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
The Friar had good intentions when he married Romeo and Juliet, as shown in this quote, “For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households’ rancour to pure love” (2.4.91-92). In this quote, Friar Lawrence explains his reasoning behind marrying Romeo and Juliet, he thought that by marrying the two, he could stop the feud. This did not work as no one told the rest of the families and the Capulets tried to marry Juliet to Paris. The Friar also failed to get the letter to Romeo that would have told him that Juliet wasn’t dead. If Romeo had received this letter, he would not have committed suicide in Juliet's grave when he returned to Verona. Also, if the Friar had gotten to Juliet’s grave any earlier, he could have saved both Romeo and Juliet. The following quote is from the final scene of the play, “Miscarried by my fault, let my old life / Be sacrificed, some hour before this time, / unto the rigour of the severest law” (5.3.271-274). In this scene, the Friar admits the part that he played in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. He volunteers himself to be punished for this, but the rest of the families and the Prince don't want to punish him. Although he meant well, Friar Lawrence’s actions resulted in the deaths of Romeo and
First, Friar Lawrence knows the danger of wedding together a Capulet and a Montague without the consent of either of their families. Despite the risk, Friar Lawrence is loyal to his friend Romeo, who believes he has found ‘the one’ and wishes to marry her the same day “O, she knew well Thy love did read by rote and could not spell/But come, young waverer, come, go with me/In one respect I'll thy assistant be, For this alliance may so happy prove marriage To turn your households' rancor to pure love.” (2,3,94). Secondly, Loyalty is not only displayed by Friar Lawrence, it is also returned to him when Friar John helps Friar Lawrence on a risky mission to get a message to Romeo, who was banished from the town of Verona. For instance, Friar John was to invite Romeo back to town so that Romeo and Juliet are able to elope after the fake death of Juliet “This same should be the voice of Friar John. Welcome from Mantua! What says Romeo? Or if his mind be writ, give me his letter” (5,2,2). Lastly, Juliet, just like all the other citizens of the Verona, look to the church committee for help in tough times. In fact, Friar Lawrence helps Juliet out of committing suicide by finding a way to get Romeo and Juliet together as he creates a deceiving plan after Juliet goes begging to him for help “Take
These three reasons, along with others, prove that Friar Lawrence is to blame for the events that occur in Romeo and Juliet. He married young Romeo and Juliet together, which emotionally tied them to each other. He gave Juliet the escape idea and the sleeping potion. He also failed to inform Romeo of the rescue plan. He could’ve been a very desperate man in search of peace in Verona, but it led to the deaths of many; including those of the star-crossed
Secondly, Friar Lawrence’s intentions are always for the benefit of others. He helps his fellow citizens when they are in despair, such as when Romeo arrives at the friar’s cell crying himself to death. The friar responds, “Thou shalt live, till we can find a time to blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends, beg pardon of the prince, and call thee back” (3, 3, 150-152). Here, Friar Lawrence acts as a mentor to Romeo, and uplifts his spirits by guiding him through the difficult times of banishment. Friar tells Romeo what he wants to hear because he understands Romeo’s boundless love for Juliet, and what may happen as the consequence of forbidden love. Moreover, Friar Lawrence has noble intentions that give himself no personal gain. When he agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, he says, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (2, 3, 90-92). Friar decides to marry the young lovers not only to help his friends, but because he believes it will end the long bitter feud of Verona. He only cares about the wellbeing of the city and the safety of the opposing families. Lastly, Friar Lawrence always assists his fellow citizens in their time of desperation. When
First of all, Friar Lawrence explicitly knew better than to do many of the things he did. First, he should not have agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet so quickly. Romeo wanted to marry Juliet after
The first reason Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths is because of his selfishness. “Come on, young man, I’ll help you with your secret wedding. This marriage may be lucky enough to turn the hatred between your families into pure love”(III.II.8-12). Friar calls out Romeo
The first reason Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths is because of his selfishness. “Come on, young man, I’ll help you with your secret wedding. This marriage may be lucky enough to turn the hatred between your families into pure love”(III.II.8-12). Friar calls out Romeo
Many believe that Friar Lawrence is innocent because he had good intentions and did what he
The first reason Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s tragedy is that he is only marrying them for his own selfish greed. [William Act iv, line 91-92] For example in this quote Friar Lawrence says “For this alliance may so happy prove, To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” This quote connects to my first reasoning because Friar Lawrence is talking about the hatred between the two houses. He only agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet because he knew that if it worked he could be the town hero. He’d be praised for bringing the two families together. Moreover, He caused many problems because of this marriage.
If the Friar did not marry Romeo and Juliet before thinking about it he would have realized it was a bad idea. “These violent delights have violent ends/ And in their triumph die, like fire and powder” (II.VI.9-10). The Friar is saying that this could end violently but still proceeded in doing it. Although Juliet was responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence was the most responsible.
In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence should be punished for the death of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence tells Romeo that he will secretly marry Romeo and Juliet so their families will stop fighting with each other. “But come, young warerer, come, go with me/ In one respect I’ll thy assistant be/ For this alliance may be so happy prove/ To
Friar Lawrence imprudently agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though he knows that it will cause later consequences. At first, Friar thinks that “For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your households rancor to pure love” (2.3.98-99), meaning that he thinks the marriage will bring about peace to the two opposed families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Immediately, however, he tells Romeo,” Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast” (2.3.101). Friar Lawrence warns Romeo that if he is too hasty, then it leads to bad consequences. Friar Lawrence is clearly aware that if he and he alone marries the two, then their marriage will collapse, yet he decides to marry Romeo and Juliet. This causes both of them to sink into depression after Romeo gets banished from the city of Verona, his home town. Without Friar Lawrence, the two would not have married, which would not lead to their depression and further
With a flicker of hope that the marriage will work and end the feud, Friar Lawrence remarks that, "this alliance may so happy prove to turn [their] households' rancor to pure love" (II iv 91-92). The blame can be placed on Friar Lawrence because he cares too much for Romeo and Juliet and eventually takes an extreme and risky approach to facilitate their union.
Friar Lawrence is a valuable person in the book Romeo and Juliet. He offers advice and helps tries to help Juliet find a way out of marriage. He is a wise and sympathetic man. He is always looking out for people in need. When Romeo comes to Friar Lawrence because Romeo thinks he is in love with Juliet. Friar Lawrence takes his opinion into consideration, and tries to help him out, at the best of his abilities. Some critics argue whether or not it it was his fault for their death. It was truly his fault. Friar Lawrence is guilty for the death of Romeo and Juliet is because he gave Juliet the potion, he knew how Romeo would react the way he did, and he had left Juliet by herself when she found out Romeo was dead.
Friar Lawrence was the most responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet in several ways. He was just out of his mind. He made not only one mistakes, but many mistakes that all caused Romeo and Juliet's death. First of all, he made one major mistake that he could have prevent. He trusted a teenage girl, Juliet. Teenagers aren’t stabilize, and the most scaring thing is that most of them don’t think of the consequences of love. Friar gave her fake-death poison. This is crazy! This decision was a very poor choice on the Friar's behalf. Here, he shows his irresponsibility by saying, "If... thou hast the strength of will