What if it be a poison, which the friar
Subtly hath minister’d to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour’d,
Because he married me before to Romeo?
I fear it is: and yet, methinks, it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.
– William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, Scene 3. Juliet voices doubts about the potion Friar Laurence gives her to induce a deep death-like sleep. In this monalogue at the end of this scene, she has concerns that it may be a poison set to kill her, to cover up the Friar’s disgrace for marrying her and Romeo in secret. Yet Juliet finds reasons to justify her decision to go ahead and drink the potion. This is a reckless decision, one which will end in tragedy for Romeo and herself.