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Agnezze Ventura

Ms. Woelke

Pre-AP English

13 December 2018

Interactions between Romeo and Friar Lawrence

One of Shakespeare’s many plays, ​The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ​is a tale notorious

for its tragic ending. Set in Verona, Italy during the 1300s, ​Romeo and Juliet​ tells a story of two

young lovers burdened by an ongoing family feud. Though with the help of the Friar, the two

youths were able to marry, tension arises and violence begins to escalate; Romeo and Juliet are

driven apart, leading to their deaths. Throughout the duration of the play, Friar Lawrence

repeatedly supports and helps Romeo through his problems. Furthermore, their relationship is

comparable of a father-son relationship. The impact of Romeo and Friar Lawrence’s interactions

are evident as it consequently impairs their decision making, overwhelms Juliet and her

household, ultimately, causing Romeo and Juliet’s demise.

After the Friar secretly marries Romeo to Juliet, the event influenced how the Friar and

Romeo approach certain situations. Particularly, when Tybalt tries to provoke Romeo but fails as

he declines the offer. Mercutio then takes his place in the duel but dies. Romeo is distraught by

his death and blames his “temper softened” because of Juliet and ends up killing Tybalt in

“fire-eyed fury” (Shakespeare 3.1.120-129). Though Romeo is a prideful individual, his marriage

to Juliet makes Tybalt one of his kinsman. Which means that engaging in combat with his wife’s

cousin would be unethical as he no longer sees Tybalt as the enemy but family; arguably, the

same level of companionship as Mercutio. He is also obliged to care for the people Juliet loves,
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thus trying to avoid hurting her feelings. After Tybalt is killed, Romeo is exiled. Being exiled

strikes “more terror” into him than death, as he is permanently separated from Juliet. The Friar

gives in to his woes and encourages him to meet Juliet in “her chambers” and “comfort” her

(Shakespeare 3.3.14-158). The Friar encourages Romeo to meet with Juliet at such a dangerous

time because he feels responsible for Romeo’s suicidal tendency. If he did not agree to them

being wed, Romeo might not have ended up in this situation or he could have prevented his

obsession over Juliet from growing. So, to fix Romeo’s thoughts of death, the Friar sends him to

meet with her.

By the same case, not only was Romeo and the Friar affected but other characters such as

Juliet and her associates are affected emotionally. When Juliet finds out that her parents plan to

marry her off to Paris, she refuses and “beseeches” for her father to cancel it. Meanwhile,

Capulet sees this as Juliet being ungrateful and “disobedient” (Shakespeare 3.5.164-66). Juliet ,

who is bound to Romeo, for marriage willingly goes against her father’s wishes in order to avoid

bigamy. During their marriage ceremony, the Friar refers to it as a “holy act” that the heavens

would “smile” upon (Shakespeare 2.6.1).To put it differently, being wed is a sacred bond that,

when broken, is seen as disgraceful. To be wed to someone is to enter a sacred pact, one that is

seen as disgraceful when broken. Juliet, agitated and unnerved, turns to her nurse for comfort.

Instead the Nurse expresses her support for her engagement with Paris and how it is “best [she]

married” him instead. Not to mention how Romeo is but a “dishclout” compared to him

(Shakespeare 3.5.230-32). The Nurse usually agrees with Juliet, but this time she openly displays

disdain for Romeo, most likely due to his recent behavior. She shares an affectionate relationship

with Juliet and she surely wants what is best for her. In this case, it’s to forget about Romeo,
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even though she was auspicious of their love. This shows that Romeo’s action has left the wrong

impression on the Nurse.

Pursuing this further, interactions between the Friar and Romeo had an impact on the fate

itself. After news of Juliet’s “death” reaches Romeo, he hurries to her tomb. He has bought a

poison to end himself, to show that even death cannot “depart” Romeo from Juliet; he will “stay”

with her (Shakespeare 5.3.106-8). Romeo frequently acted upon his love for Juliet, from a

private wedding to sneaking into the Capulet household. Romeo’s excessive love for Juliet was

fueled even more by the Friar. So, it isn’t surprising for his decisions to be influenced by his

extreme emotions. When the reason of their deaths is revealed to Montague and the Capulets,

Lord Montague and Capulet realize the prize their prolonged dispute had to pay, and call a truce.

Capulet then asks for “no more than” Montague’s “hand” as his daughter’s dowry (Shakespeare

5.3.306-8). As leaders of the households, both Montague and Capulet were very stubborn. They

both seen as the face of their households, in other words, it was expected that they despised each

other the most. Making the fact that, Capulet only asks to shake Montague’s hand as a dowry

more significant. Shaking hands a sign of peace, peace that could have prevented the deaths of

their children.

In conclusion, William Shakespeare emphasizes on Romeo and Friar Lawrence’s

interactions have made an impact upon their decisions, that have distressed Juliet and her family

and the death of Romeo and Juliet. The Friar and Romeo’s lives were affected as they acted

based on their secret. Juliet disobeyed her family to stay loyal to Romeo and her Nurse felt the

opposite. Finally, it had an influence over their destiny and their family’s feud is discontinued.