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Mercutio And Friar Lawurence In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Mercutio and Friar Lawurence and their effects on Romeo and Juliet
In literature, certain characters hold the power to change the course of a story by shaping the destiny of the protagonists. In William Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, the focus may be the young lovers of Romeo and Juliet, but working and molding the story in the background are seemingly minor characters. Friar Lawrence and Mercutio are the two most important minor characters because of Mercutio’s death and its effects along with Friar Lawrence’s hasty decision making.
Friar Lawrence, although not considered a main character, plays a significant role in the outcome of the story Romeo and Juliet. One of Friar Lawrence’s most influential actions is his agreement …show more content…

His intentions “To turn (their) households rancor to pure love” while not entirely untrue in the end, was not the outcome. This impulsive act highlights Friar Lawrence’s fault of misjudging the strength of young love and the intricacies of the situation. While Friar Lawrence did end the family's rancor, he did it by unintentionally causing the death of Romeo and Juliet. Furthermore, Friar Lawrence’s role extends past his involvement in Romeo and Juliet's marriage. Following Romeo's banishment for killing Tybalt, Friar Lawrence creates and provides Juliet a plan, Juliet would fake her death with a vial of potion, to meet with Romeo once again. After discussing the plan further with Juliet, Friar Lawrence assures her that he will send the letter to Romeo: “Shall Romeo by my letters know out …show more content…

While not being a pivotal character in the beginning stages of the play, Mercutio's role takes a turn during the street brawl between the Montagues and the Capulets. When Tybalt, a Capulet, challenges Romeo to a duel, Mercutio steps in to challenge Tybalt to a duel because Romeo isn't. To anger Tybalt into fighting him, Mercutio provokes him, “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission! / Alla staccato carries it away. / Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?”(3.1.74-76) In these lines Mercutio draws his sword. Mercutio, acting as a driver for the plot, makes a decision to duel Tybalt. This decision ends up killing him. Romeo, enraged, says, “Alive in triumpth--and Mercutio slain! / Away to heaven, respective lenity, / And fire-eyes fury be my conduct now!”(3.1.124-126), “Either thou or I, or both, must go with him”(3.1.128) Mercutio’s death fills Romeo with a thirst for revenge. Romeo kills Tybalt in retaliation which gets him banished from Verona. Romeo’s banishment, a result of Mercutio’s death, pushes the story further towards the tragic end. Romeo’s separation from Juliet intensifies his feelings for her. His intensified love causes him to make rash

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Friar Lawrence may be a morally gray man who may be only helping Romeo for his own benefit but, as the audience is shown, Friar Lawrence also has Romeo’s trust and even marries Romeo and Juliet after Romeo asks him to. The audience also has some evidence of Friar Lawrence being a logical rock weathered and worn

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Juliet, very young and irresponsible, leaving Friar Lawrence's good intentions to lead to the misfortune in Shakespeare’s play. One reason why Friar Lawrence is reliable for the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet is because leading up to

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Friar Lawrence was moved by Juliet’s profound love for Romeo and her desperation to be with him. This led him to suggest and aid a plan to fake her death. Friar Lawrence suggested to Juliet, "Take thou this vial, being then in bed,/ And this distilled liquor drink thou off;/ When presently through all thy veins shall run/ A cold and drowsy humor; for no pulse/ Shall keep his native progress, but surcease/" (Shakespeare 4.1.95-99). As an adult and mentor figure, Friar Lawrence should have known better than to suggest a dangerous plan based on Romeo receiving a single letter in time.

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Romeo stood in front of Mercutio and told him to stop fighting Tybalt. “Tybalt, Mercutio, the prince expressly hath Forbidden bandying in Verona streets. Hold, Tybalt! good Mercutio!” (Act 3, Scene 2).

