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Romeo and juliet character analysis
A literary analysis of Romeo and Juliet
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ROMEO AND FRIAR LAWERENCE
William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most influential playwrights. In this play two, young teenagers fall in love and make very tragic decisions. Two of these characters are Romeo and Friar Lawrence. Romeo, one of the title characters, is the tragic hero. Romeo is in love with Juliet the capulet, even though he is a Montague. Friar Lawrence is acquainted with Romeo and the Montagues’, therefore he married Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence and Romeo fit to be foils for their opposing personalities: Romeo is very passionate, courageous and love sick and Friar Lawrence counsels caution ,thoughtful and moderation.
Romeo shows that he is courageous when he goes to the Capulet’s ball even though he is a Montague and kisses Juliet (Shakespeare 394). Many people would not kiss someone they don’t know very well. Romeo does this because he is just getting over Rosaline and he fell in love with Juliet right away. Romeo also shows that he is very passionate towards people when he says he loves Tybalt (Shakespeare 427). He did this to make an effort to be civil with Juliet’s family. Romeo shows that he is love sick in the play when he finds out that Juliet is dead. He later shows his sadness when he sobs on the floor of Friar Lawrence’s cell saying, “Then
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mightst thou tear thy hair, and fall upon the ground, as I do now,”(Shakespeare 436). People assume that falling on the floor crying is only for young children. Friar Lawrence shows that he is a cautious person when he second guesses himself before marrying Romeo and Juliet.
Friar reminds Romeo how sad and upset he was when Rosaline did not want him. “Is rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, so soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. Jesu Maria! What a deal of brine hath washed thy sallow cheeks for rosaline!”(Shakespeare 410-411). Friar also proves that he is thoughtful man when he helps Juliet in getting out of having to marry Paris by giving her a potion to make her look dead. Friar is a very trusted man by many people because he is proven to be a holy
man. Romeo and Friar Lawrence are foils because of their opposite personalities. Friar Lawrence is the voice of maturity against the sadness and crying of Romeo. He tells Romeo when he pulls out his dagger to kill himself, “Hold thy desperate hand Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art,”(Shakespeare 108-109). Romeo is a rash and hasty as well as really indecisive because at first he loves Rosaline and immediately changes his feelings once he sees juliet. These are reasons why Romeo and Friar Lawrence are foil characters. After reviewing the examples of characters’ behaviors and then comparing their response towards each other, it is obvious why Romeo and Friar Lawrence are considered foils realizing their opposite personalities. They react differently towards many situations. Romeo acts childish towards situations and Friar Lawrence is very mature with different situations. They both tend to be loving and caring in their own ways. Both characters lead to tragic events but make a heart racing story in the process. Work cited Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.” MyPerspectives: English Language Arts, Pearson, 2017, pp. 374-478.
Friar Laurence’s involvement in the marriage of Romeo and Juliet has caused a tragedy. Romeo and Juliet thought that they fell in love, but the Friar should have known that they were just kids and they were really rushing into things. In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence says, “These violent delights have violent ends. Is loathsome in his own deliciousness, and in the taste confounds the appetite: Therefore love moderately: long love doth so, too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.” When he says this, he is giving Romeo a warnin. Also, Friar Lawrence should have known at the time, that Romeo was loving with his eyes and not with his heart. For example, Romeo was in a relationship with Rosaline, before marrying Julliet. Inonclusion , the Friar did not have the expierence to know that they were kids.
In “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, two very young people fall in love but cannot be with each other because of the feud in between their families. The feud ends when Romeo and Juliet both kill themselves because of heartbreak over the other. The minor characters Mercutio, Tybalt, and Friar Lawrence serve as foils to Romeo, to help support the theme of patience.
Romantic love stories are often ended with a tragedy, because of loss of passion or a loved one. These tragedies are often the result of one person’s actions that ended someone’s life or love. In the Romeo and Juliet play written by William Shakespeare, two citizens of Verona come together and fall deeply in love. Unfortunately their love comes to an end, along with their lives, because of a misunderstanding and a persistent feud between their families. Although there are many characters in this play that have contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death, Friar Laurence is the person most to blame.
Moreover after knowing Juliet for less than twenty-four hours, Romeo goes to his companion Friar Lawrence and asks him to marry them. True, Juliet is the one who sets up the marriage. However, Romeo is the one who pushed the relationship too far and too soon. In Act 2.3, Friar Lawrence is in shock with the sudden change from Rosaline to Juliet and comments on the ind...
Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's first authentic tragedy. It is about two lovers who commit suicide when their feuding families 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. While the character of Friar Lawrence spends only a little time on stage, he is crucial to the development of the conclusion of the play. It is Friar Laurence’s good intentions, his willingness to take risks and his shortsightedness that lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
He even tells Romeo that he mistook what he felt for Rosaline as love when it was not, and therefore not be too haste. "They stumble that run fast" (2.2.94). Therefore, not only has Romeo discussed matters of the heart with the friar, but also the friar himself feels in the position to be able to speak with Romeo on a more personal level. Friar Laurence doubts Romeo's professed love to Juliet and compares it to what Romeo himself swore he felt for Rosaline, "Young men's love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes" (2.2.67-8).
When Friar Lawrence secretly marries Romeo and Juliet, it caused more stress for the two. Although the marriage stopped Romeo’s first impulse
Friar Laurence’s desire for peace between the families gives him motivation to marry Romeo and Juliet, but it indirectly causes more grief and sorrow along the way. Shakespeare finds ways to use juxtaposition and indirect characterization to bring characters to life.
Deciding to solve the complexity of Romeo and Juliet's love without consulting anybody else makes Friar Laurence the most to blame for their deaths. The Friar tries to resolve all problems with his ego, and he thinks he possesses the capability and credit to forgiveness’' mercy, "But look thou stay not till the watch be set, For then thou canst not pass to Mantua, Where thou shalt lie till we can find a time To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends, Beg pardon of the prince, and call thee back With twenty hundred thousand times more joy Than thou went'st forth in lamentation" (III. 4. 148-154). At night, Romeo is to bid goodbye to Juliet and flee to Mantua while the Friar tells the prince and two families Juliet and Romeo are officially husband and wife. Following Romeo's leave comes even more obstacles, preventing Romeo and Juliet to...
An if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy." The Friar comes up with the plan for Juliet to be happy and be with Romeo. This shows that the Friar is once again always trying to make other people happy, which is a quality of a hero. Shakespeare utilizes the literary device dramatic irony in this part of the play when the Friar saves Juliet. When Juliet threatens to kill herself with her dagger because she cannot be with Romeo, she does not realize that this will happen at the end of the play. The audience knows that she will eventually slay herself with her dagger but Juliet and the Friar do not. So the friar needs to save her. In Act Four scene One Juliet says" Friar, unless you can tell me how to prevent it. If you who are so wise can’t help, please be kind enough to call my solution wise. And I’ll solve the problem now with this knife. God joined my heart to Romeo’s. You joined our hands. And before I—who was married to Romeo by you—am married to another man, I’ll kill myself. " Again, The friar helping and saving Juliet makes him a
Friar Lawrence is one of the most important characters in the play, Romeo & Juliet.
... David Kortemeier depicts his earnest but ineffectual Friar Lawrence with dry humor and real fondness for Romeo. Shakespeare briskly paces the concluding scenes. He emphasizes the swiftness of events and multiplying misfortunes rather than lingering on moments as he had done with earlier sequences. This approach works welI in evoking the rapidity of the tragedy, but it deprives the play of some of its power. For example, Romeo's dying kiss with Juliet is followed immediately, almost comically, by the entrance of the Friar, well before the tragic nature of the double-suicide has had a chance to be fully absorbed. Nevertheless this production is effective drama, due especially to directorial prowess and a slew of rich supporting perfommances.
In the tremendous play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare’s ways engages the audience straight away. The astounding methods he uses hooks the audience into the play and allows them to read on, wondering what will happen. The tragic love story of Romeo & Juliet, as mentioned in the prologue, sets a variety of themes throughout Act 1 Scene 5. Many of the recognisable themes are: youth and age, revenge, forbidden love, fate, action and hate. The main idea of the play is a feud that had been going on between two families, The ‘Montagues and Capulets’, the son of the Montagues and the daughter of the Capulets fall in love and the story tells us how tragic, death, happiness and revenge find them throughout the play.
Throughout history never has there been a piece of literature as well known for its tragic end as that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Although many factors contribute to the grief and misfortune that this play represents, human actions play the principle role in the final outcome. At first glance, one may look over the character of Friar Laurence dismissing him as only a minor player in the plot. However, upon closer examination, it becomes obvious that the Friar plays an essential role in the development of the play and, although has good intentions, is responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Being one of the most debated texts in history, Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, has the power and ability to divide audiences. Throughout the play, it is seen that Shakespeare has left the audience to contemplate the underlying cause of the Romeo and Juliet tragedy. Shakespeare begins by showing the reckless actions and choices of the lovers, illustrating one of the main contributing factors to their deaths. Friar Lawrence plays a large role in the deaths of the lovers as he is the main instigator, greatly contributing to the deaths. Also, demonstrated through the play is that the lover’s destiny is written in the stars. Without