The Unintentional Wolf In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

The Unintentional Wolf Among the Sheep

The Greeks have a word that they named agathokakological, an adjective meaning “to be composed of good, as well as evil.” In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, Friar Laurence uses this ideology in his soliloquies that describe everything from medicines to man. However, the text gives reason to show he may have even shared this concept within himself. The Friar was responsible for the marriage of the two “star-crossed lovers”, Romeo and Juliet. Many fatalities happened throughout the duration of this play caused due to the feuds between the families of the two lovers. This being said, an argument could be made that the Friar was a key component in these deaths. The rational, dualistic, enabling

Friar could be, in fact, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
In looking at the characters who were in this play, Friar Laurence appeared quite rational in comparison.

A primary example for this is the Friar chiding Romeo over his unstable feelings of whom he loves. He says, “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” (2.3 72-74). This statement was a direct cause of Romeo claiming that he loves Juliet, despite having “loved” Rosaline so soon before. This shows the audience that Friar Laurence had a sort of rationality in regarding etiquette/relationships. Upon mentioning this, it needs to be said that while the Friar was rational, a priest he may be, a saint he is not. As the majority of people would, the Franciscan priest probably had an ulterior motive to agree with marrying the children. Especially, since he consented to ordain the wedding during the exact same scene as his earlier lecturing. His excuse was that the marriage could mend the feuds of the families. Even if he had the selfish desire, could he be blamed? With how lethal the fights of the families could get, the monetary or power gains by ‘fixing’ the issue would be nothing less than

generous.
The Friar looked at the good and the bad in everything, which makes him dualistic. He had a soliloquy in the beginning of act two, scene three which directly states this theory. “Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart. Two such opposèd kings encamp them still, in man as well as herbs—grace and rude will” (2.3 27-29). While this offered more foreshadowing towards the end of the play, a debate could spring from if this could be a self-reflection. By stating this, as a soliloquy is always truthful, he backhandedly admits he is full of good and evil. He told the audience all ‘man’, as a whole, was just as corrupt as wholesome, which includes himself.
The Friar’s last words in this play show great remorse and guilt for his own enabling. “If aught in this Miscarried by my fault, let my old life be sacrificed some hour before his time unto the rigor of severest law.” (5.3 281-284). He begins this off with if, but by mentioning this, he shows awareness in his role of the deaths. He understands that he married the children, developed the plan on how to send Romeo away after his banishment, gave Juliet the poison which would ‘kill her’ for 42 hours to avoid a marriage to Paris, and the explanation to Romeo he wrote was never delivered. Admittedly, the last one was not entirely his fault, but it still led to the deaths of the heirs when heaped together with what was his fault.
In conclusion, Friar Laurence unintentionally became a formidable force in the outcome of the play. Despite the damage he caused, there is no quote or insight used to show that he was actively trying to hurt someone. However, maybe there was an underlying trigger, it will never be known as we cannot delve into his subconscious. If the technology existed for such a concept, surely it would be found that he was agathokakological. To allow what he did is sin enough. It went unnoticed, perhaps even by himself, but the Friar was definitely the wolf among the sheep.