Friar Lawrence in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Friar Lawrence of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

In reading critical analysis of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" I found that many people call Friar Lawrence a moderate man who elicits to others his voice of wisdom and reason. An example of this sort of conclusion is George Ian Duthie's opinion that Lawrence is "A very worthy man", "prudent" and "worldly-wise"(xix.xx). G.B. Harrison views him as "sympathetically treated", "wise, grave, patient"(6). Due to this continuing interpretation, the view of Friar Lawrence has not really changed through the years. Mutschman and Wentersdorf followed the herd when they stated in their book that

Shakespeare reveals no trace whatever of the widespread prejudices of non-Catholics in connection with this aspect of the life of the Roman Church. On the contrary: he does everything in his dramatic power to show his friars and nuns, their lives and customs, in an unequivocally favorable light. (267)

I feel that these conclusions about the character of Friar Lawrence are not so completely true. His character needs deeper examination in spite of the conventional ideas that have been passed from one critic to another throughout the years. Lawrence's highly questionable actions in the drama need be looked at in regards to the position he holds as a man of the cloth. Are his actions wise and acceptable to the church? Is Lawrence a meddlesome man going against his vows to his religion? Or could he merely be yet another stock character that Shakespeare stole from his predecessors?

A Historical Look Back

In 1594 Shakespeare's audience would have been used to the convention of the friar or other religious persons as the brunt of jokes or humorous situation...

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Byrne, Muriel St. Clare. Elizabethan life in Town and Country. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1954.

Duthie, George Ian. Romeo and Juliet. Cambridge: J. Dover Wilson, 1955.

Harrison, G.B. Shakespeare The Complete Works. New York: New York Press, 1952.

Kennard, Joseph S. The Friar In Fiction. New York: Haskell House Publisher Ltd., 1923.

Muir, Kenneth. "Shakespeare and Politics." Shakespeare in a Changing World. 1st. Arnold Kettle. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1964. 124-5.

Mutschmann, Henrick, Karl Wentersdorf. Shakespeare and Catholicism. New York: AMS Press, 1969.

Reed, Robert Rentoul Jr. Crime and God’s Judgement in Shakespeare. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1984.

Simmons, Joseph Larry. Shakespeare’s Pagan World. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1973.