In the poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (Shakespeare’s chief source for the play), Arthur Brooke argues that Romeo and Juliet are villains. They are guilty of
thralling themselves to unhonest desire; neglecting the authority and advice of parents and friends; conferring their principal counsels with drunken gossips and superstitious friars (the naturally fit instruments of unchastity; attempting all adventures of peril for th’ attaining of their wished lust; using auricular confession the key of whoredom and treason, for furtherance of their purpose; abusing the honourable name of lawful marriage to cloak the shame of stolen contracts; finally by all means of unhonest life hasting to most unhappy death.
Let us know how you feel, Arthur!
Of particular importance for my investigation of the play is the sentence “neglecting the authority…of parents and friends.” Shakespeare’s adaptation of Brooke leaves more room for a sympathetic reading of Romeo and Juliet by showing that their disordered affections are the product of their disordered society.
Brooke’s argument condemns the Friar, and Shakespeare too, I think, condemns the Friar, or at least finds him a representative of an ineffective church. The fact that the Friar is Catholic is not incidental. A conspicuous doctrine of Catholicism is that men in holy orders do not marry. Where, then, can a minister present a model healthy romantic love? Romeo and Juliet only see family as a means of exerting earthly power. They react by imbuing their love with spiritual authority. The results are devastating.
Seven insights, then, on this final act of the play…
- The Apothecary is the Friar’s double. Sequestered and concerned with nature’s secrets, the Apothecary provides the parallel potion to Romeo that the Friar supplies to Juliet. Given that the Apothecary is withered and malnourished, this does not say much for the Friar.
- The Friar’s plans backfire because of fear. The black plague is still ravaging Italy. When church members try to help the sick, fearful townspeople quarantine them. The Friar’s message to Romeo goes undelivered. The Friar’s reaction? “Unhappy fortune!”
- Romeo’s death speech lacks any reference to the afterlife. He has made Juliet his heaven. With Juliet’s death, Romeo decides to die too. He does not plan to meet her in heaven or pause to consider what suicide means for his soul. He dies because Juliet’s love in this world has been his afterlife, the most damning element of his passion.
- The Friar now asserts Providence to explain to Juliet what went wrong: “A greater power than we can contradict / Hath thwarted our intents.” God? Fortune? A personal God? An impersonal fate? The Friar doesn’t say.
- Juliet does not refer to the afterlife before she dies either.
- The Friar’s final speech parodies Christ’s paradox about the first and last: “I am the greatest, able to do the least.” Shakespeare provides a motto for the Catholic Church in this play. The Friar is the most responsible for what happened, and he’s been the least effective.
- Romeo and Juliet are mock Christs. Their sacrifice sets the Montagues and Capulets at peace. But what a cost! Neither family has an heir remaining. Neither will their children will be resurrected. Christ gives himself to His Father as a substitute for the sins of his bride, the church. Romeo and Juliet are not sacrificing themselves so much as saying they don’t want to live without the other. They live only for themselves.
- The Prince ends the play by observing that the sun has hidden its face. The sun is symbolic of earthly authority, and indeed the sun has hidden its face in this play. The competing worldly institutions of church, state, and family are disordered, resulting in tragedy.
Experiments in Criticism 