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Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare Essay

Decent Essays

The wise woman, Margaret Mead, who was a distinguished anthropologist, once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” A group of citizens in Verona sought to change the world of two star-crossed lovers. In spite of trying to improve their situation, Friar Laurence, Balthasar, Paris, Benvolio and Mercutio only lead Romeo and Juliet into tragedy. These characters always think they are helping, but they end up leading Romeo and Juliet to their deaths. Friar Laurence, Balthasar, Paris, Benvolio and Mercutio all played a trusted role either as a friend, lover or religious leader in Romeo’s and Juliet’s lives. However, despite their best intentions …show more content…

Friar Laurence had the greatest influence on Romeo and Juliet. The day after they met, the Friar married the couple, without parental consent. In this time period, parental consent was expected; the groom must ask the bride’s father’s permission. The Friar hopes to end the feud between the Capulets and Montagues by ignoring this rule and marrying the couple anyway. His plan of marriage fails at ending the feud and forces the Friar to devise more sneaky plans to hide his mistake. The issue is further complicated when Juliet is to be married to Paris promptly. The Friar’s very complex plan ensured that Juliet could not be married to Paris and that she could be together with Romeo. Juliet is the take a sleeping potion that makes her appear dead for fourty-two house/ The most important part of the plan is that Romeo, who is in Mantua, be informed to go to the tomb as Juliet wakes up. Friar Laurence doesn’t contact Romeo himself, so therefore the plan didn’t work. The Friar always intended to end the feud, but everything he did created a larger problem. The Friar’s good intentions lead to tragic results. Fate plays a major role because no matter how hard the Friar tried to make things better, they were destined to end poorly. At the end of the play the Friar realizes that the tragedy appears to be his fault, “I am the greatest, able to do the least, / Yet most suspected, as the time and place” (Rom. 5.3.223-224).

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