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.
Friar Lawrence in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "We still have known thee for a holy man"
Friar Lawrence is a humble and holy who is respected by the other characters. Figurative language and dramatic conventions give a well-grounded understanding of his motives, traits and values. His main motive is peace between the families he “All I had wanted to achieve was peace.” As a friar he respects the Montague’s and Capulet’s. The quote represents his motive that he wanted the feuding to stop. When he married Romeo and Juliet he wished for more then their happiness. He hoped that the marriage would bring families together. When witnessing the deaths he says in sorrow, “I’m a friar holy and peaceful.” “Oh lord the poor deaths that lie in front of me. Are due to my greed to resolve the feud.” The term friar represents his traits, being
Friar Lawrence didn’t think of what was lawfully right, but of the destiny of two people, that were very important to him. He cared for them, and wished Romeo and Juliet well. He valued them as his own children. It goes to show that Friar Lawrence was human, also, and not perfect, since no one can be perfect.
My opinion is Friar Lawrence initially did give good advice believing he was helping, yet he abused his authority and two maybe naive teenage lovers, were mixed up in his unreliable actions, causing repercussions as serious as their deaths. Therefore whether the advice was supposed to be of good intention the consequences of the advice resulted in the fact it was, I feel concluded inadequate.
"The Life of Ronald Reagan: A Timeline." NPR. NPR, 2014. N.d. Web. 7 May 2014.
Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Brownlee, W. Elliot , and Hugh Davis Grahm, eds. The Reagan Presidency: Pragmatic Conservatism and its Legacies. Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas, 2003.
Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
In Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence plays a dominate role in the eventual death of Romeo and Juliet even though he is not on stage for most of the play. There are basically three major parts that lead to the tragedy; the marriage, the plan, and the inevitable deaths in all which Friar Lawrence plays a vital role.Friar Lawrence plays an essential role in the marriage of young Romeo and Juliet. At Romeo’s request Friar Lawrence states, "In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households to pure love" (Act 2 Scene 3.) Friar Lawrence believes that this holy marriage would bring the Capulet family and Montuague family closer together, for he anticipates that the families will stop hating each other and be peaceful. His attempts to make the marriage of Romeo and Juliet are admirable but poorly planned.
Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1993.
Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1993.
Cellular phones are a phenomenon that has engulfed people in the nineties. They have become a common occurrence whether you are waiting in line at the super market or in a movie theatre. One professor at Murray State University said, “Many students are carrying them, I had a student get a call in the middle of a test last semester.” Although many people have accepted the thought of carrying a telephone wherever they go, others have not taken the onslaught of cell phones quite so easily. Cell phones have become part of everyday life, and with the dramatic changes that have been made, there is no sign of their existence diminishing. Today, cellular service is available in all 306 Metropolitan Statistical Areas across the country and all of the 428 Rural Service Areas.
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.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
The key aspect when Friar Lawrence made a major fault that he could of prevented. Friar Lawrence made a rash decision by marrying Romeo and Juliet behind her parents back. Friar Lawrence thought that marring these two would end the feud. For example when Friar Lawrence says, “These violent delights have violent ends, and in triumph they die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss consume.”(Rom .2.6.9-11) When marring these two, Friar Lawrence thought of him and trying to make him more efficient. Both Romeo and Juliet agree with Friar Lawrence that there true love has grown so much that they can’t tell half of it in words. As Romeo says “Ah, Juliet if the measure of thy joy, Be heap’d like mine, and that thy skill be more, to blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath.” (Rom.2.6.24-26) Romeo and Juliet were both committed to one another but marrying these two put their life on the line. For instance, after Romeo got married to Juliet he ran into Tybalt. But in the moment, Tybalt wanted to challenge Romeo. As soon as Romeo understood that he couldn’t fight Tyba...