...William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, many readers may have controversial views towards many different characters. While viewers may dislike the priest, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, the play would not have been possible without his role. Friar Lawrence is notorious for his reckless and harmful decisions, but it is his actions that ultimately move the play along and result in Romeo’s and Juliet’s death. Without Friar Lawrence’s actions in the play, such as marrying Romeo and Juliet, telling Juliet what to do, and leaving Juliet alone after Romeo dies, there would have been very little conflict in the plot, which would have resulted in a very different conclusion. The first time Friar Lawrence’s importance to the play is shown is when he agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet. He says that he will be “thy assistant” (II, iii, 97) to Romeo and marry him and Juliet, along with keeping it a secret from their parents in an attempt to “turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (II, iii, 99). Without Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet...
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...of their love, they commit suicide which ends their families feud. During the play, two love one another so much, enough to kill them. Even though some characters are to blame for their unfortunate suicide. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the character to blame for the star-crossed lovers death is Friar Lawrence because he knew Romeo and Juliet’s marriage was not a good idea, he was not honest, and because he never helped Romeo and Juliet with anything. The first reason Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s suicide is because he knew that he should not have married...
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...Romeo and Juliet was William Shakespeare’s last play, and quite possibly one of his most popular. There are many hidden themes and metaphors, one of which is fate. This play is about 2 teenages from feuding families that fall into a forbidden love, and the plot of this play describes the issues they run into and the hoops they jump through in order to be together. In this story, Shakespeare uses the age and timeline of the story to show the theme of fate through misdelivery of Friar Lawrence’s letter, the resolution between the Montagues and the Capulets, and the love between Romeo and Juliet that lead to suicide. One event that was prudent to the future of Romeo and Juliet was the delivery of Friar Lawrence’s letter, which was quite unforgiving when it came...
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...the friar?/ How doth my lady?...” “...Her body sleeps in Capel’s monument,/ And her immortal part with angels lives” (V.i.13-14, 18-19). In the play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare in the 14th century, Balthasar, a servant, tells his master Romeo, that Romeo’s wife, Juliet is dead. This is because Friar Lawrence, who lives and works as a priest in Verona, has made a grave mistake. Friar Lawrence’s mistakes eventually lead to the death of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet are children of two feuding families, therefore making them star-crossed lovers who take their own lives. Friar Lawrence is an anxious person and he is overly concerned about...
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...to act.” The tragedy at the end of Romeo and Juliet is closely related to the free will of Friar Lawrence. The Friar consistently choose to act without thinking of the consequences, or not act at all. If Friar Lawrence had notified the families once the plan started to fail, or if he’d been more stubborn with Juliet requiring her to leave the tomb their lives might’ve been saved. This is why Friar Lawrence’s judgment or lack thereof caused the tragedy at the end, and why the tragedy was a result of free will. Friar Lawrence’s decision of free will to marry Romeo and Juliet was the one of the reasons behind the tragedy at the end. On the wedding day both Romeo and Juliet are at Friar Lawrence’s cells and The Friar says “Come, come with me and we will make short work, / For, by you leaves, you shall not stay alone / till holy church incorporate two into one.” (2.6.35-38) If The Friar hadn’t married these two young lovers this would have stopped the chain of events that lead to their death. The...
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...Many literary works rely on characters keeping secrets in order to move the plot forward. Although lies are typically bad, in many plays they are important to resolve a conflict. In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence tells many secrets in the play to ensure the successful marriage of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence marries Romeo and Juliet without the consent of Lord Montague or Lord Capulet. At the same time, Friar promises Lord Capulet that he will marry without telling him of his past actions. Although Friar is unable to marry Juliet and Paris, he continues the lies to keep his plan. Later, Friar doesn't tell anyone that Juliet isn’t dead. He tells the grieving Lady Capulet that Juliet is in heaven. Friar Lawrence’s secrets and lies...
