Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is the tragedy of two “Star-crossed lovers” caught up in a whirlwind of love and hate in the city of Verona. There are a number of factors, which contribute to their tragic deaths, which I will explore in this essay.
I will begin by discussing Friar Lawrence who was a close friend and confidante. He married Romeo and Juliet in hope that it would end the feud between the two families, the Capulets and the Montagues. By referring to act two, scene three, Friar Lawrence said, “…For this alliance may happy prove to turn your households rancour to pure love.” Friar Lawrence was shocked when Romeo said, “…I have been feasting with mine enemy…” Romeo meant by saying this that he wasn’t in love with Rosaline anymore but he was in love with his enemy, Juliet Capulet whom he had spent the night with.
When Juliet didn’t want to marry Paris she visited Friar Lawrence declaring her deep feelings of love for Romeo and pleaded with him to help her get out of the marriage. Friar Lawrence, being a gentle, understanding priest had thought out a plan advising Juliet to drink a potion so it would appear she looked dead but she would actually be in a deep sleep. Her family would put her body in the Capulet’s tomb alongside her ancestors and the newly buried Tybalt. In the meantime Friar Lawrence would send a letter to Romeo explaining this plan to him and that in forty-two hours Juliet would awake as if she had just had a pleasant sleep. By this time Romeo would be next to her waiting for her to awake. Unfortunately Friar John who was supposed to deliver the letter to Romeo didn’t reach him in time because he couldn’t leave the house because the health officers suspected him of carrying the plague. On hearing this Friar Lawrence had to hurry to the tomb before Romeo reached her and thought she was dead. Romeo arrived first and saw Juliet lying there.