In William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, one of the main characters, Juliet, commits suicide near the end of the play. Friar Lawrence is directly responsible for the death of Juliet in all ways. He makes not only one, but three mistakes that all lead to Juliet's death. He gave a poison to Juliet, he trusted someone else with a letter of great significance to deliver to Romeo, and he fled when Juliet was in the most danger at the tomb. Had he not have made these three major terrible mistakes, Juliet might not have killed herself.
Friar Lawrence made a major mistake that he could have avoided himself. He trusted Juliet, an unstable teenage girl, with a fake-death poison. This rash decision was a very poor choice on the friar's behalf. Here, the friar shows his irresponsibility by saying, "If... thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself... take thou this vial... no warmth, no breath shall testify thou livest;" (4.1.72, 93, 98) Friar Lawrence's idea for Juliet is very risky and he should have known better than to try it. Because of what happens, everyone thinks Juliet is dead and shortly thereafter, she is buried alive. This quote shows the true meaning of responsibility, because when he says this, her life rests in his hands. Capulet is even foiled by the plan, because when he says her faking her death, he said, "Death lies on her like an untimely frost." (4.5.28) The fake death has fooled Capulet, Juliet's father, and the rest of the family. Had Friar Lawrence not have given Juliet the poison, she would have never been put in the position that she was in, which eventually leads to her death.