Friar Lawrence: Unnoticed Importance In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, many secondary characters play an essential role in the play. Friar Lawrence is one of the most important secondary characters in the play. He marries Romeo and Juliet, helps Romeo and Juliet grow in their love for one another, and eventually helps end the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. He helps the characters in the play grow in a way they would not have on their own. Friar Lawrence affects the action of Romeo and Juliet by marrying Romeo and Juliet, helping Romeo escape Verona safely, and helping them reunite by giving Juliet a sleeping potion to fake her death.
Friar Laurence Essay As human beings, we often find ourselves wanting to blame somebody for someone’s mistake. That is the case of Friar Laurence. After rifting through the pages Romeo and Juliet, I believe that I have found adequate evidence that point to the fact that Friar Laurence was not the cause of the tragedy of Romeo and Juliette for he was nearly an advisor and somebody who tried to help both Romeo and Juliet to find their happy endings. It was the actions of Romeo and Juliet who led themselves to their own tragic demise, for they both have minds of their own. But I do believe the advice of Friar Laurence was well meaning but it was naïve in the assessment on how strong the feud is and shows that he did not foresee the punishments of a clandestine marriage.
Friar Lawrence said “For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your households’ rancour to pure love” [II.iii.91-92]. This means that he is hoping that the “alliance” will lead to the households exhibiting true love for others instead of themselves. Next, Friar Lawrence is consistent with the universal will when he offers the sleeping potion to Juliet so that she can run off with Romeo together. Juliet was supposed to marry County Paris but she didn’t want to be with
Through Friar Lawrence, Shakespeare shows us how shortsightedness will avert our true responsibilities. Friar Lawrence only sees the good effects, but pays no mind to possible mishaps, which causes him to make bad judgments. When Romeo and Juliet fall in love and want to get married, they seek Friar Lawrence to fulfill their desires. At first, Friar Lawrence opposes because he believes that the pace of their relationship is going too fast, but gives in “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love”(Act 2.3 #98-99). Despite the fact that Friar Lawrence had already thought through some of the consequences, like their relationship is not actual love, he only thought through half of it.
Friar is Not Neutral In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is a key character since he is partly responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet by providing them assistance; making him a character that is not neutral in the story. Friar Lawrence hesitantly agrees to marry the couple after advising Romeo that these “violent delights have violent ends” therefore asking the couple to “love moderately” (II. vi. 9/14). He understands that this marriage is based upon an impulsive decision made by the couple since he knows how Romeo reacts to love.
However, he has hidden his animosity towards Fortunato because he wants to fulfill his vow without placing himself at risk, since the revenge would not be complete if Fortunato were to retaliate or if Fortunato died without knowing Montresor to be his murderer. He maintains an appearance of good will towards Fortunato and decides to exploit Fortunato's weakness for fine wines. Montresor is successful by being vengeful, determined, and intelligent. First of all, the Montresor is vengeful. We become aware of this character trait when Fortunato insults him, Montresor has had enough.
He likes to believe he is right and enjoys the feeling of being superior in his theories and thoughts against those of other people. We see it a lot with his lies and deceits. He doesn’t ever give up on his lies even when people are skeptical because he wants to believe he is right and they are wrong. For example when he was at the Grangerfold household, he was almost caught forgetting his own name, but with his sharp wit he turns it around and asks for it to be spelled for him. He didn’t want to be noticed for lying and told he was wrong.
Thus, saffron threads would be scattered across beds and mixed into hot teas as a curative for bouts of melancholy” (Willard 17-18). Because of its latter explained uses, saffron became known as a more sensual spice, and became frowned upon by those outside the Persian culture. Cleopatra used saffron in baths in order to infuse her skin with a rich scent, as well as make the skin more sensitive for various activities. The spice first began to travel when Alexander the Great first sampled the spice. During his Asian campaigns, he mixed the spice into his rice, as well as using it in baths as a curative for battle wounds.
He uses others as tools for his own purposes, calculating the qualities in them which he finds would be of best use to him. Throughout the play, he repeatedly boats of how he values reason over emotion; due to his sense of his own superiority it leads him to separate himself morally from others. The character is deceitful, and he is an outsider because he deliberately positions himself that way. He prefers to use others to get to the position he wants instead of having to serve underneath Othello, and not receive credit for it. He shows no reluctance in involving Cassio with Othello’s wife Desdemona, in an elaborate plan to destroy Cassio as well as Othello and his relationship with Desdemona, it is also a plot to “get his place” (I, 3, 365).
This action he chose to take could possibly have transformed the outcome of Romeo and Juliet’s lives by taking their love one step further. One could assume that it was their infatuation that led them to believe that they would rather die than live in the knowledge that they would never be together again. The Friar also knew that going ahead with the forbidden wedding without the Capulet and Montague’s