Friar Lawrence To Blame In Romeo And Juliet

The world works in mysterious ways. Every day, people pass away and a lot is never explained. Deaths happen all the time where the story is not fully shown. People consider who’s at fault for a death like murder, however an accidental death or sudden death can never be completely accidental. Many factors are tied to a death and people or things could have influenced it. In the play Romeo and Juliet that takes place in Verona, Italy, two star-crossed lovers are found dead, both by suicide. This is at the fault of many characters. However, Friar Lawrence is most at fault. He did not try to resolve the feud that was between the Capulet and Montague families, even though they both trusted him. He sent a letter that was important for the lives of
The feud was passed down from generations, and nobody is sure why it started. Instead of going and trying to make amends with the two families, Friar Lawrence says to Romeo, “For this alliance may so happy prove / to turn your households’ rancour to pure love” (2.3.91-92). This quote shows that Friar Lawrence depended on them getting married and expecting the families to resolve their conflict. It was a bad idea for the two to get married so rationally, and he did not try talking them out of it, rather he went along with the idea. Friar Lawrence did not think Romeo’s love for Juliet was real because he had just loved Rosaline, “Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear / so young forsaken? Young men’s love then lies / Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes” (2.2.66-68). Still, he agreed to marry them anyway. Even though Romeo and Juliet could have taken the responsibility to wait, Friar could have taken the responsibility to not marry them and make them wait until they knew each other better. “So smile the heavens upon this holy act / that after hours with sorrow chide us not!” (2.6.1-2) is what Friar Lawrence says to Romeo. He is hoping that the marriage will work out for the two of them, and that fate and the heavens won’t make them regret the decision of marring so soon. This also shows that he is depending on the marriage to work out, which doesn’t in the
To explain this further, Romeo was banished due to killing Tybalt. Since Juliet did not want to marry Paris, she and Friar had the idea of getting a potion that would pretend to kill Juliet. “To rid her from this second marriage / or in my cell there she would kill herself” (5.3.241-242). In this quote, Friar explains that he felt he was bound to help her, or she would have ended her life anyway. In the letter to Romeo it indicates what the plan was for the two. The letter meant life-and-death for both Romeo and Juliet. However, Friar did not tell Friar John who was to deliver the letter to him, that it was urgent. The Black Death was a threat, so Friar John did not think it was that big of a deal if he did not get the letter. He explains to Friar Lawrence, “Suspecting that we both were in a house / where the infectious pestilence did reign” (5.2.9-10). If Friar Lawrence told him that the letter was urgent, then Romeo most likely would have gotten it, and Romeo and Juliet would have not died tragically. Friar Lawrence should have come up with a better plan to let Romeo know what was