Romeo And Juliet Bad Decisions Essay

Poor decisions are present in many places in the play of Romeo and Juliet, especially in the role of Friar Lawrence. One of the major decisions that later prove to be of bad judgement was his choice to willingly marry Romeo and Juliet, in absolute discretion other than notifying a select few. This is not only seen as a foolish move by the audience, but also by Friar Lawrence himself as he states “These violent delights have violent ends/ And in their triumph die, like fire and powder” (II, vi, 9-10). Here, it is shown that “like fire and powder”, Friar Lawrence himself predicts that this marriage will end in an explosion of sorts. This decision also comes back to haunt the characters later when Juliet and Paris are arranged to be married, but Juliet has already wed Romeo (III, iv), due to Friar Lawrence.

This issue lead to another problem, Friars Lawrence’s decision to exclude Balthasar from the plan, which also aided in the failure in itself. As Balthasar himself states “I brought my master news of Juliet’s death/ And then in post he came from Mantua” (V, iii, 272-273). What Balthasar stated here would never had happened if Friar Lawrence had reconsider his changes to his plan. What more, just as the first wedding Friar Lawrence realizes there were flaws in his decision as “A greater power than we can contradict/ Hath thwarted our intents” (V, iii, 153-154) he says. Meaning that a god like being/force has interfered and that they will no longer be successful. Friar Lawrence himself realizes his bad judgement, as he realizes the fault in his