Why Is Friar Lawrence Important In Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet Interpretive Essay One famous philosopher, Paul Tillich, once said: “The first duty of love is to listen.” In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, People in love should for seek an advisor because love blinds people as shown through the actions and words of Romeo and Juliet, an outside wisdom is important as shown through the guidance of Friar Laurence.
Many actions and words of Romeo shows that love leads people to makes poor decisions, so lovers should consider others’ advice. Before Romeo meets Juliet, he is deeply in love with Rosaline, but it is an one-sided love because Rosaline does not like Romeo. Romeo sadly said to Benvolio, “Tis’ the way… Farewell, thou canst teach me to forget.” (I.i. 224-232) Romeo

While Romeo is covered with tears and resist to listen what Friar says because the banishment caused him to longer be able to see Juliet. Friar Laurence think that Romeo should be thankful because banishment is better than death and said,”O deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness! ...This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not.” (III.iii.25-29) Friar uses the phrases, “Rude unthankfulness” and “Dear mercy” to suggest Romeo to see the bright side of the situation. This reveals that an outsider, Friar Laurence, can gives Romeo necessary advices at the right time while Romeo is immerses in the sorrow and only sees the dark side of the situation. The Friar also mentions the phrase “Thou seest it not” because he knows that Romeo is looking at the banishment narrowly and think banishment is the end of the world. From there, Friar Laurence gives Romeo suggestions on how he should view the problem.This shows that a bystander can see broader than people who are in love and can gives them great suggestions. After a while, Friar Laurence starts getting impatient at Romeo, who sees the problem in a wrong perspective and said, “Art thou a man?... unseemly woman in a seeming man” (III.iii.111-115). Friar Lawrence using the word “unseemly woman” to describe how weak Romeo is while Romeo does not realizes that. This reveals that bystanders can see more clearly on what is right and wrong. The two conversations of Friar Lawrence suggests that the bystanders can see the brighter and broader sides of the situation and gives the right suggestions while the lover cannot. Thus, lovers should listen to what others