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Romeo & Juliet - Friar Lawrences
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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