Who Is to Blame for The Deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare. In the story, there is a town called Verona, which has two main houses, the Capulets and Montagues. Romeo, a Montague and Juliet, a Capulet “fall in love” in just a few days. This creates many conflicts because in Verona nobody mixes with the opposing house in a positive way and the houses are extreme rivals. In the end, the two protagonists each commit suicide. Friar Lawrence is to blame for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet because he is responsible for marrying Romeo and Juliet, he gave Juliet a potion that made her appear dead which led to the deaths, and he trusted a messenger with the most important letter in the book.

            First off, Friar Lawrence married Romeo and Juliet without thinking about how bad of an idea it was.  The friar is an impartial character in this story meaning he doesn’t really identify or belong to one of the families. This way he can communicate with all of Verona and have no rivalries, this also allowed him to be a moderator between Romeo and Juliet. In 2*6 the Friar agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet and the act concludes with the 3 going to his cell to get married. This started the whole fiasco and chaos that later came because of the relationship. Had the Friar not stupidly married Romeo and Juliet the tragedy may have never happened?

            The Friar is also to blame because he gave Juliet the vial, which contained the drug to have her act as dead on her marriage day with Paris. In the book, Juliet is arranged to marry a boy named Paris, obviously a fellow Capulet. Her parents arranged the marriage but nobody knows besides Juliet and her nurse that Juliet is really already married to Romeo.  In 4*1 Friar Lawrence gives the vial to Juliet while warning her to take it alone the following day by saying, “ Tomorrow night look that thy lie alone; Let not the Nurse lie with thee in thy chamber.” (4*1*93,94) This is not sufficient warning for Juliet and he should have known better to give a young adult such a power. Juliet then has moments of doubt later when she drinks the vial. Because the Friar got Juliet into the marriage issue he should’ve constructed a better plan to get her out of the deep hole she was in. This whole segment ties in with the tragedy because when Romeo sees Juliet “dead” he kills himself, which leads to Juliet really killing herself. Had the Friar handled the situation better he could've prevented their deaths.

            Even despite his mess up of judgment in giving out the vial to Juliet he could have saved Romeo had he sent him a notice about how the “death” was really just a short lasting drug. Now, Friar Lawrence did try to notify Romeo but he didn’t take full responsibility and make sure his letter got through to Romeo. Later in 4*1*125 Friar Lawrence promises to “send a friar with speed to Mantua” (this is where Romeo was banished following his crime of killing a Capulet, Tybalt.) He continues by adding “with my letters to thy lord” (Lord meaning Romeo) Basically, Friar Lawrence doesn’t take it upon himself to deliver the all important letter to Romeo and instead is lazy and sends a fellow friar who doesn’t know the importance of the note. Later, we learn the letter is never delivered and when Romeo finds out from his man, Balthasar in 5*1 of Juliet’s death he has no idea it isn’t real.

            In conclusion, Friar Lawrence is completely to blame for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. He is not made by Shakespeare to be a villain but he is the one who overall is to blame for their deaths. He worked them into the mess and throughout the course of the book only made things worse. If Friar Lawrence wasn’t a character in the book I wonder what the book would be like.