Friar Lawrence stated, “For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” (Act II, iii) The two lovers, even though married, were not allowed to see each other. Friar Lawrence’s decision to marry them was a mistake. He was also the person who came up with the plan for Juliet to fake her death, which ended horribly to say the least.
Throughout the play, Romeo’s intense love for Juliet drove him to make impulsive decisions without considering the potential consequences. In act 2, scene 4, Romeo hastily decides to marry Juliet at Friar Lawrence’s cell without fully thinking through his actions. His urgent decision is evident when he instructs the nurse, “Bid her advice/ Some means to come shrift this afternoon,/ And there she shall at Friar Lawrence’ cell/ Be shriv’d and married./ Here is for thy pains” (2.4.163-166).
Friar Laurence and the Nurse serve as complements to one another in Romeo and Juliet. The Nurse and Friar Laurence are both aides to their respective mentees. Friar Laurence is a magical or supernatural aide with knowledge of herbs and medicines while the Nurse is a Capulet servant who helps lighten the mood of a tragic situation. While the Nurse is inappropriate and makes sexual comments, Friar is very serious and reserved. He does not usually make any jokes.
Shakespeare portrays both Friar Lawrence and Juliet as characters who make impulsive and hasty decisions throughout the book. Juliet is proven to be naive because she immediately falls for, and marries Romeo, and she agrees to an unintelligent plan that the Friar impulsively comes up with. Friar Laurence is proven to be idiotic countless times, he marries the two children, and to keep the secret, he comes up with a devious plan, which ends up killing Romeo and Juliet. Juliet and Friar Laurence's foolishness is eventually the bane of Romeo and Juliet, the two constantly make hasty decisions which have dire consequences which influence many character in Romeo and Juliet.
The statement Friar Lawrence made about the “two opposing camps” of good and evil in all living things is very true not only in this story, but in life as well. Anything can have two sides, both good and bad. In the book, we see many different perspectives shown from different people and events. Mercutio was shown to be gentle, kind, and peaceful, never liked to get into fights or arguments with the Capulets was later caught up in a fight with Tybalt in which he was killed.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Friar Laurence is a priest and ultimately responsible for the death of both titled characters for agreeing to help the two become married. “But come, young waverer, come go with me. In One respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households rancor to pure love” (2.3.95). Romeo had previously gone to get advice from Friar Laurence about Rosaline and the next day was back talking about how he fell in love with Juliet and asking to get married, realizing he was just “in love” the day before beings to encourage Romeo to be with Juliet and bring them together, receiving credit for ending a feud that has been in place for several years. These two families have always had a long-standing resentment for reasons unknown, but it is obvious Friar
Romeo and Juliet is a classic love story, Romeo falls in love with Juliet and vice versa. Sadly, at the end of the story, both of the lovers die. Romeo is the unwise hero of Romeo and Juliet and he aides in the death of both himself and his lover. Friar Laurence is Romeo’s mentor and should’ve done more to save the couple than he did.
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare is about two people who share a strong love for one another, but cannot marry because of the problems between Romeo and Juliet's families. In this act, Romeo is discussing with Friar Lawrence about how he wants to move his love for Rosaline to Juliet and asks for his acceptance of their marriage. Friar Lawrence disapproves of Romeo’s decision, but agrees to help him with his secret marriage. Romeo’s love and decision to marry Juliet instead of Rosaline will not break even if it means harsh consequences. Romeo's love for Juliet instead of Rosaline will not change.
Romeo and Juliet, act 2 scene 3. Shakespeare uses Friar Laurence to bring insight to the play by speaking on herbs, plants, and virtues. (Shakespeare 2.3.1-22) Friar is a man who wants nothing more but to end this war between the Capulets and Montagues. He is a man who uses herbs and plants, which Shakespeare uses to later tie in to the play making the importance of this and Friar finally click.
I believe that many characters contributed to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet but i think that the highest contributor was Friar Lawrence because he got them married so quickly and secretly. This was the main contributor to the problem that escalated out of control so quickly. My first reason for believing this was mostly friar lawrence’s fault is because he got them married which is irreversible and caused so many problems because it was a secret. Where this started to become a real problem is when Paris tried to marry Juliet she as was already married.
He is aware of the risk, but his emotions demonstrate that the reward of marriage is greater. Romeo’s actions illustrate how his love emotions affect his logical thinking and critical decision-making because he values the rewards of this marriage over the risks of it. By acting impulsively, Romeo forms a bond with Juliet that will eventually cause him to act recklessly in the future and take risks because of his love. The formation of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is what ultimately led to their fall because they were blinded by their emotions for each other and acted on their impulses. Moreover, Juliet is also influenced by her love for Romeo.
Friar Laurence, friend or foe? He can be seen as a holy man who is greatly trusted by many but gets caught in the mix of Romeo and Juliet’s love. Friar Laurence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he married them, came up with the plan to keep them together and abandoned Juliet in her time of need. At the start of the play, Friar Laurence decides to marry Romeo and Juliet.
In “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,” Romeo and Juliet believe that they are madly in love with each other and are ready to wed and run away, after having only known each other less than a full day. They presume that in order to be together, they must flee Verona and their families to live a new life. While this is one option they have, Romeo and Juliet did not clearly consider all options. From my view, they had other options than sacrificing all of their family and friends for their ‘true’ love.
Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other was a beauty of its own, it was inspiring and strong. The societal norms back when the play took place were strict, the marriages were arranged and only made to benefit
Romeo’s impulsive passion causes him to jump into a risky relationship and make large steps without thinking through the consequences, as he is already proposing marriage to Friar Lawrence. This puts Juliet in danger as well, pulling her into his tragedy. Although it is perfectly acceptable to fall in love, which is not a flaw in Romeo’s character, he should have had the reasonable self-restraint to at least consult Juliet’s parents. This displays Romeo’s rashness in his decision-making, and how this spreads his tragedy to those around him. Romeo’s foolish decision to marry secretly and without permission allows for other events to occur that directly lead to both his and Juliet’s tragedies.
