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Romeo & Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's plays about tragedy. It is about
two lovers who commit suicide when their feuding famillies prevent them
from being together. The play has many characters, each with its own role
in keeping the plot line. Some characters have very little to do with the
plot but some have the plot revolving around them. Friar Lawrence does not
have very much time on stage but the time he does have is crucial to the
plot line. Through his words Friar Lawrence demonstrates the he is a good
intentioned, yet sometimes short-sighted, man who is not afraid to take
risks to help others
One of Friar Lawrences most favourable traits is how good intentioned he is.
He may do something out of the ordinary if he thinks the outcome will help
someone he cares for. For example, when he says "In one respect I'll thy
assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households
rancour to pure love."(Act 2, Scene 3), he is saying that the only reason
he will marry Romeo and Juliet is because he hopes that the marriage will
end the hostilities between the two houses. When he says "Shall Romeo by
my letters know our drift, and hither shall he come; and he and I shall
watch thy waking, and that very night shall Romeo bear thee to Mantua."
(Act 4, Scene 1), he tells Juliet how everything will be all right.
Unfortunately, for all his good intentions the play still ends in tragedy.
Friar Lawrence is a man who is not afraid to take risks when he feels it is
neccesary to help someone. For example in Act 2, Scene 6, when he marries
Romeo and Juliet, he is risking his reputation as a Friar so he can help
the two lovers. Also, when he says "Take thou this vial, being then in bed,
and this distilled liquor drink though off;" (Act 4, Scene 1), he is
suggesting that Juliet drink a potion so that she might feighn her own
death and avoid marrying Paris. This is an extremely risky thing to do
because anything might happen to Juliet while she unconscious.
Even after all Friar did to help Romeo and Juliet the play still ended in
tragedy because of Friar Lawrences' short sightedness. When the Friar
married Romeo Juliet in secrecy, he did not think of all the complications
that would arise but instead went on with the marriage because at that time
he thought it was the right thing to do. In Act 4, Scene 1, he gave Juliet
a sleeping potion without thinking of the possible outcomes of such an
outrages plan. He admits that much of the fault of the tragedy lies in his
hands when he says "And her I stand both to impeach and purge myself
condemned and myself excused", and when he say "Her nurse is privy; and,
if aught in this miscarried by myself..." (Act 5, Scene 3).
Although Friar Lawrence does not have an especially large role, his role is
none the less important. It is because of his good intentions that he was
willing to help his friends that Romeo and Juliet were married - a key
event in the play. It is because of his willingness to take risks for his
friends that Juliet aqquired the sleeping potion - another key event in the
play. Finally, it was the shortsightedness of his actions that in part led
to the deaths of the two lead characters. This demonstartes that Friar
Lawrence was a man who was a man with good intentions who was willing to
take risks to help his frieneds. If he had been any other way, the play
might not have turned out the way it did
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