Horne1
John Horne
Honors English 9B
Mrs. Johnson
4-14-13
The story Romeo and Juliet is a very dramatic story. However did you ever think about who really was responsible for the two lover’s deaths? I believe the Friar is most responsible, because he was the one responsible for faking Juliet’s death, and telling Romeo that he faked her death.
Let’s take a look at some scripts from the play shall we? In Act 2 Scene 6 the Friar says: “These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die, like fire and powder….etc”
From these words you can tell that he knew that there was conflict in between these two families and he knew there would be more violence, however he just continued in the marriage ceremony.
When Romeo was banished from Verona the Friar encouraged him to leave, even though he knew that leaving would be more pain to Romeo than death itself. But taking the Friar’s advice Romeo leaves. Then when Juliet is forced to marry Paris the Friar mentions his “brilliant plan” of faking her death and then sneaking Romeo and her out of town. So now Juliet’s life is in the hands of the Friar.
Now the Friar sends another Friar to give Romeo a letter explaining the situation with Juliet. However the letter did not get to Romeo, he eventually heard that Juliet had died and came to visit her. So when Romeo got to her grave he committed suicide and then when Juliet woke and saw the Romeo had killed himself she did the same.
The Friar got the news that the letter did not reach Romeo, and he decided to write again and get Juliet to his cell until Romeo came. However Romeo was already on his to see Juliet’s grave when the Friar was writing his letter.
As you can see, the Friar played a major part in this drama. But he could’ve prevented the whole thing if he did not let Romeo and Juliet marry or let the parents know that this couple would die for each other. What the facts boil down to is that the Friar was responsible for these tragic deaths.