Introduction
Death, hatred and destruction penetrate the entire plot of the renowned William Shakespeare tragedy play, Romeo and Juliet. Two young individuals from warring households fall heads over heels in love and due to a twisted turn of events, the two commit suicide at the end of the play, actually within few minutes of each other. This suicide of the two major characters can be attributed to several characters within the play. Romeo himself can be said to be responsible for the both his death and that of his lover due to his rash decisions as a result of his general immaturity. He commited suicide which prompted his lover to act likewise. Two other characters, Capulet and Monatagues can also be said to be responsible for the deaths because of their mutual and irrational hatred that they share towards each other. The Nurse may also be blamed for these actions because of her attempts to play matchmaker. However, due to the fact that he encouraged Romeo’s relatively impulsive love for Juliet, married the two love struck youths secretly an without the consent of their parents and created a very risky plan without ensuring that all necessary elements and components were in place, the character Friar Lawrence is ultimately responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Friar Lawrence primarily because of his relative lack of proper judgment is hugely responsible for the untimely deaths of the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet (Culpeper, 12). Friar Lawrence completely disregarded his very own logic and he consequently missed various opportunities to save the two lovers. He knew better than to do some of the things that he did. He should first of all not have agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet. He should have realized that Romeo was an irresponsible and reckless individual which can be proven by the fact that he wanted to get married to Juliet after barely knowing her for even less than 24 hours (Bloom, 23). He was aware of this recklessness as can be seen from his statement, “So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts but in their eyes”. He agreed to marry the two after Romeo profusely protested. His basic reasoning that his actions would end the family feud between Romeo’s family and Juliet’s family was highly misguided as proven by the end events of the play. He thought that the marriage would end the feuding that existed constantly between the Capulets and the Montagues. Although his intentions were justified and good and beyond reproach, Friar Lawrence actions were however missteps that ushered the play towards a path of absolute tragedy. It is very clear that none of the sad occurrences or tragedies in the play would have taken place had the two youths Romeo and Juliet not been formally married. Had Friar Lawrence delayed the formal union between the two, the two young lovers would have had more time to court and Friar Lawrence would himself have had more time to clarify things with Montague and Capulet and diluted the situation (Culpeper, 25). In addition, Friar Lawrence should have taken time to ponder on Juliet’s dilemma with the other character Paris when she came to him seeking help. Instead, Friar Lawrence was caught completely off guard by the threats of Juliet about commit suicide leading him to hastily respond “Hold daughter! I do spy a kind of hope, which craves as desperate an execution as that is desperate to prevent” (Shakespeare, 4.1 68-70) and then gave her the fake poison known as vial. Friar should not have acted in haste especially after he had just warned Romeo about the consequences of haste stating that “Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast”. In a nutshell, Friar Lawrence as a grown logical man should not have let the pressure from others get to him and consequently distort his own judgment.
Friar Lawrence responsibility in the tragic events of the play is also exhibited through two other characters, Tybalt and Mercutio. When one of these characters Tybalt made a fight challenge to Romeo, he refused acknowledging that he was now related to him via his marriage to Juliet (Quiller-Couch and Hazlitt, 22). He refused to fight with Tybalt saying that “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee, doth much excuse the appertaining rage, to such a greeting” (Shakespeare, 3.1 61-63). However, when the other character Mercutio stepped into the fight to try and defend Romeo, Romeo attempted to bring an end to the fight. It was his interference that eventually led to the death of Mercutio. Thereafter, Romeo was so enraged that he lashed out instantly killing Tybalt. As a result of these actions, Romeo was banished and this set forth his journey towards the death of both him and his new bride. It is evident that the basic cause of the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt was the marriage between Romeo and Juliet that had been overseen by Friar Lawrence (Quiller-Couch and Hazlitt, 24). He was the mastermind of these tragic events which he started by marrying the two love struck youths, Romeo and Juliet (Bloom, 45).
Even after the death of Mercutio and the banishment of Romeo, Lawrence continued to be oblivious to the destructive nature of the two’s marriage. He continued making attempts to keep them together. He concocted a plan that was poorly throughout, risky and short sighted. He devised this plan hastily and in desperation because of Juliet’s threat that she would commit suicide if she was forced to marry Paris. Juliet was saying that “ Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it, if in thy wisdom thou canst give no help, do but call my resolution wise, and with this knife I’ll help it presently” (Shakespeare, 4.1.51-54). To appease her, Friar Lawrence gave her the fake poison, vial that would enable her to feign death and as result avert her marriage to Paris. He would then send a note to her husband Romeo informing him of the planned hoax and asking him to meet them at the graveyard where Juliet would be alive and kicking. This in fact brings into light another aspect, and this is irresponsibility on Friar Lawrence’s part that led to the death of the two characters Romeo and Juliet. He gave the letter to Friar John who ultimately did not deliver it causing Romeo to assume the worst. Had Friar Lawrence sent the letter himself, it would have reached Romeo and he would not have resulted to drastic action when he met his lover and though that she was dead and ended his own life. Due to his short sightedness and his lack of a proper and contingent plan, Friar Lawrence essentially doomed the people that he attempted to help.
Friar Lawrence cowardice is another reason why he is responsible for the tragic events. For instance at the grave scene, he ran away from Juliet at the moment she needed him the most. He ran away fearing the watch and in leaving her alone, she killed herself. He cared about his own welfare more than he cared for of others and in his worry of getting caught by the watchmen, he flees. He exhibits his self centeredness and the fact that he does not care about others. He leaves Juliet to commit suicide even if he is the one responsible for her being in that particular situation in the first place. If he had stayed behind, Juliet would not have had time to kill herself and her death could therefore have been averted. Juliet final words before ending her life are “Yea noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger, this is my sheeth” (Shakespeare, 5.3.169) before she proceeds to stab herself with the dagger. If Friar Lawrence had maybe stayed behind, he could have wrenched the dagger away but because of his heinous choice, one of the major characters of the play ends up dead.
It would perhaps have been better if the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet had not known Lawrence at all. He was responsible for their demise and he even himself admitted it when he stated that “Miscarried by my fault, let my old life/ Be Sacrificed some hour before this time,/ Unto the rigor of severest law” (5.3.266- 268). Friar Lawrence involvement and plan were not only foolish but his motives can also be significantly questioned. Unfortunately, the two lovers were in complete awe of their lifelong friend and confessor and therefore followed his plans religiously without any questions or suspicions (Thrasher, 37).
In short, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are directly attributable to the short comings of Friar Lawrence, his hasty decision making and actions and his relative shortsightedness. He set the catastrophe wheel in motion by marrying the two lovers, brought in a little bit of rashness and then toppled the two with bad decisions. In his attempts to please everybody, he essentially pleased no one and in fact only led them to tragedy. He made bad choices throughout the entire play, some that were completely inexcusable. His engagement in these terrible choices essentially doomed Romeo and Juliet to their sad and untimely demises (Culpeper, 61). Samples of these terrible choices made by Friar Lawrence include: marrying Romeo and Juliet in absence of their parent’s consent, trusting the unstable bride Juliet with a poison, giving a letter to someone else, (Friar John), instead of delivering it himself and finally fleeing the tomb when he was needed the most. Throughout the play, he basically showed how terrible a decision maker he was. Ironically, one of his strongest statements in the play is that: “They Stumble who runs fast”. It is ironical that such a wise man as shown by the above statement could not actually apply this wisdom in his actions and therefore help himself and others. He also states that “Virtue itself turns twice, being misapplied” (Shakespeare, 2.3.17). His advice would indeed suit him best and had he heeded his own wisdom and logic, terrible occurrences and tragedies like the death of the main characters, Romeo and Juliet could have been averted and everyone would have been happy.
Works Cited
Bloom, H. (1996). William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers.
Culpeper, J. (2010). Computers, language and characterisation: An analysis of six characters in Romeo and Juliet.
Hazlitt, W., & Quiller-Couch, A. (1955). Characters of Shakespeare's plays. London: Oxford University Press.
Nardo, D. (1998). Readings on Romeo and Juliet. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.
Shakespeare, W., & Lothian, J. M. (1966). Shakespeare's charactery: A book of characters from Shakespeare. New York: Barnes & Noble.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. New York: University Press, 1992.
Thrasher, T. (2001). Understanding Romeo and Juliet. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books.
