Friar Lawrence In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Gus Williams
4/3/2011
Mrs. Renahan
Secondary Character Essay

The role of secondary characters in works is to support and influence the protagonist and also to symbolically reveal behavioral patterns in human nature. Friar Lawrence in William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, is an important secondary character and it is shown by how he influences the plot, the development of the main characters, and the play's theme.

Friar Lawrence's influence on the play brings the action to the dramatic end. Without the presence of Friar Lawrence in the play, tragedy would not have occurred. By marrying Juliet and Romeo, the Friar can be blamed for the two deaths in the end of the play; "But come, young waverer, come... for this alliance may
so happy prove to turn your households' rancor to pure love" (II.iii.94). Friar Lawrence steers Romeo at an untimely point where Romeo is unsure about his position in love, and the Friar hopes that this marriage will have a positive effect on the feuding families. Another example of Friar Lawrence's influence on future events is when he gives Juliet the sleeping potion, which was supposed to be used for good intentions; however, the outcome turned bad. "And in this borrowed likeness of shrunk death... and then awake as from a pleasant sleep"(IV.i.107). By bringing the plan to life initially helping Romeo and Juliet be together, Friar Lawrence, whose primary goal was to end the feud, ended up contributing to the double suicide.

Friar Lawrence reveals the immaturity of Romeo, through Romeo's own actions.
When Romeo first talks of his newfound love (Juliet), the Friar responds with "Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, so soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes"(II.iii.71). The Friar shows how Romeo does not love truly, but believes that
Romeo

loves Juliet for her beauty. Romeo is also noted as a quick and impulsive man. Romeo not only falls in love quickly, but also wants to take the relationship to the fullest as soon as possible. "Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow"(II.vi.15). Another character whose characteristics were revealed by Friar Lawrence was Juliet. Juliet is described as a willing and courageous girl because of her willingness to take a chance by drinking the poison; "Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself...and if thou darest, I will give thee remedy"(IV.i.73). Juliet's ability to use her strength of love to take this risk also shows how love is a strong force in Romeo and Juliet.

Friar Lawrence is important to the theme because he symbolizes some themes and makes other themes apparent.
One major theme is the inevitability of fate, which the characters blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. He mentions how fate itself is becoming angry, and thus the outcome of the play is tragedy; "Unhappy fortune!"(V.iii.17). The fact of violence being ineffective is shown also through Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is a man who loves too much, and because he loves too much he helps out. Because of this a lot of useless violence is brought up in the play. "Violent delights have violent ends"(II.vi.9), the Friar foreshadows the final outcome of Romeo's already fated death. Another theme is that love can end hate. Friar Lawrence believes in this because he wants to marry Romeo and Juliet so that the two families will end their grudge. Again love is shown as a powerful force when Juliet finds the courage to drink the
potion.

Without the secondary role of Friar Lawrence, the elements of the play would be different because of how he affected the plot, the characters and the theme. Each role of the

characters in the play, have an important role to create the ending. If one character were left out, fate would probably not have been thought of a part of this play. The outcome of this play shows that terrible things can also have positive effects on people. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet bring upon the end of the age long feud between the two households.