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...Friar Lawrence: Not a Killer but a Good Man Friar Lawrence, the honest and good-willed man in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, certainly can not be blamed for the tragedy that befalls the young lovers. Upon countless occasions throughout the play, Friar goes out of his way to ensure the well-being of his blind lovebirds Romeo and Juliet. A man with such concern and selflessness should not be construed as an unintentional murderer. Friar Lawrence simply should not be blamed for the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet because he acted with the intentions of making everyone happy, married Romeo and Juliet in an attempt to end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, and only gave Juliet the potion because Juliet had no other resolve and had even threatened to kill herself. Friar Lawrence is an innocent old man who only wanted to help the young lovers Romeo and Juliet. All of his actions during the play were done with the best of intentions;at no point did Friar Lawrence have any intentions of causing any harm. As a dedicated man of the church, Friar Lawrence is a holy figure that is always depicted in good ways during the play: I’ll give thee armor to keep off that word, Adversity’s sweet milk, philosophy, To comfort thee, though thou art banishèd. (III.iii. 57-59) When Juliet is forced by her parents to marry Paris, Friar is the only person in Verona that she could turn to for help. Juliet knows that Friar will do what is in his power to help her because Friar is...
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...In Romeo and Juliet, two teenagers, Romeo and Juliet, briskly fall in love with one another and struggle to cope with a multitude of issues that plague their ideal life. It is evident that there are many problems with their love and death seemed to evidently be approaching them throughout the whole entire play. Nevertheless, there are numerous incidences in which Romeo and Juliet could have prevented their own deaths, so, therefore, they could have continued to live their lives together. The first major stride towards the death of Romeo and Juliet was when Romeo murdered Tybalt due to him allowing his rage to take over, rather than contemplating the repercussions of his actions. After Romeo kills Tybalt, he is exiled to Mantua, which he despises...
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...Romeo and Juliet is the most epic love story of all time. It is said they were destined to fall in love, or maybe just destined to fall. Romeo and Juliet were two star-crossed lovers whose story played out in Verona, Italy. Romeo was from the family of the Montagues, whom are long-time enemies of the Capulets, the family from which Juliet came. Romeo crashed a party thrown by Capulet, Juliet’s father. At the party, he met Juliet, and they fell in love instantly. As destiny would have it, they get married, but the fateful, whirlwind love affair ultimately leads to the untimely deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence, Romeo’s priest, is often falsely accused of being responsible for the double suicide that ended the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet. However, all of the major events that lead to the deaths...
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... The Prince of Verona (Escalus) appears and stops the fighting, proclaiming sentences of death to any that renew the fighting. At Montague's house, he, his wife, and Benvolio discuss how melancholy Romeo (Montague's only son) has been lately. Benvolio vows to find out why. Speaking with Romeo, Benvolio finds Romeo is in love with a woman who has sworn to stay chaste (Rosaline). Benvolio suggests pursuing other women, but Romeo refuses. Separately, Paris (a kinsman of the Prince of Verona) talks to Lord Capulet about wooing his daughter Juliet for marriage. Capulet responds that she is too young (nearly 14 years old) and must wait two years to marry, and then only to the man whom she chooses. Still, Capulet invites Paris to a party in the evening. Capulet's servant is sent to invite guests, but he can't read the list so he entreats Romeo to do so. Upon hearing of the party, Benvolio convinces Romeo to attend and compare his unattainable love Rosaline to more beautiful women to get his mind off Rosaline. At Capulet's house, Lady Capulet speaks to Juliet about her feelings for marrying Paris while Juliet's Nurse listens on, telling stories of Juliet's childhood. Juliet, although hesitant, promises to be courteous. Masked, Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio head to the Capulet party. Romeo is still depressed, saying he dreamt a fearful dream of an untimely death that will result because of the evening's events,...
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...1. The apothecary could be caught for making the poison through Romeo’s letter to his father. At the end of Act 5, the Prince mentions that Romeo stated that he bought poison from “a poor ‘pothecary” (5.3.299). As far as we know, there is only one poor apothecary in Mantua, as Romeo went to that specific one. Thus, the apothecary could be caught through Romeo’s letter. 2. The Capulet/Montague feud is similar to the modern-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Capulet and Montague fought in a long, violent feud. Likewise, the Israelis and the Palestinians are fighting in a conflict that resulted with many deaths and injuries, and has been going since 1948. 3. Mercutio is more of an outgoing, comical person, whereas Tybalt has a formal and aggressive personality. Early on, Mercutio talks with Benvolio as he jokes about Tybalt, calling him the “prince of cats” and “the courageous captain of compliments” (2.4.20-21). In contrast, Tybalt was irritated when he learned that Romeo had gone to the Capulet party. An attempt to fight Romeo immediately was stopped by Lord Capulet, displaying Tybalt’s aggressiveness. 4....
