When people think about monks and friars, they generally think of someone dressed in a brown cloak and a horseshoe haircut. People picture them helping the poor and preaching to peasants, or living in secrecy, helping Robin Hood provide for the poor. In a sense, Friar Lawrence helps people and goes behind aristocrats backs’ to do so. In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence has an interesting speech he makes in Act II. The Friar talks of natural beauty, the good and evil sides of life, and the power of nature. The first message Friar Lawrence talks of is of the beauty of nature. Friar Lawrence states, “The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night, check’ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light.”(pg 844/ line 1-2) …show more content…
Plants, poison, drugs, medicine, life, nature, and humans are all examples of things the friar lists as being good and bad. Friar Lawrence exclaims, “Many for many virtues excellent, none but for some, and yet all different.”(pg 845/line 13-14) Here the friar explains that the earth produces wonderful products, and that there is a wide variety of these things. Friar Lawrence explains how these products can be good and bad. For example the friar mentions, “For naught so vile that on the earth doth live but to the earth some special good doth give; nor aught so good but, strained from that fair use, revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.”(pg 845/ line 17-20) The friar is simply stating how things can be used for good and bad. Again, the Friar restates himself by saying, “Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, and vice sometime by action dignified.”(pg 845/ line 21-22) Once more, Friar Lawrence speaks of good and evil purposes for items.The friar goes on to use a flower as an example. He preaches, “Within the infant rind of this weak flower poison hath residence and medicine power; for this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part; being tasted, stays all senses with the heart.”(pg 845/ line 23-26) Here the friar just provides evidence for his previous …show more content…
A quotation from Romeo and Juliet that perfectly displays the friar’s point is, “O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies in plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities; for naught so vile that on the earth doth live but to the earth some special good doth give.”(pg 845/ line 15-18) In this quotation, Friar Lawrence talks of how plants, herbs, and stones all have significant “powers” to heal you, or kill you. An example of powerful natural occurrences that happen frequently are tornadoes, wind, rain, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. In the previous paragraph, I mention a flower’s power. The friar elegantly said, that a small, trembling flower, could have the power to help you, but it could also be your demise. It is amazing how such a small thing, can greatly affect us
Friar Lawrence is responsible for the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence is completely aware of the feud between the Montague and Capulet families, which does not deter him from organising the marriage of this young couple. With the hope of restoring peace between Montagues and Capulets by turning the “households' rancour to pure love” Friar Lawrence agrees to organise the marriage (II, iii, 92). Friar Lawrence expresses his doubts about this marriage only a few scenes later by saying, “so smile the heavens upon this holy act, that after-hours with sorrow chide us not (II, vi, 1-2).” Friar Lawrence hopes the heavens will approve of his decision to organise this marriage, as he does not want to regret it later. He says this as he recognises that Romeo is far too young to understand what love is and that he should not be in such a serious relationship. Even though Friar Lawrence knows that this marriage could have Romeo and Juliet punished by their families and that this decision
was so important to Romeo and if Friar Lawrence knew that it would lead to trouble, Friar Lawrence
Even the best of intentions can have tragic ends: a lesson well portrayed by the holy friar of Verona. At a first glance, one would consider Friar Lawrence only a minor influence in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. However, he is much more significant to the development of the play. Friar Lawrence acts as a catalyst to further sequence love and peace. He is without a doubt, a very complicated individual, and it is his complex nature that makes him such an interesting character. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is seen as a tragic hero because of his noble status, his good intentions, and his naive fatal flaw
In the Shakespearean tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence was a monk, and a counselor, who came up with intricate plots and concocted a seemingly magical elixir in order to solve problems that the lovers encountered. Friar Lawrence had a profound impact on the outcome of this Shakespearean play; however, in a way that led to catastrophe. There are many factors that caused the deaths of the lovers, but two of the most important were how Friar Lawrence disregarded his own logic, and how he missed numerous opportunities to save the lovers.
