Friar Lawrence is to Blame in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Death is horrible, but the cause of it can be notably more significant than just fate. The death of two youthful teens which devastated opposing households was caused by a monumental element in the story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare frequently used dramatic irony to produce countless disputes within the play that foil a plan made by Friar Laurence, in which this dismemberment and the unsatisfactory ploy led to the death of Romeo and Juliet.

The reasoning as to why Friar Lawrence's plan was in vain is caused by the lack of communication between Friar Laurence and Romeo. An example, when Friar John is supposed to give the letter to Romeo which informs him that Juliet is not dead he reports back to Friar Lawrence and says, “Suspecting that we both were in a house / Where the infectious pestilence did reign, / Sealed up the doors and would not let us forth, / So that my speed to Mantua there was stayed,” (5.2.9-12). This shows how the letter was not received by Romeo which contained the plan of faking the death of Juliet with the sleeping potion. This is important because Romeo never receiving the letter caused him to be in the dark about Friar Laurence’s plan of action for Juliet’s “death”, and he truly believed that Juliet was dead. This led to him eventually committing thoughtless acts. Traumatized by her death, Romeo goes to Juliet's body and cries, “O my love, my wife! / Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, / Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty / Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet,” (5.3.91-95). In these lines, Shakespeare expresses Romeo’s apparent distress, however, Romeo had noticed her cheeks were still red and she was not pale. The significance this holds is that it causes Romeo to take his own life for someone who was not dead and it ties into the importance of the letter that wasn’t delivered to Romeo. Dramatic irony is used the most in these scenes as a scarce amount of information Romeo knows and didn’t receive from Friar Lawrence which eventually leads him to kill himself and Paris. 

Another variable in the equation of Romeo and Juliet’s death was Laurence's subpar critical thinking making and poor execution of an already bad plan. An example of this is when prior to taking the potion, Juliet says, “Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again. / I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins / That almost freezes up the heat of life,” (4.3.14-16). This foreshadows Juliet's fear of what the potion will do or cause as a result of her taking it. This holds significance because Friar gave her this potion which caused everyone to presume Juliet as deceased, including Romeo. Furthermore, this caused Romeo to drink poison, purposely dying in the process with Juliet following suit by stabbing herself with Romeo’s dagger as a last-ditch attempt to die after kissing Romeo to transfer the poison to her lips failed. She weeps as Romeo lies dead in her arms. Her last words, wallowing in her sadness, she says “Yea, noise? O happy / dagger! / This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die,” (5.3.168-170). These lines depict the horrid outcome of Friar Laurence’s plan. This holds importance not only in the play but also in the heart of the readers. It portrays two teenagers, whose fates were written in the stars, succumbing to their fate as a result of the precarious plan, formulated by Friar Lawrence. The pair of “star-crossed lovers” would’ve had a more desirable ending to their tragic story if not for Laurence’s obstructive interference. 

Ultimately, the reader is inaugurated into the world of Shakespeare and the concept of dramatic irony, which is commonly used in the tale of fated to die lovers. Friar Laurence was a victim of what could be considered irrational decision-making by two teenagers. He laid a plan to help them out of a predicament and failed. Although their joint deaths were his fault, he did not dig the graves they now lie in.