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...ROMEO & JULIET Prologue (ACT 1) As a prologue to the play, the Chorus enters. In a fourteen-line sonnet, the Chorus describes two noble households (called “houses”) in the city of Verona. The houses hold an “ancient grudge” (Prologue.2) against each other that remains a source of violent and bloody conflict. The Chorus states that from these two houses, two “star-crossed” (Prologue.6) lovers will appear. These lovers will mend the quarrel between their families by dying. The story of these two lovers, and of the terrible strife between their families, will be the topic of this play. ANALYSIS This opening speech by the Chorus serves as an introduction to Romeo and Juliet. We are provided with information about where the play takes place, and given some background information about its principal characters. The obvious function of the Prologue as introduction to the Verona of Romeo and Juliet can obscure its deeper, more important function. The Prologue does not merely set the scene of Romeo and Juliet, it tells the audience exactly what is going to happen in the play. The Prologue refers to an ill-fated couple with its use of the word “star-crossed,” which means, literally, against the stars. Stars were thought to control people’s destinies. But the Prologue itself creates this sense of fate by providing the audience with the knowledge that Romeo and Juliet will die even before the play has begun. The audience therefore watches the play with the expectation that it must...
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...Friar Lawrence’s plan for Juliet to escape from Verona and Paris to live with Romeo by faking her death. He gave her a potion that will make her appear dead for three days, long enough for her to avoid her wedding to Paris and be placed in her family tomb. It is there where she will awake to find Romeo waiting for her so they can live happily together in Mantua. I think Juliet trusts Friar Lawrence because of the fact that he agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet in secret. Because of this, Friar would be executed if he wed Juliet to Paris as he already marrying Juliet twice while Romeo is still alive. Juliet trusts him because if he doesn’t help her out of this situation he will be executed and his soul will be damned for doing such a thing. Juliet...
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...Did you know that Juliet was 12 and Romeo was 17 in the story of Romeo and Juliet. Although this age difference did not stop there growing love for eachother. Romeo and Juliet is a story based on two star crossed lovers who defy their parents trust and have relations with the enemy. The feud between the Montagues and the Capulets has been endless, only the death of loved ones was able to bring them together in the end. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet was caused by Friar Lawrence. One of the main reasons why I blame Friar Lawrence for the death of Romeo and Juliet is because he gave Juliet the idea and the potion to fake her death. This ended up making Romeo commit suicide with a small drink of poison. “Go with me the fault,” (V,3,130) this quote is by Friar Lawrence in Act V. This quote shows that he admits the fault is his and wants to go look at what he has done. Although some people may argue that he was just trying to help these two star crossed lovers, by doing so he was breaking the law by lying to the prince. This is one of my biggest...
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...determined fate. In the play of Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, fate controls the character by using their fatal flaws against them, Romeo's fatal flaw is his impetuousness, Juliet’s fatal flaw is her impulsiveness, and Friar Lawrence's fatal flaw is that he is blinded by his goal to bring peace to Verona. Fate used Romeos fatal flaw of impetuousness in act 1 scene 4, Romeo reads out a guest list for a Capulet servant, but decides to go to the party himself, knowing the Capulet’s are his enemy and it may be the beginning of the end. “I fear too early, / for my mind misgives / some consequence yet hanging in the stars / shall bitterly begin his fearful date / with this night’s revels, / and expire the term / of a despised life closed in my breast / by some vile forfeit of untimely death. / But he that hath the steerage of my course, / Direct my sail, / Oh,/ lusty gentle men” (1.4. 108-115) this is where Romeo acknowledges that there is something or someone controlling his life, but fate uses his impetuousness to control him to go to the ball against his better judgment, which ultimately was the beginning of the end for Romeo. Furthermore near the end of the play, fate once again uses Romeo's impetuousness to control his life when Romeo downs a bottle of poison upon seeing Juliet, thinking she was dead, despite the fact that he noticed traces of life in her body. “Ah, dear Juliet, Why art thou yet so fair...
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