Friar Lawrence

• "With streaks of light, and flecked darkness"-Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3


  The Friar is used by Shakespeare as a means of challenging fate which we can see from the contrasts he uses between light and dark and wider themes such as love and hate by trying to end the feud
• "The earth that's nature's mother, mother is her tomb; What is her burying grave, that is her womb"-Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3


  He is used as a tool of foreshadowing, along with what we know from the prologue and the contrast between "womb" and "tomb" acts as a warning to the end of the play
• "many for virtues excellent" and "being tasted, stays all senses with the heart"- Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3


  He has an excellent knowledge of plants, knowing the difference between the medicinal and dangerous ones. He foreshadows the death of Romeo by talking of poison which is what he used to commit suicide and this all shows how fate has predetermined what will happen
• "Virtue itself turns vice"- Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3

  He sees good and bad in everything, claiming that though nature is useful it can also lead to misfortune if used wrongly. Both good and evil coexist in imperfect harmony and it is this theory he uses by marrying the couple as a way to end the feud. The friar is a good example of the theme of conflicts- love and hate, dark and light, good and evil etc
• "Was thou with Rosaline?"- Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3

  This shows how well the Friar knows Romeo and his role as a fatherly figure towards him emphasises the conflict between the families- his character suggests the failure of parental love
• "Thou chid'st me oft for loving Rosaline"-Romeo, Act 2:3

  "Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast"- Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3


  We see the friar as a voice of reason and he often gives ominous warnings such as these that perhaps would have prevented the outcome of the play, had Romeo had listened. He is pointing out his tragic flaw- haste that eventually brings about his downfall
• "Young men's love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes"-Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3


  Friar Lawrence is referencing the fact that Romeo has been lustful towards Rosaline and realises he cannot have truly loved her if he has moved on so quickly. This makes him more reluctant to accept the fact that his love with Juliet is different
• "In one respect Ill thy assistant be, For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your household's rancour to pure love"-Friar Lawrence, Act 2:3


  He acts as an unknowing servant of fate by choosing to assist the couple in their marriage as a way to end the feud. What he doesn't realise is by doing this he is actually assisting in the deaths of the couple, acting as a vehicle for fate and a catalyst of the plot
• "These violent delights have violent ends"- Friar Lawrence, Act 2:6


  He forewarns the ending of the play by drawing parallels between the destructive passion of the couple and the nature of the feud that will eventually bring about so many deaths. This is in iambic pentameter which shows the ominous power of his words
• "Therefore love moderately"- Friar Lawrence, Act 2:6


  We see the wise and good natured side of the Friar because this is not he first time he has given good advice to the couple to not be too hasty
• "Thou art wedded to calamity"- Friar Lawrence, Act 3:3


  He almost references fate here by talking about the inevitability of Romeo's actions , as if his haste has meant unhappiness has fallen in love with him and he has married disaster as a result
• "Be patient"- Friar Lawrence, Act 3:3

  "A gentler judgement"-Friar Lawrence, Act 3:3


  The Friar tries to counsel Romeo by reminding him how lucky he is that it is only banishment. The Princes original sentence for anyone "disturbing" the streets again would be death . However to Romeo, banishment is as good as death
• "Hold thy desperate hand"-Friar Lawrence, Act 2:6

  "Wilt thou slay thyself and slay thy lady that in thy life lives?"-Friar Lawrence, Act 3:3


  The Friar stops Romeo from killing himself in response to the news of his banishment and explains he not only has a responsibility to Juliet having just married her but also that he has so much to be grateful for. This is typical of the friar to be so positive and level headed in such a situation
• "There art thou happy"- Friar Lawrence, Act 3:3


  This is ominous because he repeats it several times , meaning be happy with what you have, but Romeo takes no notice. The Friar reminds him that both him and his love are still alive so they must be grateful
• "Like powder in a skilless soldier's flask, Is set afire by thine own ignorance"-Friar Lawrence, Act 3:3


  He is saying that Romeo's ignorance is like a soldier who manages to blow himself up. He is being careless and not thinking at all about the consequences of his actions. He is recognising Romeo's tragic flaw
• "Uneven is the course, I like it not"-Friar Lawrence, Act 4:1


  When paris tells the friar the wedding is now to be on Thursday we start to see the friar experience more tension as he knows he is working against time, and we know he is working against fate too. As a result he tries to delay him as much as possible
• "I do spy a kind of hope"-Friar Lawrence, Act 4:1


  It is now Juliet's turn to threaten to kill herself and the Friar prevents her by thinking up a plan. He says that if she is prepared to face death then the plan may work and this ironic because it does the opposite
• "Ill give thee remedy"-Friar Lawrence, Act 4:1

  He reminds us that he has a plan figured out however by attempting to help them, he is actually playing into fate's hands. This makes us question his responsibility in the eventual deaths because at the end of the day, it is him who married them, gave Juliet the potion and failed to deliver the letter to Romeo and all this enabled fate to take control. He has good intentions but he is short sighted and that is his tragic flaw
• "Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift"-Friar Lawrence, Act 4:1


  These are his famous last words as we realise that the letter fails to be delivered- another example of how he is the catalyst in the chain of events
• "A greater power than we can contradict"- Friar Lawrence, Act 5:2


  His reference to fate here shows he knows he is being controlled by something higher than himself now but there is not much he can do about it
• "Come"- Friar Lawrence, Act 5:2

  He repeats this several times after Juliet awakes to find Romeo dead, as if he cannot bear to stay because his role in what has happened is staring him right in the face. His plan has backfired and he is panicking and wants to run away from his problems
• "I dare no longer stay"- Friar Lawrence, Act 5:2


  Perhaps he is being irresponsible and cowardly, unable to face up to the reality that his plan has failed whilst Juliet has just lost her husband and is acting more calm. We can also understand however that he probably feels completely to blame and cannot bear to be reminded of it. The fact that he leaves though is another way that he is used by fate because it means Juliet can kill herself
• "We have still known thee for a holy man"-Prince, Act 5:3

  At the very end of the play when the friar has explained the whole event to the Prince and families, the prince still sees the friar for the good natured man he is. He always had good intentions and he is arguably a tragic hero because his one flaw, his short mindedness, brought about the fall of Romeo and Juliet