Romeo and Juliet Literary Analysis on Secondary Characters

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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. In Act II scene III, Friar Lawrence says, “For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households’ rancor to pure love (II, iii, 94-95).” This means that Friar Lawrence will agree to marry them, but only because he hopes their marriage will end the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. In Act III scene III, Friar Lawrence says, “Either be gone before the watch be set,/ Or by the break of day disguis’d from hence./ Sojourn in Mantua; I’ll find out your man,/ And he shall signify from time to time/ Every good hap to you that chances here (III,iii,171-175).” This quote states the plan that Friar Lawrence made to help Romeo escape Verona and keep him updated on what happens there. In Act IV scene II, Friar Lawrence says, “There’ll be no warmth or breath to prove that you’re alive. / The color in your lips and cheeks will fade/ to pale ashes; your eyelids will close/ like death when he shuts up the last day of your life (IV, ii, 100-103).” In this quote, he is describing the effects of the potion he will give Juliet to fake her death. Friar Lawrence helps reveal another characters nature by helping Romeo and Juliet grow in their love for one another, helping the Capulets and the
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