Friar Lawrence

• "This weak flower (...) potion hath residence and medicine power"-friar

  .this is symbolic of human weakness, foreshadows how friar will manipulate romeo and juliet

  .Shakespeare presents friar this way in order to please the protestant Prince of the time

  ."medicine" could foreshadow his desire to heal the feud.

  . "Power" is linked to how ill-concieved his plan is as it causes romeo and juliets death

  ."flower" implies he reflects in plants and herbs- he has the power to behave in a corruption way, but also to do good

  .stems from his religious authority
• "Much do I fear some ill, unthrifty thing"- friar, after romeo and juliets death

  .shows that fate has overpowered everything, even faith and religion

  .he knows his plan has failed .he forsees death, but cannot bring himself to name it .presents him to have failed in his attempts to heal the
• "Young men's love lies not truly in their heart but in their eyes:-friar (a2s3)

  .friar doesn't believe in romeos love, because of how he felt about Rosalind not long ago

  .confused about romeos quick chnage of heart

  .implies romeos love is shallow, he is only infatuated, not pure love (only cares for her looks)
• "This alliance may so prove, to turn your housholds rancour to pure love"- frair (a2s3)

  .Friars reason for marrying romeo and juliet is to stop the family feud

  .he pushes aside his first impressions that this love is not true, and instead decides to marry them for his own benefit

  .he closes to marry romeo and juliet against their families, which wouldn't allow it
• Shakespeare intentions:

  .presents friar as untrustworthy, this is because at the time, the Prince was protestant, and the friar supported the Catholic Church, .therefore Shakespeare presenting friar in a negative light would be approving to the Prince of the time
• 'Take this vial' (A4S1)

  .use of imperative take shows him and juliet have a very trusting relationship, he can advice her to take a mysterious poem and she will

  .friar is juliets confidant at this point, he tries to help her, but does this naively with no judgement or experience
• Adjectives

  .pacifist-misguided

  .hypocrite-saying one thing but doing another (when he tells romeo and juliet to take it slow but agrees to marry them anyways)
• "They tears are womanish" (A3S5)

  .here friar provides a place of sanctuary (safety) for Romeo, where he can weep and let out his feelings

  .however, friar combats this as he insults romeo calling him a woman

  .this Implies the low expectations an elizabethan society has about women

  .friar is encouraging toxic masculinity, yet friars actions are ultimately to blame, for the deaths of romeo and juliet, this could suggest that what he supports (toxic masculinity) needs to stop (shakespears intentions)
• "These violent delights have violent ends" (A2S6)

  .'violent' implies the ancient grudge, it also tells us how quickly romeo and juliet have 'fell in love'

  .'delights' suggests romeo and juliets love

  .'violent ends' foreshadows their sudden deaths, which happened too soon, they were too young to die