Preview

Romeo and Juliet Who Is to Blame

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
778 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Romeo and Juliet Who Is to Blame
Romeo and Juliet essay

The story of Romeo and Juliet is the best tragedy ever to be written. The tale of two adolescents taking their lives because of their love for one another has inspired a lot of controversy as to whether the adults surrounding these adolescents could have done something to prevent this tragedy. The truth is the adults in the situation are ultimately to blame for the deaths of their love struck teens. This essay will explain why Friar Laurence, Nurse and to a lesser extent Mercutio, caused the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

Friar Laurence is at fault for causing this catastrophe. Friar Laurence is one of many who should have guided Romeo and Juliet’s love into a more stable situation. It was the Friar who married these two young adults after they had only known each other for one day. ”In one respect I’ll thy assistant” Almost every girl would jump at the chance to be in a relationship with Romeo and the Friar should have seen this and tried to convince Romeo to slow things down. The Friar then further complicated this already immensely passionate and yet fragile relationship by giving a death emulating potion to Juliet. ‘Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope, which craves as desperate as execution as that is desperate which we would prevent. If. Rather than marry county Paris, Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself, Then is it likely thou will undertake a thing like death to chide away from this shame, that cop’st with death himself to ‘scape from it ; And, if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy’. The Friar does attempt to explain the situation in a letter but Romeo never receives it. It is Friar Laurence who is reprehensible for the death of Romeo and Juliet, due to his spontaneous actions he managed to obscure the situation which resulted in the ending of the two young lovers’ lives.

Juliet’s Nurse is also to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s sudden death. The Nurse’s role was to nurture and help Juliet make mature and responsible

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Friar Laurence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death because he agreed to marry them in secret. “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (II.I. 90). If he had not agreed to that, their outcome could have been different. Juliet would not have had to drink the poison and Romeo would not have had killed himself after seeing what he thought was Juliet’s lifeless body. “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” Friar Laurence wants to marry Romeo and Juliet for his own personal gain to end the fued…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe that Friar Laurence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence was the one that gave Juliet the potion that made her appear dead, therefore misleading Romeo and causing him to kill himself. Friar Laurence says “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilled liquor drink thou off; When presently through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humor; no pulse, no warmth, no breath.” When Friar Laurence was figuring out this plan he could had come up with something safer or a backup plan just in case something went wrong. He also should had thought of the pros and cons of this plan before he went through with it because he was faced with a huge problem when the plan could not get through to Romeo and…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, most of the events that happened, led up to the death of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Many, if not all, of the characters played an ultimate role in the tragic death of the ‘star crossed lovers’, but Friar Lawrence was certainly the biggest contributor. At first glance, one may look over Friar Lawrence and dismiss him as only a minor character in this story. However, upon closer examination, it becomes obvious that Friar Lawrence played an essential role in the development of the play and is seen to be the one for moving the action along. He played the role in nearly every aspect in the tragedy, from the marriage to the plan to rescue Romeo from banishment and to prevent Juliet from marriage to Paris. Friar Lawrence made multiple mistakes in which contributed majorly to the death of the ‘star-crossed lovers’. He not only made one, but three mistakes that lead to death of Romeo and Juliet. He married the lovers without the consent of either parents, he had the plan to use the sleeping potion so that Juliet could run off with Romeo and he failed to inform Romeo directly about that Juliet’s death was a scam. Thus Friar Lawrence bad actions, he is responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet.…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Friar Laurence is the character who is most responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Firstly, Friar Laurence marries Romeo and Juliet without either parents’ knowledge. He says “To turn your households’ rancour to pure love.” [II. iv. 95] in hope that the two families will get along. Moreover, they are from rival families who hate each other. Secondly, when he learns about the Capulet’s plan to marry Juliet to Paris, instead of helping Juliet escape or discussing the marriage with Paris, he comes up with the plan to get Juliet to drink the potion. The plan is unreliable in many different respects. The potion could not work, either killing Juliet or not making her appear died. Also, there would be timing issues, what if Romeo couldn’t…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, he is the one that had the idea for Juliet to drink the fake poison. He states, "take thou this vial, being then in bed, and this distilled liquor drink thou off... and then awake as from a pleasant sleep." (1021-1022) This means that if the friar never had the idea to have Juliet fake her death, Romeo would have never killed himself. There would have been no letter to be sent to Romeo, and nobody would have to worry about anyone's deaths. Also, Friar Laurence never knew that the letter would not get to Romeo. Secondly, Friar Laurence was the one who married them in the first place. He knew that they were forbidden to get married. He thought that if he married them, the drama and fighting between their families would stop. Friar Laurence states ¨in one respect I´ll assist be; For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households rancor to pure love¨(980) This is saying that not knowing what marrying Romeo and Juliet could cause, but he did it anyway. Little did he know that is would wound up with both of them dead. He thought that if they were married, nothing could go wrong. The friar thought there would be a happily ever after. If he never married them, then Juliet would learn that she has to do what she told, and not go behind her parents back. Both of these quotes explain that Friar Laurence is easily to blame for the tragic deaths of Romeo and…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare I blame the reason for their tragedy on Friar Laurence. In the play the Friar married Romeo and Juliet to each other and didn’t inform the Capulet's nor the Montague's. The Friar also tried to help Juliet by giving her a sleeping potion so she wouldn’t have to marry Paris. He also failed to deliver the letter to Romeo saying that Romeo didn’t die, but she was in fact sleeping. “I could not send it here it is again nor get a messenger to bring it thee so fearful were they of infection” (Shakespeare 470). Lastly the Friar had blamed the two lover's death of Romeo and Juliet when both the Capulet's and Montague's had heard of there passings.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What would happen if two star-crossed lovers dared to go against their parents’ wishes and tempted fate? At what price would they pay, for the price of love? William Shakespeare brought those questions to life in the story of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. There are many characters to blame for the deaths of the star-crossed lovers, however, there are three that are found more responsible than the others. Romeo and Juliet are deemed responsible for their untimely deaths while the Friar is held accountable for encouraging their unjustly marriage. The three of them; Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence, are to blame for their irrational and impulsive behavior.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some people may believe that fate is to blame for the Lovers’ deaths. They might think that the lovers took their own lives because something as harsh as fate left them no choice, but they are wrong. They are wrong because Romeo would not have killed himself, which would have led Juliet to not kill herself either, if Friar Laurence and the Nurse had informed them about the Friar’s plan. The Friar’s carelessness in sending the letter to Romeo instead of visiting him personally proves that The Friar is to blame.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Nurse and Juliet share a ceaseless bond in the beginning of the story. Juliet fills a hollow space in the Nurse’s heart, since the Nurse’s daughter passed away during infancy. Juliet…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tells a tragedy of two “star-crossed” lovers. The two lovers death may have left people questioning who is to blame? So, who is to blame? Many characters could be at fault for the deaths but the following are highlighted: Lord Capulet, Lady Capulet, and Fate. “To go with Paris to Saint Peters Church, or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romeo and Juilet

