Friar Lawrence is to Blame in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (Essay Example)

Who was to blame for Romeo and Juliets death? In the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Friar Laurence is responsible for their deaths. So many things were done wrong by Friar Laurence, that led to their deaths. The first mistake that Friar Laurence made was to agree to marry the two in secret and without the permission of their parents. The next bad advice he gave was when he instructed Juliet to fake her own death. The last wrong thing was giving the message for Romeo to an unreliable messenger. If any of these events did not take place, their deaths could’ve been avoided. Friar Laurence knows about the problems between the Capulets and the Montagues and he still marries Romeo and Juliet. One of the reasons Friar Laurence was the blame for Romeo and Juliet death is because Friar Laurence knew marrying them was a risk to them and him, and it was also a bad Idea because not too long ago Romeo was just in love with Rosaline. And friar thinks because they are both from the too fueling families that Romeo and Juliet’s marriage may bring the families together. And that’s mentioned in the play (Act2, Scene1) “But come young waverer, come go with me. In one respect, I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance, may so happily prove to turn your households `rancor to pure love.” So basically, he knows that Romeo is young.

“And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.” Here Friar Laurence is telling Juliet that his plan with the remedy so she can leave with Romeo after she wakes up. He also tells her, “Look that thou lie alone: let not thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. Take this vial while in bed.” This is when he tells her what to do with the vial the night before the wedding with Paris. He is responsible because he told her to drink the potion when she could have just run away or kept refusing to marry Paris. Friar Laurence acted irresponsibly when he sent someone else to send the letter. He says to Juliet, “Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift; And a hitcher shall he come.” Romeo is going to know what’s happening by the letters he sends him. He also tells her, “In this resolve I’ll send a friar with seed to Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.” He sent someone else to bring Romeo the letters. That’s very irresponsible of him. He is responsible because he should have gone himself and said it in person not through a letter because you never know what can happen. Friar Laurence is responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. He didn’t mind the family conflicts between the Montagues and Capulets. he was the one telling Romeo and Juliet what to do so they could be together. He sent someone unreliable to send the letter to Romeo. There is no reason why it is not Friar Laurence's. 

Another reason Friar Lawrence is to blame is that he tells Juliet to take the sleeping potion. The friar does not think about what could possibly go wrong with giving her. The friar should have put more thought into his plan, so the plan would not fail. The last reason Friar Lawrence is to blame is that he was not able to get a servant to Romeo to tell him that Juliet is not really dead. He could have sent out multiple servants at different times or just went himself to ensure that Romeo would get his message. In conclusion, Friar Lawrence should have made better decisions during the play to stop the tragedy from happening.