families’ hatred of each other into a loving relationship. …show more content…

Friar, moreover, is innocent because he just wants the best for the lovers and their families, and his actions are guided by good intentions. Intentions are vital when considering a character’s innocence or guilt because accidents can happen and they should be judged by intentions, not the result. Friar not only didn’t mean for all the deaths to occur, he tried to prevent them. (Logos) Although the core of this claim is valid, it suffers from a major flaw in its reasoning: that actions speak much louder than intentions. Despite Friar’s good intentions, his secrecy about the marriage and the following events is irresponsible and leads to the deaths of the lovers. When the lovers are both dead, Friar finally understands his mistakes and starts by expressing, “I married them and their stol’n marriage day/ Was Tybalt’s doomsday, whose untimely death banished [Romeo] from this city, For whom…Juliet pined” (Shakespeare.V. iii. 232-235). The phrase, “their stol’n marriage” refers to the grave error Friar made, recklessly marrying the two lovers in

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