The Best Intentions “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is very appropriate to describe the events in Romeo and Juliet’s lives. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, a major topic of discussion is whether adults play a supportive or destructive role in the lives of teenagers. The characters the Nurse, Friar Laurence, and Lord Capulet are very important and influential in Juliet’s life, although they might not always use the right judgment and make decisions that are best for her. Throughout Juliet’s whole life, the Nurse is someone who takes care of her and watches over her, while her mother and father are busy living their high society lives. Nurse loves Juliet with all of her heart and would do anything for her. Since her instincts are to always have Juliet’s guard and be protective of her, this is very helpful during the honeymoon of Romeo and Juliet. She retrieves a rope ladder for Romeo to climb up to Juliet’s balcony at night so they can spend time together. She even stands outside her door keeping watch just in case any family members decide to barge in. But sometimes she makes wrong decisions or is immature around peers. For example when Juliet is going through the tragedy of being forced to marry County Paris when she is already married and in love with Romeo, the nurse says, “I think it best you married with the County. O, he’s a lovely gentlemen!” (III.v.219-220). This causes Juliet to lose trust in the only person remaining on her side. This example seems to be destructive to Juliet and leads to worse consequences later in the play. The Nurse is a colorful character that I think keeps the story alive and entertaining for the audience, but by trying to be supportive of Juliet she sometimes causes her harm.
Friar Laurence is also an adult figure that Juliet can go to for help and looks up to as a mentor. At the end of the play when Juliet sees Romeo is dead on the floor, Friar tries to get her to leave but she refuses to move, so he just leaves the tomb without her. It is irresponsible of him to leave her alone, and that leads to Juliet killing herself due to grief. Friar might have caused a lot of bad things to happen because he doesn't always think through his plans thoroughly, but he is also was very supportive of Romeo and Juliet as lovers. For example when Romeo is banished from Verona, Friar Laurence devises a plan for them to be together in Mantua and flee from their families who constantly try to control their lives. When Juliet comes into his cell crying because she doesn't know what to do, Friars simply says, “ Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope, which craves as desperate an exaction as that is desperate which we would prevent.” (IV.ii.68-70). Juliet becomes so thankful because she is finally going to live happily ever after. This is an example that well represents the personality, cleverness and generosity Friar has for all. Friar is always willing to help people and always has ideas even if they don’t work out. The fact that he always tries to be helpful shows that he