General

Anyone wanna read over my paper?

Doing a paper on Romeo and Juliet explaining who I personally think is to blame for all of the tragic events in the story. Anyone care to read and give criticism or suggestions? Thanks!

While reading Romeo and Juliet you can notice that the cause of the tragic events cannot be blamed on one single person. All of the tragic events happen because of a collective "effort" of all the characters. However I personally feel that of all the characters in "Romeo and Juliet" Friar Lawrence is most responsible for the tragic events that befell Romeo and Juliet. He was unable to help Romeo when he needed guidance most, foolishly married Romeo and Juliet for selfish reasons, and gave Juliet the sleeping potion causing her family grief and pain.
When people need guidance they ask for help. Whether it is from a friend, father figure, or relative, they use the guidance of whomever they trust the most. In Romeo's case he trusted Friar Lawrence the most and decided to go to him for advice when he was troubled. In Act II Scene 3 after meeting Juliet, Romeo felt confused as to whether he loved her or not. When he went to Friar Lawrence seeking guidance, Friar Lawrence simply brushed off his love saying that he was simply a child and this would pass over just like his others. This caused Romeo to act by his own poor judgment instead of taking Friar Lawrence's advice. If Friar Lawrence had listened to Romeo and taken him seriously, he could have potentially prevented the engagement/marriage of Rome and Juliet.
In Act 2 Scene 5 after Romeo had shrugged off Friar Lawrence's bad advice about Juliet he proceeded to ask her to marry him. When she agreed, he came to the Friar asking him to marry them. The Friar did not think about Romeo or Juliet, he thought about ending the feud between the two families. He did not give one single thought to the well-being of Romeo and Juliet or the fact that their parents could possibly banish them for this. Any other person with the right intentions would have not married them as they had only known each other for 16 hours, and were still both minors. Because of Friar Lawrence's bad judgment and quick actions he dug Romeo and Juliet's grave.
The final moment in which the Friars advice was needed most, he once again failed. In Act IV Scene I Juliet comes to him in despair saying she was going to be forced to marry Paris and threatened to kill herself. The Friar could have attempted to reason with Juliet and resolve the problem, but instead he gave her the sleeping potion to solve the problem the easy way. He feared that Juliet would give away the secret of Romeo and her being married and that he would get in trouble for marrying them. Instead of taking a risk he acted safely and selfishly by giving her the sleeping potion causing her family grief and putting a hand on the dagger that killed Juliet.
From this it can be concluded that the character who caused most of the tragic events was Friar Lawrence. He acted selfishly and never thought of Romeo or Juliet's well-being throughout the play. Because of this he ultimately was the one to cause their deaths.