Miscommunication In Romeo And Juliet

The story of Romeo and Juliet is essentially a tragedy of miscommunication and of ‘ships passing in the night.’ Born from two feuding families, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love and try to be together; unfortunately, the plight of the star crossed lovers is ultimately fated to end in disaster, with each of them committing suicide to be with the other. Along the way, many others get caught in the tragic situation; Mercutio, Tybalt Capulet, and the County Paris are killed in fights for vengeance, not understanding the situation of Romeo and Juliet. Many people contributed to the ending of this sorrowful story but one of them, however, seems to have affected the situation the most. This person, Friar Lawrence, deceived everyone by
After all the damage is done and Romeo and Juliet have finally fallen, Prince Escales approaches Friar Lawrence in search of the truth. However, the Friar’s truth is different than the true path of the story. He states that when Juliet woke up in the tomb and saw Romeo dead beside her, he “entreated her to come forth and bear [the] work of heaven with patience” (5.3.260-261). However, he also states that a noise scared scared him from the tomb, and that “Juliet was too desperate to go with [him]” (5.3.262-263). He pictures himself as the voice of reason in this scenario, and that he did everything he could to save Juliet. However, the truth of the situation is a lot more sinister. The Friar’s real intentions were revealed at that point; he states that he would “dispose of [Juliet] among a sisterhood of nuns” (5.3.156-157), and that he will run away from the bodies of Romeo and Paris. He commands Juliet to come, so that he isn’t caught, but when she refuses, he leaves fully understanding that she will kill herself. As stated in “ Shakespeare’s Political Friar” by Gerry Brenner, “Friar Lawrence’s behavior in the tomb scene, when he recognizes the collapse of his political designs [to bring peace], further shows self-interest prompting him,” meaning that he knows his plan has failed and feels he must do everything necessary to remove himself from the situation. On a more pressing matter, he also shows no sympathy or consideration towards Juliet’s feelings at the time; he doesn’t offer any consolation or kindness even though that is what he’s supposed to do as a friar. He only cares about not getting caught red-handed at the crime scene; he doesn’t care that Juliet has lost the love of her life and that she’s feeling like her whole world has collapsed. In addition to his appalling behavior in the tomb, he also says that “to the marriage [Juliet’s] nurse is