Act 2 Scene 3 Romeo meets with Friar Lawrence

Youth vs Age
1. Friar Lawrence shows wisdom and understanding
  1. Note - the only justification he offers for agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet is to heal the rift between the houses of Montague and Capulet
    1. "For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households' rancour to pure love"
      1. Could this link to the theme of love?
  2. "Thy old groans yet ringing in mine ancient ears"
    1. He asks Romeo to "Be plain, good son"
      1. That means to stop speaking metaphorically and say what he means!
2. "Young men's love love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes"
  1. He is saying young men are attracted to women based on their looks rather than for who they are as a person
  2. Different types of love
OPPOSTITES
1. Friar Lawrence refers to lots of opposites
  1. This could represent how complex life is and that all decisions in life are not straight forward
    1. Remember Friar Lawrence is faced with an agonising decision
      1. Does he marry them knowing that they are disobeying their parents wishes?
        But if he does, then he knows this could heal the rift between the two families?
        HONOUR
  2. It shows he understands that good and evil are closely related
    1. "Within the infant rind of this weak flower Poison hath residence, and medicine power"
      1. This means that poison and medicine can be derived from the same plant
  3. "Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied and vice sometime by action dignified."
    1. Not only is this an opposite - this is ironic as he is about to set in place a series of events which lead to the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet by agreeing to marry them - EVEN THOUGH his intentions are good
    2. This could also link to FATE
Friar Lawrence's view of the world is delivered by soliloquy
1. This could represent ...
We also learn lots about Romeo in this scene
1. Romeo says to Friar Lawrence that he told him off for loving Rosaline
  1. Friar Lawrence replies by saying "For doting, not for loving, pupil mine"
    1. This shows that Friar Lawrence knew that Romeo's love for Rosaline was infatuation rather than true love
      1. Perhaps this is another reason why he agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet
2. They refer to each other as "thee" and "thou" which shows they have a friendly relationship just like Juliet and the Nurse
The scene ends when Friar Lawrence says "Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast"
1. This could be a prophecy about what is going to happen in the play
  1. Dramatic irony - we already know what is going to happen
  2. Another demonstration of his wisdom which perhaps comes with AGE
    1. YOUTH vs AGE
  3. FATE
2. TIME
Friar Lawrence is a Catholic Priest. Catholicism is a strict form of Christianity which is very moral and is founded on an idea of guilt if you sin.

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Act 2 Scene 3 Romeo meets with Friar Lawrence

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	Created by kconnor over 9 years ago