Blame is not always associated with one person; it can be associated with multiple people and things together. William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Romeo and Juliet, portrays two star-crossed lovers named Romeo and Juliet, part of two warring families. The two even get married, partly to end the feud. Finally, the feud between the two households causes tragic results for both of them. Friar Lawrence, Balthazar, and the Black Plague spark the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence makes many mistakes, which ultimately leads to the demise of Romeo and Juliet. When Friar Lawrence marries 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” (II.iii.97-99). The main reason the Friar marries Romeo and Juliet is because he wants to end the family feud. He marries them in secret, which causes many problems, including the banishment of Romeo and the fixing of marriage for Juliet. When the Friar runs into the scene …show more content…
After Friar John fails to deliver the message to Romeo, he replies to Friar Lawrence, “I could not send it—here it is again—/ Nor get a messenger to bring it thee /So fearful were they of infection” (V.ii.14-16). Because of the Black Plague, Friar John could not travel to Mantua. This resulted in the message never getting to Romeo. This miscommunication leads Romeo to suicide and lay dead next to Juliet. When things do not go according to plan, The Friar decides to “ write again to Mantua, / And keep [Juliet] in [his] cell till Romeo come” (V.ii.28-29). This messes up Friar Lawrence’s plan because he cannot write to Romeo when he gets Juliet. If it was not for the Black Plague, everything would have gone according to plan since Romeo would have gotten the message. The Black Plague plays a big role in the miscommunication between Romeo and the
In the play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence hastily thought up a plan to reunite Romeo and Juliet. It was poorly thought out and Lawrence neglected to think of the consequences that could take place if the plan should unfold as intended. Meanwhile, Fate seemed to have its way with the young couple, throwing numerous obstacles to get in the way of their love. It seemed as if Romeo and Juliet’s love was doomed from the very start. Due to these unfortunate circumstances and twisted chain of events, Friar
This reveals that Friar Lawrence wants to marry them in order for the families’ feud to end and not for Romeo and Juliet's’ love. He was also against it because it was impulsive of Romeo to get married right away but again, wanted to clear up the feud. In addition, when Friar John told Friar Lawrence that he was unable to send the letter Friar Lawrence said, “But I will write again to Mantua” (V.iii.28) This demonstrates that he did not try to warn Romeo right away and that may have led to Romeo’s untimely demise. He also could have reached out to him sooner and may have been able to prevent Romeo’s death (simple).
To begin with, Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death. For example, Friar Lawrence took it upon himself to marry Romeo and Juliet, thinking it would end up bringing the families together when it ended up doing the opposite. This is proven when Friar Lawrence 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 figured if Juliet and Romeo were married, the families would be forced to get along. Additionally, Friar Lawrence is the one who came up with the plan to give the sleeping potion to Juliet when he knew it would be risky business. Also, when Juliet woke up from her sleep and found Romeo dead, Friar should have assumed that she was in a fragile state. Friar left Juliet because he didn’t want to get caught. This is where Juliet decided to stab herself with the dagger and take her life. If Friar would have waited in the tomb with her, he could have
Friar Lawrence made a plan, but still managed to fail the most important aspect, sending a message to Romeo informing him of the plan. When Juliet had taken the potion Friar Lawrence was supposed to send a message to Romeo explaining what his plan was to bring the two together. Friar Lawrence sent Friar John to send the letter. On Friar John’s journey a plague broke out and in fear of catching disease he was not able to deliver the message to Romeo.
Romeo and Juliet were two young people from feuding families, who fell in love. Their love was so strong, that they ended up dying for each other. The ironic twist at the end of the story surprised many who had read it. But who is to blame for this tragedy? Many characters in this play could be to blame. We believe that some of the characters to blame are Capulet, Friar Lawrence, plus Romeo and Juliet themselves.
