Essay/Term paper: Yet another romeo and juliet

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Shakespeare

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.