Friar Lawrence Essay

He really was a good confidant. A long-time feud between the Montague and Capulet finally resolves after many family members dying, including Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, Friar Laurence, is a sympathetic listener because he is well trusted by the society, acts as a father figure for both Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence is also one of the main causes that lead the death of Romeo and Juliet.

First of all, Friar Laurence is a holy man who is well trusted by the society. During the play Friar Laurence did not once mention the secret planned marriage between Romeo and Juliet. He kept it to himself until the very end. Another scene where Romeo shows his trust to Friar Laurence, when Romeo confesses his love

for Juliet to Friar (Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet 2.3). Romeo, who is from Montague family, Juliet, who is from the Capulet family, and Paris, who is neutral but close to the Capulet family all talked about their problems with Friar Laurence. Romeo trusted Friar Laurence by telling him that he loved Rosaline first and then changed to Juliet. If Romeo didn’t trust Friar Laurence, he wouldn’t be telling him things because he would be afraid of getting judged by Friar. Being trustworthy is a really good trait to have as you can gain more friends. Without their trust, they wouldn’t be able to talk to you about anything. If someone else trusts you, it probably means that you are close to them, or you are important to them. So, in Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence was probably very important to Romeo because without him he would only talk to Friar about his problems and the things that he experiences throughout his day.
Secondly, Friar Laurence is a father figure for Romeo but occasionally Juliet.

Friar feels like a dad to Romeo, as he calls Romeo his “son” (2.3.33-35). As a “father,” he wants to teach Romeo things that he might not have learnt. Friar Laurence says, “Therefore love moderately; long love doth so. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.” (2.6) In this quote, I believe Friar Laurence was trying to tell Romeo, to slow down and enjoy the relationship. They shouldn’t move to fast, otherwise it would be boring at the end. Friar Laurence says that he can stay until the watchmen take their positions and then should leave for Mantua (3.3). This shows his care as a father for Romeo, he doesn’t want Romeo to be killed by the watchmen. Romeo also looks up to Friar Laurence as his “holy father” as mentioned in line 46 of Act 2 Scene 3. (2.3.46) In Act 2, Scene 3, Friar Laurence metaphorically talks about how it wasn’t smart of Rosaline to not love him back in lines 87-88. (2.3.87-88) When the Friar says, “love read by rote, and could not spell,” he is making the analogy between Romeo’s love and a child who pretends to know what he is doing. This hints that Friar believes that Romeo is too young to understand what love is. All of these examples show how comfortable Romeo is with Friar Laurence and how Friar Laurence is comfortable with Romeo. This is a good thing to have, especially in a “father-son” relationship. Friar Laurence is also acting realistic. Romeo needs a father figure

because his own dad is not able to close the distance between him and Romeo.
Friar Laurence, a man who had good intentions but ended up making very bad decisions. He thought through everything a little too quick. I believe that he is one of the main reasons why Romeo and Juliet dies in the end of the book. His intentions were that the Montague and Capulet houses stop fighting and he would do that by marrying two people from the opposite house in order to “mend” the houses. Many things and occasions added up to Romeo and Juliet’s death. First, he didn’t tell anyone that he married Romeo and Juliet, even worse not even tell anyone that they are in love. He also was the one who came up with the plan for Juliet to drink the potion that made her seem dead. (4.3) Friar Laurence also let Friar John send the letter to Romeo. This shouldn’t have been done because John probably does not know how important and urgent the letter is. Friar Laurence should have personally gone to give the letter to Romeo and not let someone else send the letter for him.
In the end, Friar Laurence proved to be a good confidant but has also put an end to Romeo and Juliet’s lives. He is very impetuous but helped solve many of Romeo and Juliet’s problems. If Friar Laurence was not an existing character, in Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo could go to for his problems, things would have turned out differently, and he wouldn’t have been able to secretly marry Juliet.