Friar Lawrence In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Even the best of intentions can have tragic ends: a lesson well portrayed by the holy friar of Verona. At a first glance, one would consider Friar Lawrence only a minor influence in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. However, he is much more significant to the development of the play. Friar Lawrence acts as a catalyst to further sequence love and peace. He is without a doubt, a very complicated individual, and it is his complex nature that makes him such an interesting character. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is seen as a tragic hero because of his noble status, his good intentions, and his naive fatal flaw

The Friar should have known that they were just kids and they were rushing into things. In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence says, “These violent delights have violent ends. Is loathsome in his own deliciousness, and in the taste confounds the appetite”- Shakespeare. Also Friar knew that just a couple days before Romeo had his eyes set on Rosaline. The Friar knew that this was too fast, but he married them anyway. The Friar married Romeo and Juliet despite their parent wishes. The only reason the Friar married the two children was because he thought the feud between the two families would end. However, this did not go as planned. The Friar needed to find a way out of this chaos. This goes to show Friar Lawrence is the most to blame and put not only his life on the line, but also the lives of Romeo and Juliet.

Let the compelling story of Friar Lawrence, a central figure in a world of problems and opportunities, be unveiled. Watch as he transforms within love, faith, and duty, shaping the destiny of lovers and the city of Verona. As shown in the iconic play, Romeo & Juliet, Friar Laurence can be seen several times helping Romeo and Juliet’s secret love showing his enlightened and caring personality. Shakespeare uses personification and metaphors to develop the idea of Friar Lawrence being someone whom Romeo could count on in times of bemuse. One of the ways Shakespeare uses metaphors to portray the enlightened and caring personality of Friar Lawrence is the constant advice that he gives to Romeo about his love life.

Each character in the play,Romeo and Juliet, does certain things based on what they think and how they feel. Most of the other characters’ actions are based off of love, hate, and wealth. As for Friar Laurence, he has different motivations compared to the other characters. He stands up for peace in Verona between the two rich rival families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Everything he does is mostly centered on creating peace.

1 In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare puts a lot of emphasis on the theme of fate. Specifically tragic fate. Friar Lawrence is a secondary character in the play that is a key factor in the tragic ending. Friar Lawrence is respected character in the play. Without Friar Lawrence, Juliet would never have thought to stage her own death.

Friar Lawrence seemingly shifts his outlook when he discovers that it is Juliet who is responsible for Romeo’s newfound affection. Despite his earlier reservations, he agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet. However, it is clear that his offer to help is unquestionably driven by his own selfish and underhanded motive to end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. This is expressed in his statement, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, / For this alliance may so happy prove / To turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (Shakespeare 3.2.

Friar Lawrence, who encourages the star-crossed lovers to break apart from their family tidings, is one of the most controversial figures in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Some argue that he is the centripetal force leading to the tragic resolution while remains in repentance for his sin. Others simply express empathy for his effort to help the lovers casts a shadow on him forever. Tragic heroes are prestigious and free-spirited characters who lead themselves to downfall from a lapse in their judgment. Friar Lawrence is portrayed as an archetypal tragic hero in Romeo and Juliet as he acquires high social standing, makes unreliable decisions that lead to the tragedy, and accepts his punishment with an open heart.

Friar Lawrence imprudently agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though he knows that it will cause later consequences. At first, Friar thinks that “For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your households rancor to pure love” (2.3.98-99), meaning that he thinks the marriage will bring about peace to the two opposed families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Immediately, however, he tells Romeo,” Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast” (2.3.101). Friar Lawrence warns Romeo that if he is too hasty, then it leads to bad consequences. Friar Lawrence is clearly aware that if he and he alone marries the two, then their marriage will collapse, yet he decides to marry Romeo and Juliet. This causes both of them to sink into depression after Romeo gets banished from the city of Verona, his home town. Without Friar Lawrence, the two would not have married, which would not lead to their depression and further

There are many characters in the play of Romeo and Juliet that have important roles and unique characteristics. One of these characters is Friar Lawrence, a Franciscan monk who is an expert in plants and medicines. While the Friar does not appear in all parts of the play, he acts as an advisor to Romeo and Juliet and gets them married. Being an honest, trustworthy, and loving friend, Friar Lawrence helps keep Romeo and Juliet together while maintaining his character and not acting dual-sided or having a second nature. Throughout the later parts of the play, Friar Lawrence’s characterization remains consistent as he guides the two lovers through their troubles and eventually ends the family feud between the Capulets and the Montagues.

Friar Lawrence has good intentions while making his decisions but the good intentions don’t equal good results. Romeo goes to Friar Lawrence to ask if he would marry his new love Juliet and himself. He asks the Friar this, the morning after he snuck to Juliet’s balcony. At first the Friar is hesitant because Romeo just met Juliet the night before, but then agrees in hopes it will end the feud between their two enemy families. The Friar believes “...this alliance may prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (2.3 98-99). When Friar Lawrence says “this alliance” he is referring to the one that Romeo and Juliet have formed. Their families, the Capulets and the Montagues are hateful enemies, but the Friar believes that marrying the two could turn the “households’ rancor to pure love”, meaning Romeo and Juliet’s love could end the feud between the two foes. Friar Lawrence is supporting their love so the outcome of it could potentially be positive. He has right motives for making the decision to marry the two, but he seems to ignore

With a flicker of hope that the marriage will work and end the feud, Friar Lawrence remarks that, "this alliance may so happy prove to turn [their] households' rancor to pure love" (II iv 91-92). The blame can be placed on Friar Lawrence because he cares too much for Romeo and Juliet and eventually takes an extreme and risky approach to facilitate their union.

Friar Lawrence was equally important than other characters always there for Romeo and Juliet as their go to person when they needed advice. He is also is the one who was trusted by both Romeo and Juliet to marry them. Friar Lawrence also hints out that Romeo is a player and

In the play Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare one of the themes is virtue turned to vice. Friar Lawrence's virtue of peace is turned to vice which assisted with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo’s virtue of love is turned to vice and grows the feud.

“But come, young waverer, come, go with me. In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may be so happy, prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (2.3.96-99). In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet he constructed Friar Lawrence's character to come off as a helpful yet a deceiving man. He serves as a mentor and friend to Romeo and Juliet. Friar guides them through their marriage hoping to end the feud. Romeo and Juliet trust the Friar and hope he will keep their marriage a secret and possibly end the conflict. He also comes off as a very helpful individual, given that he has the power invested in him to marry the lovers and create a plan. Friar Lawrence’s motivation to end the feud enforced the demise of their ill-fated love

Friar Lawrence was one of the most important characters in the novel. Even though he was not on the stage for most of the play he greatly contributed to the tragedy that would soon happen at the end of the play. There was basically three major parts that lead to the death of Romeo and Juliet, which Friar Lawrence was involved in all of them. Friar Lawrence played a vital role in the marriage, planning and death of Romeo and Juliet. His attempts to do the right thing were noble, but because of poor planning they would soon lead to the inevitable tragedy.