Romeo Amp Juliet

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's
plays about tragedy. It is about two lovers who commit suicide when their
feuding famillies prevent them from being together. The play has many characters,
each with its own role in keeping the plot line. Some characters have very
little to do with the plot but some have the plot revolving around them.

Friar Lawrence does not have very much time on stage but the time he does
have is crucial to the plot line. Through his words Friar Lawrence demonstrates
the he is a good intentioned, yet sometimes short-sighted, man who is not
afraid to take risks to help others

One of Friar Lawrences most favourable
traits is how good intentioned he is. He may do something out of the ordinary
if he thinks the outcome will help someone he cares for. For example, when
he says "In one respect I'll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so
happy prove, to turn your households rancour to pure love."(Act 2, Scene

3), he is saying that the only reason he will marry Romeo and Juliet is
because he hopes that the marriage will end the hostilities between the
two houses. When he says "Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, and
hither shall he come; and he and I shall watch thy waking, and that very
night shall Romeo bear thee to Mantua." (Act 4, Scene 1), he tells Juliet
how everything will be all right. Unfortunately, for all his good intentions
the play still ends in tragedy.

Friar Lawrence is a man who is not afraid
to take risks when he feels it is neccesary to help someone. For example
in Act 2, Scene 6, when he marries Romeo and Juliet, he is risking his
reputation as a Friar so he can help the two lovers. Also, when he says

"Take thou this vial, being then in bed, and this distilled liquor drink
though off;" (Act 4, Scene 1), he is suggesting that Juliet drink a potion
so that she might feighn her own death and avoid marrying Paris. This is
an extremely risky thing to do because anything might happen to Juliet
while she unconscious.

Even after all Friar did to help Romeo
and Juliet the play still ended in tragedy because of Friar Lawrences'
short sightedness.

When the Friar married Romeo Juliet in
secrecy, he did not think of all the complications that would arise but
instead went on with the marriage because at that time he thought it was
the right thing to do. In Act 4, Scene 1, he gave Juliet a sleeping potion
without thinking of the possible outcomes of such an outrages plan. He
admits that much of the fault of the tragedy lies in his hands when he
says "And her I stand both to impeach and purge myself condemned and myself
excused", and when he say "Her nurse is privy; and, if aught in this miscarried
by myself..." (Act 5, Scene 3).

Although Friar Lawrence does not have an
especially large role, his role is none the less important. It is because
of his good intentions that he was willing to help his friends that Romeo
and Juliet were married - a key event in the play. It is because of his
willingness to take risks for his friends that Juliet aqquired the sleeping
potion - another key event in the play. Finally, it was the shortsightedness
of his actions that in part led to the deaths of the two lead characters.

This demonstartes that Friar Lawrence was a man who was a man with good
intentions who was willing to take risks to help his frieneds. If he had
been any other way, the play might not have turned out the way it did.

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