states "Come cordial, and not poison, go with thee." (Romeo and Juliet, V, I, 85). This is coincidental to what Juliet had said earlier, in Act IV, Scene III, when she drinks to Romeo. Cordial means hearty, or sincere. When someone drinks to someone else it is usually in good health. The reuniting of the two lovers in such circumstances (Romeo's unawareness) could only have happened as it did by timing. One could ask what if the friar had left early?, or what if the friar had caught Balthasar and given him the message? Because of bad timing neither happened. Coincidence is a controlling element regarding the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, more so than in other areas of the play. The following examples also deal with "close-calls", which involve timing as well as coincidence After Romeo had slew Paris and entered the tomb and found Juliet's seemingly dead body, he uttered some interesting words. "Death that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty. Thou art not conquered; beauty's ensign yet is crimson in thy lips and cheeks." (Romeo and Juliet, V, III, 92-95.). Here Romeo is saying how alive Juliet looks. All he had to do was touch her and she may have been awakened and the play would have ended without a tragic closing. As Romeo drank the apothecaries mixture he drank to Juliet, as she had done before in Act IV, Scene III. This minor coincidence does not have much bearing on the course of the play, but changes the way we think of "toasting" to someone. Friar Laurence entered the tomb just less than half an hour after Romeo had killed himself. If the Friar had entered the tomb earlier he could have explained the situation to Romeo and no harm would have come to anyone. The Friar has proved himself to be a brave man. He married Romeo and Juliet without the consent of Juliet's father. Then why did the friar behave out of character and leave the tomb when he heard the call of the watch. This gave Juliet the o...
