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Friar Lawrence's Mistakes Essay

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Romeo and Juliet, a Shakespeare play written about two star crossed lovers. The forbidden love between Romeo and Juliet resulted in a great tragedy. There is one question that is asked now; who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Friar Laurence is to blame Romeo and Juliet’s death. The Friar had good intentions, but sometimes the right decision is not always the best. Friar Laurence makes not only one, but three mistakes that will eventually lead up to Romeo and Juliet’s death. The Friar’s first mistake was giving Juliet, an unstable fourteen year old, a powerful potion that would make her look dead, so she would not have to marry Paris. Friar Laurence actually shows his irresponsibility by saying, “Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself…take thou this vial…no warmth, no breath shall testify the livest”( Act 4.1.). Had Friar Laurence not given Juliet the poison, she never would have been put in the position that she was in, which lead to her death. Another mistake Friar Laurence made was trusting Friar John to send the letter to Romeo, and not even telling Friar John that the letter explained the situation of Juliet’s “death”. He is very careless, because he only tells Friar John how …show more content…

Lois Kerschen, a college English professor stated, “...the love of Romeo and Juliet was too ideal to survive in this imperfect world, it would seem a shame to think of true, passionate love inevitably leading to a bad result”(Kerschen 1). “Thy love did read by rote and could not spell. But come, young waverer, come, go with me, in one respect I'll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households' rancour to pure love”(Act 3.2). Even though the Friar was trying to bring the two families together by marrying Romeo and Juliet, he should have known that it was going to bring stress to both Romeo and Juliet. He should not have encourage “forbidden

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