Comparison Of Foil Characters In Romeo And Juliet

On average there are seven people in the world who look alike, but no two people act the same. Many people are polar opposites of others. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet there are several of these opposites, more commonly known in literature as “foil characters”. Foil characters are characters whose strengths and weaknesses can easily be compared and contrasted. Two sets of these foil characters are the uneducated Nurse with the wise Friar Lawrence and the peaceable Benvolio with the fiery Tybalt. Friar Lawrence and the Nurse are foil characters because the Friar is educated but the Nurse is not, the Nurse is practical but the Friar is idealistic, and the Friar is very thoughtful but the Nurse is crude. The Friar is shown to be educated

The Friar not only speaks in meter but also speaks wisely, “Within the infant rind of this weak flower/ poison hath residence and medicine power;/For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part,/ being tasted, stays all senses with the heart./ Two such opposed kings encamp them still/ in man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;”(2.3.23-28). He describes the powers plants, animals, and people contain: a good and an evil. The Nurse, however, is shown speaking mostly in prose, or speech without rhyme or meter. Throughout Shakespeare’s works, prose is used by lower, uneducated classes.Not only does the Nurse speak in prose but also becomes sidetracked easily. When she is seen talking to Juliet about Romeo’s message, Juliet becomes impatient because the Nurse will not stay focused enough to deliver the message. However, the Nurse proves to be very practical when giving advice to Juliet about her arranged marriage with Paris, while Friar Lawrence is idealistic in his plan for Romeo and Juliet to be together. When Juliet confronts the Nurse for help with the arranged marriage, the Nurse quickly

Tybalt is a very hot-headed and violent character, in every scene he appears a fight breaks out or is about to break out, while Benvolio is peaceable and longs for an end to the fighting. When the audience first meets Tybalt, he instigates a fight between Capulet and Montague servants. In the same scene, Benvolio calls for Tybalt to “beat down” the swords and make a peace. Tybalt replies saying, “What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word/ as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.”(1.1.60-61). Benvolio also shows an amount of restraint that Tybalt lacks. Tybalt’s ferocity leads to the beginning of two brawls, one of which brings about his death. Benvolio’s restraint is shown in the scene where Tybalt instigates the final brawl that leads to his death. In the resulting scene Benvolio can be seen refraining from lying about the tale of Tybalt and Mercutio’s deaths. Tybalt’s lack of restraint is shown much earlier. At the party Capulet hosts, Tybalt is on the verge of murdering Romeo amidst the guests. Only after Capulet raises the attention of the party-goers does Tybalt back down. Tybalt and Benvolio are also each the nephew of one of the feuding lords: Benvolio, nephew of Lord Montague, and Tybalt, nephew of Lord Capulet. The most apparent contrast between Benvolio