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Not only Mercutio, but the nurse aided in causing the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The nurse was the one who supported…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romeo And Juliet's Fault

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Friar was the root of Romeo and Juliet’s death. The Friar thought he could just make an ill-advised decision of marrying the two young children without their parents consent: ‘“this alliance may so happy prove’” he thought it would make their families reunite but in reality it was a very dimwitted choice (Shakespeare 2.4.91). Now even though he made this one wrong decision does not make him accountable for Romeo and Juliet’s death but the problem is that, that was not the only careless mistake he made: “’like death…cheeks shall fade …”’ he gave Juliet a potion that would make her appear dead. This potion made her seem dead to everyone that saw her including Romeo who already had an overwhelming dose of emotional stress which caused him to commit suicide. Even though it seems like the Friar might have been innocent towards this whole situation, he played a big part in the death of Romeo and…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Nurse was the messenger of Juliet, and also kind of teased her a bit. She could’ve tried to talk Juliet out of liking Romeo. She did however try talking her out of Romeo, but she didn’t do it enough to where Juliet might have stopped. She was also like Friar because she helped out with the marriage.…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romeo And Juliet Blame

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is one of the most popular romantic tragedies in history. The story talks about “TWO STAR CROSSED” lovers hence Romeo & Juliet both come from 2 families, in a ancient grudge more like enemies. Romeo is from the Montague family and Juliet is a Capulet. They saw each other at a party the Capulets had held; they fell in love and got married. However, it's like something was stopping them from being happy; it was somehow leading both of them in a completely different direction, the opposite of what they wanted... DEATH.…

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The treasured couple of Romeo and Juliet were doomed because of the trusted Friar Lawrence. He unintentionally caused the death of both Romeo and Juliet. With love, the two died together out of desire, for Juliet couldn’t be without her Romeo, and Romeo couldn’t be without his Juliet. Friar was sorry for his abundant mistakes and owned his responsibility of their…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays