The deaths of Romeo and Juliet in William Shakespeare’s play are both sad and tragic. Although much could have been done to prevent their suicides, these “star-crossed lovers” ultimately are not able to avoid their destiny. A series of unfortunate circumstances result in disaster, and even though many people could be to blame for their deaths, Friar Lawrence plays a particularly integral role and is, therefore, the most responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet than anyone else. While some believe that Tybalt is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death, this is not the case. Upon further investigation, Friar Lawrence should receive the blame.
This was mostly due to poor timing and bad luck when it came to his plans. In his attempt to save Romeo and Juliet’s relationship he ended up killing them both. Nurse did the same by helping Juliet get into the whole relationship in the first place, then once again when she turned Juliet down when she asked for help to get out of marrying Paris. Nurse was just trying to do what was best for Juliet; but this time Nurse was wrong. Prince Escalus, unlike Nurse and Friar Lawrence didn’t affect the tragedy so directly.
Romeo decided that he was in love with Juliet upon sight without knowing who she was (Shakespeare 924). This was a terrible choice Romeo had literally no idea who she was and this could have stopped the whole conflict of the play. Romeo then ignored his dreams which he believed told his destiny (Shakespeare 921-1009). While if Romeo listened to these dreams which he believed told the future he would have been much more cautious because he would know that he was going to die prematurely. Also, by him listening to his dreams he would have made either little or no poor choices later in the play which results in his death.
The marriage was too rushed and secretive. The biggest thing Friar Lawrence did to cause all of the tragedy was when he agreed to give Juliet the sleeping potion. This caused Romeo to think she was dead, so he killed himself for her, and once she woke up and found he was
Romeo misunderstands this and believes Juliet is dead. He then buys a poison for himself and kills himself when Juliet wa playing dead. Juliet wakes up to find Romeo dead and even though Friar Lawrence pleads with her to refrain from killing herself, Juliet stabs herself and dies with Romeo. Friar Lawrence was always in favour of the two lovers and he did his best to bring good to them. However, fate changed his good intentions for the worse ans brought much tragedy to the lives of Romeo and
Fate is the prominent reason for the death of both Romeo and Juliet. In the prologue, they are illustrated as “A pair of star-crossed lovers” and later on their love is described as “death mark’d”. Right in the beginning, Shakespeare demonstrates that fate will bring them together, but it will also be the cause of their death. The play could have had a very different conclusion if some circumstances had been different. Perhaps the biggest determining factor of Romeo and Juliet’s demise was the fact that their families were feuding.
Who do you consider is most responsible for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet all ends in a terrible tragedy, however there has to be someone to blame for this, but who? I strongly believe that Friar Lawrence is responsible for the tragedy. The main reasons why I think he is to blame is because he married Romeo and Juliet without anyone’s permission; he also helped them to have a secret night together; gave Juliet a dangerous potion; faked her funeral breaking the hearts of her family and he continued abusing the use of confession throughout the play. The most disgraceful thing is that he is a man of god and he committed all of these horrendous sins!
However when he hears of Juliet’s “death” Romeo tries to “defy the stars” and kills himself (5.1.25). Romeo is taking responsibility for his actions by trying to defy his “fate” and finally taking thing into his own hands. This doesn’t work, since he didn’t bother to check if Juliet was still alive and just kills himself in his attempt to be together with her, even if it’s in death. Romeo uses fate to justify his actions and say that a power outside of his control fueled his action, but instead everything was just his impulsive choices. Friar Lawrence’s reckless actions brought together the deaths, and he blames them on fate.
When he first met Juliet, he seemed to have forgotten about Rosaline Thinking Juliet was dead, Romeo thought that his only option was to take his life out of grief for Juliet. His impatience resulted in the death of Paris, himself and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet's naive minds, suicide was the only answer to their problems. In Juliet's case she had other options but she choose to overlook. Romeo and Juliet's innocence show us that jumping into situations too fast can cause big problems.
The knife was destined to be how she killed herself. In the final act of the play, Romeo had been banished to Mantua from killing Tybalt. He runs into his old servant Balthasar, who told him that Juliet was dead. Romeo, not knowing that she had actually taken a sleeping potion, can’t believe she died, and states “Is it e’en so?-then I defy you, stars!” (V. i. 24).