The Friar had good intentions in the beginning of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, but his promotion of their secret relationship contributed to the events that all ushered the lovers to their death. He had originally wanted to make Romeo happy and attempt to put an end to the feud. This is true because Friar Lawrence clearly states his intentions in this quote, “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your household’s rancor to pure love.” (Act 2 Scene 3 Lines 91-92) This shows that his intentions were good in the beginning before everything went downhill, but not everything worked out the way he had planned. He wanted to do everything he possibly could in order to make it that Romeo and Juliet could be together and not have to have any worries. However, the help that he offered both the lovers ended up backfiring in his face with so many problems arising for the plan to be properly executed. His letter never made its way too Romeo which caused the whole plan to fail as a result. Although, the he can be blamed for helping push the lovers in the direction of their doom, but he can’t be completely blamed for the mistake with the letter. Throughout the play there seemed to be forces like fate which are bigger than the characters and that are working to guide Romeo and Juliet to their end. So, despite Friar Lawrence playing a
Within every tragic ending, lies at least one or more accomplice. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, many things happen that involve many different people, so it could be hard to pinpoint one person to blame for the deaths of the two young lovers Romeo and Juliet. Romeo, Benvolio, and the Capulet and Montague ancestors are to blame. Romeo is to blame because he acts rashly and does not think things through. Benvolio is at fault because he encourages Romeo to go to a Capulet party where he meets the love of his life. Romeo and Juliet's ancestors are also to blame because they created the feud that resulted in the lover’s tragic end. With so many people playing a part in the relationship, putting the blame on one person is difficult.
What is blame? Blame is an assigned responsibility for a fault or a wrong. Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend explain to the readers, "We live in a culture of blame. People will blame anyone or anything for their misery sooner than take the responsibility to own it and make it better,” (Cloud and Townsend, 1). The quote above elucidates that people resort to blame because psychologically they do not want to take responsibility for the fault that they have committed. Blaming is a factor in Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet, for the reason that blaming is a major cause of Romeo and Juliet’s death. Friar Lawrence and Capulet are two of the main factors to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet.
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
Friar Lawrence, the Franciscan who marries Romeo and Juliet, appears in Act 4 when Friar gives Juliet a drug so she could fake her death. He says to Juliet, “Now when the bridegroom comes to get you out of bed on Thursday morning, you’ll seem dead. Then, as traditional demands, you’ll be dressed up in your best clothes, put in an open coffin, and carried to the Capulet family tomb. Meanwhile, I’ll send Romeo word of our plan.”. Friar knows that Romeo would do something crazy if he found out that Juliet was dead and since Romeo was banished from Verona Friar should’ve sent the message himself so nothing would get in the way of the message being sent.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, death is a frequent subject. Whether it’s Romeo comparing “light and dark” or Juliet threatening to kill herself, death is always the topic of conversation. At the conclusion of the story, Romeo and Juliet tragically die. This brings up a drastic question: who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Based off of textual evidence, the feuding families are to blame as everything happened because they were fighting in the first place.
Have you ever blamed a character for a tragedy in a book or movie? In Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, there is an infamous ending that almost everyone knows. The ending where the two star-crossed lovers kill themselves. They took their own lives because of the love that they shared. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet can be blamed on the feud, the spontaneous decisions of Romeo, and Friar Lawrence.
Many of us know the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet and how it all ended. What we do not know is who is to blame. There is not one, but three people that are possibly responsible and are to take the blame for the death of these two children. These three include the Capulets, The Nurse, and Friar Lawrence.
As the old saying goes, young love is blind. Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare, two star-crossed lovers defying their families’ ancient grudge to be with each other, even if that means in death. The question is who is to blame? Romeo, even in death should be held responsible. If it weren’t for his series of misguided actions the outcome would have been very different. The situations he created for himself showed his fickle nature, impulsive behavior and impatient demeanor towards everything that occurred.
Friar Lawrence decides to marry Romeo and Juliet, which causes most of the problems. The couple always wants to be together, but it is difficult for them to accomplish this because of their families’ consistent feud. “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (Shakespeare 411). This quote confirms that Friar Lawrence has belief that Romeo and Juliet’s marriage will have a successful product. He contemplates the wedding and truthfully thinks that the Montague and Capulet conflict will change direction. Ultimately, Friar Lawrence causes the whole story to tumble down, and nothing seems to go right for neither Romeo nor Juliet.