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In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he married Romeo and Juliet in the hopes that it would end the feud between their two families, and he gave Juliet a sleeping potion and wrote a letter to be delivered by Friar John to Romeo. To begin with, Friar Lawrence can be blamed because he married Romeo and Juliet in the hopes that it would end the feud between their two families. Friar Lawrence is speaking in the room in his cell when someone has the idea to marry Juliet and eventually friar Lawrence agrees and says to Romeo, "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

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First, Friar Lawrence could be somewhat responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. His attempt at trying to fix their problem ultimately fails. Document C shows that he wants the family to stop feuding. The Friar states to Romeo, “In one respect, I’ll thy assistant be; /

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He wants to fight, but Romeo is not budging, for he does not want to harm Juliet’s cousin. So instead of Romeo fighting Tybalt, Mercutio fights Tybalt because Romeo will not fight for himself. Romeo steps between them and tries to stop the duel, but Tybalt manages to stab Mercutio underneath Romeo’s

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This is shown where Mercutio says, “Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?” (Shakespeare 1091). Then Tybalt and Mercutio fought, which lead to Tybalt killing Mercutio. Then after Romeo says, “Alive in triumph, and Mercutio slain? Away to heaven respective lenity, and fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!

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In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt is at the most of Mercutio’s death because of his explosive personality and temper, which led to him acting without thinking. In act 3 Scene 1, a tragic and dramatic fight takes place, where Mercutio was struck by Tybalt and as a result, died. This fight came to be because Tybalt came up to Romeo demanding a duel for he was at a Capulet ball. Romeo, being married to Tybalt’s in-law tries to avoid the conflict when Tybalt states “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford No better term than this: thou art a villain” (3.1.61-62)

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Death finally crept into him as he lay motionless on the ground and at that moment the cheerful and comedic mood that Mercutio created disappeared into thin air. Although Mercutio was used to create a comedic mood, he also indirectly impacted both Romeo and the feud itself. Mercutio’s loyalty towards his friends plays an especially crucial role in revealing new sides of Romeo and impacting the feud. As demonstrated in act 3, scene 1, where Mercutio got agitated by Romeo’s lack of response to Tybalt insulting him. Which resulted in Mercutio and Tybalt to fight, eventually leading to his death.

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He says “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! ‘Alla stoccata’ carries it away, Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk” (p. 78). Romeo’s love for Juliet blinds him, though he doesn't appear to be a fan of violence, he probably would have become angrier, but not fought if he had not been in love with Juliet. Mercutio however, immediately stands up for Romeo and begins fighting Tybalt, showing how he at least cares about his friends, but is also short-tempered to a

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623 Words | 3 Pages

Mercutio decides to fight tybalt because Romeo would not fight back against him. Romeo is being a coward in the eyes of Mercutio so he decides to fight Tybalt on his own. “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission Alla stoccata carries it away. Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?” (Shakespeare 1091).

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922 Words | 4 Pages

As a result of Mercutio’s carelessness, he and Tybalt end up fighting where Tybalt kills Mercutio. To avenge his friend, Romeo takes the law into his own hands and kills Tybalt. This encounter only causes further misfortune throughout the play as Mercutio states in his final words “A plague o’ both your houses!” (III. I. 94).

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Friar Lawrence’s assistance is introduced first into Romeo and Juliet’s relationship when Romeo approaches him requesting the grantment of his marriage with Juliet. Thereafter, Lawrence becomes a key pillar in the lover’s relationship as the storyline progresses. Notably, his presence is vital during hardships that stress the bond of Romeo and Juliet. To illustrate, a street fight between Tybalt and Mercutio end with Mercutio’s death– initiating Romeo to action and therefore killing Tybalt. The Prince then declares Romeo’s punishment– exile.

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The massive shift in the play shines light upon Mercutio’s stance on reputation. He was willing to defend Romeo’s honour no matter the circumstances by risking his own life. This ambition is recognised when Mercutio insults Romeo and decides to fight Tybalt himself just to defend Romeo’s reputation: “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission! Alla stoccata carries it away.” The diction of “dishonourable, vile

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