Laurence are kind but powerless characters who inadvertently contribute to the
tragic ends of Romeo and Juliet. The Nurse is ignorant and unthinking as she
enjoys and sets up the secret marriage, but she does not think about the
consequences or take responsibility for them. The Nurse helps Juliet to marry
Romeo when the Nurse knows it is forbidden. The Friar is wise and insightful
when he marries Romeo and Juliet, but he simply does not have the power or the
foresight to stop the tragic events that come after the marriage. Friar Laurence
agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though it is risky. These two characters
share good intentions and love for Romeo and Juliet, and share the
responsibility for their deaths. The Nurse helps Juliet to marry Romeo because
she is just thinking about Juliet’s feelings without thinking about the
problems this marriage could cause. In Act I, Scene. v., lines 137-138, she
tells Juliet who Romeo is. It causes Juliet to get very upset: “My only love,
sprung from my only hate.” (I.V.139), but the Nurse doesn’t think about
this. She doesn’t see the trouble that has started. After the nurse realizes
that Juliet and Romeo love each other, she doesn’t stop it; instead, she
agrees to carry the message to Romeo, although she knows Romeo is a Montague.
After the Nurse has a secret meeting with Romeo, she teases Juliet and praises
Romeo as a handsome and nice young man. She does not explain to Juliet the
problems of loving Romeo. She helps and encourages Juliet to get to Friar
Laurence’s cell to get married. The Nurse doesn’t consider the dangerous
result of this action. She only thinks of the moment. After the marriage, the
Nurse quickly abandons Juliet. The Nurse refuses to help Juliet any more after
Romeo kills Tybalt. Even though the Nurse supported the marriage before, she
does little to stop the forced marriage of Juliet to Paris. She does not
understand Juliet’s emotional love for Romeo because the Nurse only thinks
love is physical. She suggests to Juliet that Paris is as good as Romeo, and
Juliet might as well take Paris because no one will know: “I think you are as
happy in this second match,/ For it excels your first: or if it did not,/ Your
first is dead; or ‘twere as good he were” (III. v.) The Nurse ignores the
feelings that Juliet has, and she doesn’t think about Juliet’s religious
fear about marrying two men at the same time: “My husband is on earth, my
faith in heaven;/ How shall that faith return again to earth,/ Unless that
husband send it me from heaven/ By leaving earth?” (III. v.) . The Nurse
thinks Romeo is as good as dead, and no good to Juliet. Her ignorance makes the
Nurse unwise in letting Juliet sleep alone at the wedding eve, even though
Juliet is upset and doesn’t want to marry Paris. The Nurse loves Juliet like
her own daughter, but when she helps Juliet, she contributes to the tragic
outcome. Friar Laurence is an intelligent and loving man who wants to end the
fighting and help the two young lovers be together. Friar Laurence knows the
danger of physical love when he tells Romeo, “... young men’s love, then,
lies/ not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes” (II. iii.) After careful
thinking, Friar Laurence agrees to conduct the marriage of Romeo and Juliet,
although he knows it is dangerous. He chooses to marry Romeo and Juliet because
he hopes this marriage could stop the war between the families: “In one
respect I’ll thy assistant be;/ For this alliance may so happy prove,/ To turn
your households’ rancour to pure love” (II. iii.). He marries them in secret
and doesn’t tell Montague or Capulet about the marriage immediately. Friar
Laurence does everything he can to make the right decision about the marriage,
and does not give up when things go wrong. Friar Laurence believes in what he is
doing, and does not abandon Romeo and Juliet when the trouble starts, but his
plans accidentally lead to their deaths. When Romeo kills Tybalt and is
banished, he gets very upset and feels that he cannot live without Juliet. Friar
Laurence is smart; he convinces Romeo that he is lucky to be only banished and
not put to death for killing Tybalt: “Thy fault our law calls death; but the
kind prince,/ Taking thy part, hath brush’d aside the law/ ... This is dear
mercy, and thou see’st it not” (III. iii.). When there seems to be no way
for Juliet to escape marriage to Paris, Friar Laurence gives Juliet the drug to
make her look dead. He plans for Romeo and Juliet to escape and live in Mantua.
However, Friar Laurence could not control everything enough for his plans to
work. Unfortunately, Romeo does not receive the news that Friar Laurence sends
to him because of a plague on the road to Mantua. This causes Romeo to think
that Juliet is really dead and kill himself before Friar Laurence can get to the
monument. When Juliet wakes up, she also does the same thing. Friar Laurence
tries to help Romeo and Juliet, but he knows that he doesn’t have the power to
change their fate. Friar Laurence does his best for Romeo and Juliet after the
trouble starts, but his plans actually contribute to their tragic ends. Even
though they try to help, the Nurse and Friar Laurence help cause the tragic
deaths of Romeo and Juliet. They help cause their deaths in different ways. The
Nurse does not think about what will happen when she helps them marry, and does
not help Juliet or take responsibility after the marriage. Friar Laurence is
very careful before the marriage, and tries his best to help after the marriage,
but it is not enough. His plans actually hurt them.