Supporting Characters: Friar Lawrence and the Nurse

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Supporting Characters: Friar Lawrence and the Nurse The roles of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse are hugely important in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The Friar’s well meant but ill advised meddling leads to serious complications in the lives of all those surrounding him. Also, the Nurse’s somewhat vulgar sense of humour leads to much comic relief and displays the aspect of physical love. Friar Lawrence acts as a person for Romeo to confide in, to go to for support and guidance. The Friar, in good nature, takes advantage of that. When he learns of Romeo’s desire to marry Juliet he agrees to perform the marriage with an ulterior motive. He realizes that perhaps this could end the long-standing feud between the Montagues and Capulets, “For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households’ rancour to pure love.” (2.3.91-92). This decision leads to a chain of events that will change many lives forever, some for the better, some decidedly for the worse. The Friar is central in the display of one of the themes of Romeo and Juliet, which is the idea that man has the capacity for both good and evil within, “Two such opposed kings encamp them still/ In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;” (2.3.27-28). As he ponders the conflicting nature of mankind he stumbles over a thought which quite accurately predicts the outcome of his actions with Juliet and Romeo. He says, “Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,/ And vice sometimes by action dignified.” (2.3.21-22). His misapplied virtue turns to vice in that his well-intentioned desire for the cessation of the feud leads to disastrous consequences. Although in the end some good comes of it and the feud is ended. Throughout the play the Friar, along with the Nurse, acts as a form of communication between Romeo and Juliet when contact is otherwise impossible. He formulates the plan to allow them to be
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