The Roles of the Nurse and Friar Lawrence in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
“Star-crossed lovers” Romeo and Juliet fall madly in love within a
matter of hours. On the first day they meet, although coming from
different houses (Montague and Capulet), they decide to get married.
Unfortunately for the lovers it is fate that they cannot be together.
After a series of tragic events, the story ends with both Romeo and
Juliet taking their lives so their love will be never ending
This essay will be exploring two of the characters from the play who
can be looked at in more detail. I have chosen for these to be
Juliet’s Nurse and Friar Lawrence. Although these are not main
characters they do provide important roles. I will consider their
significance both to an audience in Shakespeare’s time and to a more
modern day audience. It is likely that both audiences will interpret
he play differently and therefore have different views on each
character.
Juliet’s closest friend and confidante is the Nurse. The Nurse proves
to remain loyal to Juliet through the play. We first meet her in Act
1, Scene 3 and this is where we can establish her background as well
her personality.
“…if ye should lead her in a fool’s paradise…it were a very gross kind
of behaviour…”
This quote (Act 2, Scene 4, L 146 – 8) shows the Nurse’s protection
and love towards Juliet. She treats Juliet as if it was her own
daughter and cares deeply for her well-being.
Being a servant in the Capulet household for the past 14 years, the
Nurse is seen as being a friend to the family and is often involved
within the family affairs. For example she is involved when Lady
Capulet wishes to talk to Juliet about a possible marriage to Paris.
The Nurse acts as a go-between character as she moves throughout the
play passing messages to and from Romeo and Juliet.
Friar Lawrence acts towards Romeo much in the same way as the Nurse
Juliet's Nurse is first introduced to the play in Act I Scene 3. It is
“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star- crossed lovers take their life, Whose misadventured piteous overthrows, Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.”
In spite of this, is certain that the Nurse played a serious role in encouraging the lovers? relationship to blossom. Instead of advising Juliet on the dangers of a love that is ?too rash, too unadvis?d, to sudden?, she continues to place Romeo upon a pedestal, proclaiming his ?face be better than any man?s, his leg excels all men?s, his [body parts] are past compare?. Her haste for Juliet to ?hie hence to Friar Lawrence? cell?, and preparations for ?cords? to be brought for Romeo to ?convoy [to Juliet] in the secret night?, are gestures that illustrate her desire for their relationship to progress quickly. Therefore by offering her approval of Romeo, the Nurse inadvertedly strengthens Juliet?s devo...
Mercutio and the Nurse in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the whole of Romeo & Juliet there is a strong comparison. between Mercutio & the nurse. Neither are a part of either family, but they get drawn into this family brawl.
The tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet” is one of the best known stories around the world, no matter what culture. Romeo and Juliet were described as “star-crossed lovers”, two people whose destinies were designed to intertwine. It was as if the paths of these two “stars” were bound to interfere with each other. But in a disastrous twist, their fates met the same end; death. Many considered the deaths of Romeo and Juliet to be a coincidence, but were there ways to avoid this catastrophe? Were there ways to end the conflict before-hand? There were definitely many solutions to this problem, and actions that could have been changed, but the main problem is this: Why didn’t anyone intervene? In this Shakespearean tragedy, Friar Lawrence was a counselor and monk. He came up with complex plans and concocted an elixir in order to solve problems that the lovers encountered. Friar Lawrence impacted many events in the play, and thought he had the perfect idea; however, in a way that led for the worst. The three important factors of how Friar Lawrence had responsibility on their deaths were how Friar Lawrence neglected his own logic and missed several opportunities to save the lovers, he did not reveal the truth of the marriage to anyone, and he ran away from helping Juliet.
The Nurse is Capulets servant, and she is a very good servant as she tries her hardest to please the Capulets and Juliet at the same time. She is also a very important character in the play and in the Capulets lives. Throughout the play, The Nurse is Juliet’s confidant. The Nurse is a crucial character who strongly influences Juliet’s thoughts and actions. The main reason why the Capulet employed her was to breast feed Juliet.
This shows that the Nurse is following orders from Juliet, because she thinks it will make Juliet happy. Although she does, she does not seem to be bothered about the damage she could cause in the future. This is one reason why the Nurse could be to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Another point in the play where the Nurse contributes to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is when the proposal of Paris comes along. At this stage in the play, Romeo has been banished.
Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays ever written. It's a story of two star-crossed lovers whose lives end tragically because they do not understand the hatred of their older generation keeping them apart. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is the cause for the lovers' tragic death because he married the two of them, he did not go to Mantua to send his message to Romeo and he fled the scene when he realized he could not save his plan.
The Friar directly and indirectly took part in suicide, murder, and other tragic happenings. The Friar is an honored man, who sells herbs and medicines to the people of Verona. He is a type of ancient pharmacist, who has potions for both causes of good and evil. There are three specific instances of the Friar playing a major role in Romeo and Juliet: the impossible marriage of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's "death" plan, and Romeo's death. Without the Friar many crucial and tragic events would not have happened in Romeo and Juliet.
Throughout the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the two titular characters fall in love and try to keep their love strong when faced with many difficulties. Death, animosity, lack of free will, misunderstanding, and banishment all bar their love from thriving. In the play’s final scene, Romeo and Juliet commit suicide, both at seeing their love – their only hope – dead. Many of these events are influenced greatly by Friar Laurence, a priest at a church in Verona, the setting of the play. Throughout the play, Friar Laurence displays numerous character traits which show that he is responsible for the play’s conclusion. Friar Laurence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s tragic ending because of his selfishness, his interference, and his insincerity.
The nurse practically raised Juliet, she was like her mom. Nurse was responsible for many reasons, she did not counsel Juliet when she saw that she was in love with Romeo, a foe of her family; she was also disloyal to Juliet when Juliet had asked advice from her for her refusal to marry Paris. The Nurse was not only disloyal to Juliet, but to her own kind, the Capulets. Running around behind their backs trying to get Juliet
The Nurse’s job is to take care of Juliet and raise her; however, upon learning that Juliet is romantically involved with their family’s enemy, she doesn’t provide any form of counsel to Juliet.” I must another way, To fetch a ladder by the which your love Must climb a bird’s nest soon when its dark.” (2.5.77-79). The Nurse aides Romeo by telling him to go to Juliet’s room, showing her approval of the relationship. She did not provide any form of counsel to Juliet or inform Capulet or Lady Capulet about Juliet’s relationship.
Friar Lawrence finally had enough of Romeo crying and said, “Fie,fie,thou shamest thy shape, thy love,thy wit/ Which, like a unsurer, abound’st in all,/ And usest none in that true use indeed (4.3.122-124).” This is how Friar Lawrence helped married Romeo and Juliet and got Romeo back on his feet. Juliet attitude to the Nurse change when she learned of the Nurse’s different opinion about Romeo and her being married. When Juliet found out her being forced to marry Paris, Juliet believed Nurse would be on her side about not marrying Paris but she was wrong. Because the Nurse knew that there was no other option, she advised “ I think it best you married with the County./ O, he’s a lovely gentleman!/ Romeo’s a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam, (3.5.219-221)” Nurse was trying to tell Juliet that Romeo isn’t here Paris is and he way better looking than Romeo. Juliet felt betrayed and hurt for what the nurse said and yelled “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend (3.5.237)!” After finding out the nurse opinion on this matter decided she will go to the Friar to find an answer to her dire situation. Romeo and Juliet has tried to find a way to be with each other but it seems fate could not have that who know’s maybe Romeo and Juliet could have live if they thought this out and told everyone about their secret relationship it would of turned out
The Nurse was another ally to Romeo and Juliet. The Nurse loved Juliet and wanted what was best for her.
The Nurse was also responsible for the tragic ending of the play. When Romeo and Juliet met, the Nurse became their messenger. She helped them be together even though she knew Romeo was a Montague and that Juliet's family would disapprove. The Nurse brought news to Juliet from Romeo telling her to sneak out so they could get married. She helped Juliet get out of her house by bringing her a rope ladder to climb off her balcony with and telling her parents that she went to shrift. The Nurse kept Romeo and Juliet's marriage a secret from the families. When Juliet's parents said she should marry Paris, the Nurse agreed and said that Juliet should forget about Romeo because he was in Mantua. With the Nurse no longer on her side she had no one to help her and back her up but the Friar. In this way she had a large impact on the terrible ending of Romeo and Juliet.