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Who Was The Friar Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

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Who is responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Could the Friar be the one to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? The tragedy, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, displays the violent love between Romeo and Juliet. A love so strong, that it kills both of them. You can argue many secondary causes for their deaths. The Friar for example, decided to marry Romeo and Juliet because he thought the alliance would solve relationships, come up with quick and dangerous plans for the couple, and he fled the scene (the death of the lovers) when it was an issue that he caused. Though the Friar is not the only person to blame, his decisions to be negligent towards his duty and make irrational choices for the “star-crossed lovers' …show more content…

However, he still married them because he thought that the alliance would end the long standing Capulet-Montague feud. “...for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancour to pure love” (2.3, 91-92). After Romeo goes to the Friar determined to marry Juliet, the Friar agrees to marry them. He believes that if Romeo and Juliet get married, it will end the ongoing feud between the Capulets and Montagues. At the end of act 2 scene 4, the Friar and Romeo are conversing about Romeo and Juliet’s marriage. Romeo states that he wants to get married as soon as possible after the Friar said that their marriage can end the family feud. The Friar proceeded to marry them very quickly. He did not give himself or the couple any time to think about what they are doing and what consequences would come with it. The Friar rushes to marry them because he thinks that it would fix the family feud. He was not sure of anything before marrying them, he just went along with it hoping for the best. The Friar did not expect both of the lovers to die after he married them, he did it for the sole purpose of ending the feud between their families. The Friar did not think his decisions through and was blind to the consequences that came with …show more content…

He told Juliet that he would give her a poison to drink that would make her seem dead for 42 hours. He told her that when she woke up, she would be with Romeo and they would be running away to Mantua together. In act 4 scene 1, Juliet states that she would rather kill herself than marry Paris. The Friar sets up a plan for Juliet to fake her death. He asked Juliet that if she would rather die than marry Paris, she would have to fake her death. The Friar tells Juliet to consent to marrying Paris. Then Wednesday, when she’s alone, she shall drink the poison. This poison will present Juliet as dead for 42 hours. After that passes, she will wake up, reunite with Romeo, and they will run away together to Mantua. The Friar proposed this idea to Juliet to abide by her wishes. Juliet’s love for Romeo and her desperation has led her to resort to violence to secure her wishes. The Friar makes a hasty decision that was not well thought out. He had already married Romeo and Juliet and he knew that Juliet would be committing bigamy if she married Paris. He resorted to a plan that he could execute quickly, without knowing that his plan would have consequences. “In the meantime, against thou shalt awake, Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, And hither shall he come, and he and I Will watch thy waking, and that very night Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua” (4.1, 116-120). The Friar arranged to send a letter to Romeo, explaining

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