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Romeo and Juliet - Guilty Deaths

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Romeo and Juliet - Guilty Deaths
Guilty Deaths
The Shakespearian play Romeo and Juliet is a well known story about star-crossed lovers whose fates end in tragedy. The deaths of these two lovers can be held responsible on two main characters, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse yet out of the two, who is more liable? Friar Lawrence is a priest who marries the two lovers, gives Juliet a fake potion to prevent her from marrying Paris, fails to send the letter to Romeo telling him about his plan and selfishly runs away from Juliet in fear that he would get into trouble for his involvement. The Nurse is Juliet’s lifelong caregiver who helps Juliet and her lover get married, becomes their “messenger” and later on in the play, changes her mind on who Juliet should be with. The physical actions and guidance of both the Friar and Nurse demonstrate their liability for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Although, it is undeniable that Friar Lawrence is more to blame than the Nurse on the deaths of Romeo and Juliet through his guidance, advice and physical actions throughout the play. In the play, Romeo and Juliet are very young and constantly seek advice and guidance of people older and supposedly wiser than them, like Friar Lawrence and the Nurse. What is unclear to them is that the advice and guidance that they receive comes with many consequences, and for Romeo and Juliet, it is death. Throughout the course of the Shakespearian play, Friar Lawrence gives the couple a lot of advice and guidance. To avoid marrying Paris, he tells Juliet to pretend to be dead with the help of a special potion he made. As part of the plan, he was supposed to inform Romeo of this arrangement yet he fails which later costs him his own life along with Juliet’s. “Come I’ll dispose of thee/ Among a sisterhood of holy nuns/ Stay not to question, for the watch is coming/ Come, go good Juliet. I dare no longer stay/” (Shakespeare 5.3 155) demonstrates how selfish he was as he left the Capulet tomb and let Juliet kill herself instead of

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