Friar Lawrence Flashcards
Rough plan
Opening - pansophic, wise
Middle - pseudo paternal, hasty, moral ambiguity
End - seemingly remorseful
Opening quotes
‘The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb’
‘Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, / And vice sometime by action dignified’
‘So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.’
Opening intentions
The Friar’s intelligence serves as a reminder, due to the knowledge of the tragedy from the prologue, that fate is ultimately most powerful
Middle quotes
‘These violent delights have violent ends’
‘Come, come with me and we will make short work’
‘Hold daughter I do spy a kind of hope’
Middle intentions
Shakespeare depicts him as pansophic, juxtaposing the rash, impulsive youth to highlight the folly of the youth
Through his hasty and morally ambiguous decisions, Shakespeare may be indicting religious individuals who fail to adhere to christian teachings
End quotes
‘Doth make against me, of this direful murder/…/Myself condemned and myself excus’d’
‘I married the, and their stol’n marriage day // Was Tybalt’s doomsday, whose untimely death…’
‘Her nurse is privy’
End intentions
Shakespeare humbles the character of Friar Lawrence, a character given a lot of inherent trust, showing him to be human able to making errors
Doesn’t fully humiliate, hence demonstrates that religion is needed but needs to be acted on accordingly.
Fate as superior
‘The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb’
- ‘earth’ a source of life is also a place of death, juxtaposition
- foreshadows Romeo’s love which gives him vitality will be the cause of his untimely death, dramatic irony
- reminiscent of the union of love and hate theme
‘Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, / And vice sometime by action dignified’
- again seems pansophic as he understands how everything/everyone can change
- foreshadows RJ death as they are happy now but will cause suffering in the future
- his high level of insight further highlights his later moral ambiguity later on since he does not plan well later
- ironic as his supposed virtuous actions turn vice since he is hasty in action
‘So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.’
- insightful recognising the fickle nature of Romeo who loved based on looks being lustful
- rhetorical question demonstrates hamartia of impulsivity or rashness
- perhaps seen as a pseudo-paternal figure telling Romeo what is best for him
- interestingly Romeo confides in FL but not his father, links to Nurse and Juliet
‘These violent delights have violent ends’
- strongly focused on potential disaster which accompanied this union
- repetition of violent demonstrates extent of potential tragedy, juxtaposition
- moral ambiguity as he shuns his own advice and marries anyway
‘Come, come with me and we will make short work’
- even though he has given his wise warnings, he commits to joining the couple together as he believes it can mend the fued
- as a Friar should believe in the sanctity of marriage instead of rushing the ceremony himself, as he is a holy figure who should do the right thing
- adjective ‘short’ refers to speed and hastiness of process bringing attention to morally ambiguous nature of Friar who overlooks his own warnings
- perhaps his duty as a pseudo-paternal has a bearing on this
‘Hold daughter I do spy a kind of hope’
- as a pseudo-paternal figure addresses Juliet with affection
- imperative of ‘hold’ urges Juliet to have faith in himself as the Friar comes across as a figure of authority and trust
- pace slowed down which is ironic as he conducted marriage with great haste
- perhaps he is trying to convince Juliet everything is fine even though it is not
‘Doth make against me, of this direful murder/…/Myself condemned and myself excus’d’
- plagued with immense guilt for the role he played
- adjective ‘dire’ underscores how this wasn’t the expected outcome and it was a shocking suprise
- links to fate and dramatic irony
- so preoccupied with preserving God’s natural order that he is distraught that he has diverted from God’s intended plan
- a man chosen by God, catalysed death which is classified as a grave sin
- paradoxical nature of situation -> actions means to prevent bloodshed contributed to it
‘I married the, and their stol’n marriage day // Was Tybalt’s doomsday, whose untimely death…’
- shows his ability to take responsibility and be culpable for his actions but only when forced to
- adjective ‘stol’n’ suggests clandestine/secretive nature of wedding
- ‘untimely’ backs up the fact that if they slowed down such fate may have not been upon them
- the fact that marriage and death on same day eludes to haste
- the fact that the feuding families were brought together serves to highlight futility of feud from start
‘Her nurse is privy’
- Friar confesses all events but also mentions nurse involved
- perhaps attempts to soften blame on himself at the end
- could be a comment that even the lower class have an active role in happenings of society
- Shakespeare may be trying to protect his reputation to highlight the importance of religion but at the same time with the correct execution
Overview
Shakespeare uses the character of the Friar as a vehicle to bring attention to the morally ambiguous nature of some religious individuals who fail to prioritise or adhere to the teachings of the Church. The Friar acts as a pseudo paternal figure to Romeo yet, in his genuine keenness to assist him, the Friar makes arguably hasty decisions. Such choices eventually leads to the death of Romeo and Juliet, leaving the Friar feeling remorseful for his involvement in their demise.
