Example essays
Jane Austen College Exemplar: Friar Laurence
Read this extract from Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet and then answer the question that follows.
At this point in the play Romeo is discussing his change in love to Friar Laurence.
ROMEO
Thou chid'st me oft for loving Rosaline.
FRIAR LAURENCE
For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.
ROMEO
And bad'st me bury love.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Not in a grave,
To lay one in, another out to have.
ROMEO
I pray thee, chide not; she whom I love now
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow;
The other did not so.
FRIAR LAURENCE
O, she knew well
Thy love did read by rote and could not spell.
But come, young waverer, come, go with me,
In one respect I'll thy assistant be;
For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households' rancour to pure love.
ROMEO
O, let us hence; I stand on sudden haste.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.
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Starting with this extract, explore how far Shakespeare presents Friar Laurence’s as wise.
Write about:
• how Shakespeare presents Friar Laurence in this extract.
• how Shakespeare presents Friar Laurence the play as a whole.
[30 marks]
AO4 [4 marks]
Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is about how strong emotions can have tragic consequences. Shakespeare explores this through the character of Friar Laurence, whose plan to marry the two lovers in secret and bring an end to the feud goes horribly wrong, and only serves to quicken the tragic end to the lovers’ lives. To an extent, Friar Laurence seems a wise character who wants to support the lovers in pursuing a marriage of their own choice, rather than forcing Juliet to follow societal conventions of an arranged marriage. On the other hand, Friar Laurence seems naive for thinking that his plan to end the feud will be a success, when all it does is add to the tragedy of the play.
In the extract, Shakespeare makes clear Friar Laurence cares about Romeo. This extract is one example of many moments in the play when Romeo goes to Friar Laurence for advice. In this instance, Romeo is seeking advice about his relationship with Juliet. In the final line of the extract, Shakespeare demonstrates that Friar Laurence recognises Romeo's impulsive nature when he has the friar say ‘wisely and slow: they stumble that run fast’. In other words, Friar Laurence is warning Romeo not to rush into his relationship with Juliet as this may cause something terrible to happen. Shakespeare’s use of these words foreshadows later events in the play; it is a result of Romeo rushing back to Verona when he hears the news of Juliet’s death that he takes the poison before he finds out the truth. Shakespeare’s use of foreshadowing indicates that Friar Laurence is a kindly character because he seems to care a lot about Romeo and to be able to predict that Romeo’s impulsive nature will lead him to make mistakes.
On the other hand, Shakespeare also presents Friar Laurence as naive. When Romeo asks Friar Laurence to help him marry Juliet, Shakespeare has Friar Laurence respond with the words ‘may turn your households’ rancour to pure love’. In other words, Friar Laurence is happy to help Romeo and Juliet marry because he believes that their marriage will end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, restoring peace in Verona. Shakespeare creates dramatic irony when he has Friar Laurence state these words because the audience has already learned in the prologue that the feud only ends when Romeo and Juliet die. This makes Friar Laurence seem naive because it is clear that he is wrong to think that the marriage in itself will bring an end to the conflict. A religious Elizabethan audience may also distrust Friar Laurence due to the fact that he marries Romeo and Juliet in secret. This is not something that the audience would expect from a holy man, and only serves to weaken our trust in his decisions.
In the play as a whole, Shakespeare uses the character of Friar Laurence to explore family relationships. After Romeo’s banishment, Shakespeare has Romeo turn to Friar Laurence for advice. When Romeo is desperate to kill himself because he does not want to live without Juliet, Friar Laurence encourages Romeo to see that Prince Escalus has shown him ‘dear mercy’ by banishing him. Friar Laurence’s words influence Romeo to see things more clearly, which indicates that Romeo trusts him and that they have a close relationship. Similarly, after Lord Capulet speeds up Juliet’s marriage to Paris, Shakespeare has Juliet turn to Friar Laurence for help. By choosing Friar Laurence as the person that Romeo and Juliet (after being abandoned by the nurse) both turn to for help rather than their parents, Shakespeare could be criticising the distant relationships between parents and their children in the Elizabethan era. Perhaps if Romeo and Juliet had felt they could be honest with their parents about their relationship, Friar Laurence needn’t have got involved and the play’s tragic ending could have been avoided.
Towards the end of the play, Shakespeare demonstrates that Friar Laurence’s actions contribute to the tragic ending. After Lord Capulet threatens to disown Juliet, Friar Laurence helps Juliet by giving her a potion that will make her appear dead. His plan to inform Romeo by letter fails because Friar John is unable to deliver the letter due to the plague in Mantua. Perhaps if Friar Laurence had tried to deliver the news himself, or via Balthasar, Romeo’s servant, Romeo’s death could have been avoided. In the final scene of Act 5, Friar Laurence and Juliet arrive at the tomb to find Romeo dead. Although he knows that Juliet is unwilling to live without Romeo, Friar Laurence leaves her alone in the tomb because he is worried about being caught. Perhaps if he had stayed, he would have been able to prevent Juliet’s death. Although the audience learned in the prologue that the lovers were ‘death-marked’ and that fate was working against them, we cannot help but wonder if Friar Laurence’s actions sped up the tragedy that befalls Romeo and Juliet in the final scene.
In conclusion, it is clear throughout the play that Friar Laurence’s wisdom enables him to see beyond the societal norms of arranged marriage and assist Juliet in being with the man she truly loves. Perhaps Friar Laurence is therefore a tool used by Shakespeare to challenge the restrictions imposed upon young women by arranged marriage in a patriarchal society. It is also clear that Friar Laurence is well-meaning and hopes that the strength of the love between Romeo and Juliet will bring an end to the feud. However, Friar Laurence’s naivety leads him to make mistakes, making him an assistant to fate, and bringing the ‘death-marked’ lovers ever-closer to their tragic end.