Responsibility In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

With great power comes responsibility. The power to manipulate people is especially powerful. Friar Laurence has that exact power, the ability to manipulate two young, lover sick teenagers named Romeo & Juliet written by the world renown William Shakespeare. The two of them seek help from the Friar Laurence and he comes up with a plan to fake Juliet's death and shortly after, have Romeo save Juliet from the family tomb and live happily ever after with each other. Unfortunately, Romeo is received fake information that Juliet has actually died. Romeo becomes completely mad and goes to Juliet's tomb to send his last few minutes with her before committing suicide. Juliet wakes up immediately after Romeo has committed suicide and commits suicide …show more content…
In the 1968 rendition of Romeo and Juliet, the messenger Friar John has a great deal of luggage on his horse. If Friar Laurence were to deliver the message himself, then he would have been able to ride faster than Friar John since John's horse would have significantly more weight than Friar Laurence's horse with no luggage. In the 1996 rendition of Romeo and Juliet, Lawrence is seen sending a letter through a public and crowded mailing system. The mailing system is always sending countless packages and letters constantly, less time would be spent if Friar Laurence just drove to Romeo directly, bypassing all the needless traffic in the mailing system. Friar Laurence could have even requested Romeo's servant and friend, Balthazard to send the letter. Balthazard would have no problem in being able to quickly send the letter. “Balthazard body sleeps in Capel’s monument, And her immortal part with angels lives. I saw her laid low in her kindred’s vault, And presently took post to tell it you. O, pardon me for bringing these ill news,” (Shakespeare, 622). That quote proves that Balthazard would give the information as fast as he could, because he reported Juliet's “death” to Romeo so …show more content…
However, it seems that Friar is unable to distinguish if the Romeo and Juliet's situation is safe and in control. News Flash, This situation is clearly out of control. “Juliet Tell me not, friar, that thou hear’st of this, Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it: If, in thy wisdom, thou canst give no help, Do thou but call my resolution wise, And with this knife I’ll help it presently” (Shakespeare, 617). The quote proves that Juliet is suicidal, so this is clearly out of Laurence's control, any situation with suicidal thoughts is a delicate situation that must be taking care with extreme precision, which includes many people. So why doesn’t Friar Laurence obtain some help? He could explain this to death Romeo and Juliet's parents and have them hopefully understand their deep love. However, both families are so controlled by their anger that they can’t think straight. So a better idea would be to speak with the Prince. The Prince seems one of the few characters who seem to be sane, so the Prince will surely understand the love between the two teens and explain this to their parents. All Friar Laurence would need to do is to set up time to talk with the Prince. The prince will surely listen to the Friar. Problem