Friar Lawrence often tries to find the easiest ways out of his issues. He prefers to go behind people’s backs and make actions that attempt to quickly fix issues, instead of actually talking to people and making a compromise everyone can agree on. One example of when Friar lawrence is being selfish is when he sees juliet and Romeo commit suicide, he just runs away out of the tomb. He does not want to get in trouble with the community and does not help Romeo and Juliet. Any person in their right mind would help people in need, it is programed into people's mind. Not helping a dying person for one's own needs, is one of the most selfish actions someone can make. Friar Lawrence should have talked to Lord Capulet, and Lord Montague about the situation. He should have told them about their love and it could have sparked a conversation between families to cause a peaceful resolution for the
in order to unite the families; as in Act 2, Scene 6, when he marries
Many believe that Friar Lawrence is innocent because he had good intentions and did what he deemed necessary when helping Romeo and Juliet, however, good intentions do not always correspond to appropriate actions. Friar assists the lovers on numerous occasions and even marries them. Friar states after agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet, “For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households’ rancor to pure love” (Shakespeare.II.iii.91-92). The phrase “alliance may so happy prove” means this marriage could have a good outcome. Friar hopes that the marriage will be a happy one and will be a beneficial union. The phrase “turn your households’ rancor to pure love” implies that Friar wants to convert the two families’ hatred of each other into a loving relationship.
In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, he once wrote, “Within the infant rind of this weak flower Poison hath residence and medicine power: For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part; Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart. Two such opposed kings encamp them still In man as well as herbs-grace and rude will; And where the worser is predominant, Full soon the canker death eats up that plant,”(2.3.23-31). This was written from the Friar Lawrence’s point of view for Romeo and Juliet, and the meaning behind this quote can be applied in the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
This creates more rift between the young lovers and their families. This action also plays an important role in the tragedy itself. It appears that Friar Lawrence’s beliefs about similarities between plants and humans plays a role in the way that he perceives various situations, devising plans that went horribly wrong and contributed to the tragedy.
There are many characters in the play of Romeo and Juliet that have important roles and unique characteristics. One of these characters is Friar Lawrence, a Franciscan monk who is an expert in plants and medicines. While the Friar does not appear in all parts of the play, he acts as an advisor to Romeo and Juliet and gets them married. Being an honest, trustworthy, and loving friend, Friar Lawrence helps keep Romeo and Juliet together while maintaining his character and not acting dual-sided or having a second nature. Throughout the later parts of the play, Friar Lawrence’s characterization remains consistent as he guides the two lovers through their troubles and eventually ends the family feud between the Capulets and the Montagues.
Friar Lawrence understands that sudden beginnings or choices have sudden ends. As these choices seem fine in the beginning but will end in the hands of evil or death.
In Act 2 scene 3 of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence delivers a speech before marrying Romeo and Juliet which seems to have a very negative connotation. This soliloquy may not seem to have anything to do with Romeo and Juliet’s marriage, but it foreshadows the remainder of the play. The Friar discusses the power of earth's beauty and how it can be used in both good and evil ways. The Friar also indicates that great power can overwhelm humans, causing destruction to the lives of others.
Friar Lawrence is a character in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that served as a mentor for Romeo and Juliet, the two star-crossed lovebirds. He served as a mentor and a friend throughout the entire play, and because of it, his life was forever changed. In the beginning of the story, we meet the friar and can see that he is a happy go lucky guy, frollicking through the fields and giving advice to Romeo. However, the friar has to deal with quite a bit more than a two lovestruck teens, and it changes him for the worse. By the end of Act V, all of the drama that had taken place had taken it’s toll on Friar Lawrence and he was very upset and seemed to have been broken by the events of the week. The first time that we hear him speak,
In William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence’s role is shown as a protagonist, but is an antagonist in reality. He is the embodiment of Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction’, which shows when he helps Romeo and Juliet get married, which ends up causing complications, he foreshadows Juliet’s death, and he gives her the vial of poison, which will lead to Romeo killing himself.
I believe Friar Lawrence is someone who always sees the best in everyone. In other words an optimist. HIs optimism is illustrated in the entire of act of 2.3 as he is convinced that their is a chance of the Capulet’s and Montague's feud being resolved.Friar Lawrence’s beliefs on love our illustrated in his words on page 89. When he says “Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear…