Authors give characters personality through the characters actions, language, and thoughts. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence is one of the characters with a tremendous personality. Friar Laurence's character is that of a trustworthy, friendly, and helpful man.
The first trait of Friar Laurence's personality is him being trustworthy. When talking to Romeo the Friar says "But come, young waverer, come go with me. / In one respect I'll thy assistant be" (89-90). By telling this to Romeo, he shows that he can be trusted to marry him to Juliet. Friar Laurence is also trusted because he gives confession to people in Verona. For example, Juliet goes to confess to him, even though she goes to get married to Romeo. Since people confess to him daily, he is trusted to keep their confessions private. The Friar is also trustworthy because Romeo and Juliet believe that he will keep their marriage a secret.
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Romeo and Juliet with Friar Laurence
Romeo and Juliet, Act I-Scene_3. Lady Capulet and ...In this way, they trust him.
Friar Laurence is a friendly man. He is friendly because he cares about Romeo and Juliet's problems. He is a friend to Romeo because he talks with him almost daily. In one conversation between Romeo and the Friar, he says "I'll give thee armor too keep off that word; / Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy. / To comfort thee, through thou art banished" (54- 56). This shows how Friar Laurence is a friend because he tries to comfort Romeo. He also says that he will protect him. By comforting and protecting Romeo, the Friar is having qualities of a good friend.
The Friar is also helpful. When Romeo comes to the Friar in a desperate need to marry, he helps him by marring Romeo to Juliet. Friar Laurence gives Romeo the advice of "Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast" (94). This was an attempt to help Romeo with his decisions about Juliet. When Romeo is exiled, he helps him to see Juliet again, and to regain his hope. He tells the Capulet family that he will help out for Juliet's and Paris's wedding, that never happens due to Juliet's fake death. He helps Juliet, when she comes to see him, by making a scheme to fake her death so she will not have to marry Paris.
Friar Laurence is a wonderful man. He helps anyone who needs him, when he is needed. He can be a friend to those who are friends back to him. He can also be trusted with most incidents. The Friar's personality is trusting, friendly, and helpful.
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English: Woodcut "Verona" from "Romeo and Juliet" ...
Romeo and Juliet, Act II- Scene III. Enter Friar L...
Friar Laurence Character traits
This writer conceives of Friar Laurence in a way that paints him as a complete innocent. In fact, he involves himself in a very dangerous game, and because of his failure to control things, what might have been a desperate escape becomes a tragedy in which Romeo and Juliet are both killed. At the end of many productions of the play, the authorities are looking to take out their wrath on the Friar, for without his willingness to get involved in a dangerous scheme, the tragedy would not have ended so badly.
Perhaps the good Friar would have been wise to take a lesson form a completely different character, Detective Harry Callahan of "Dirty Harry" and "Magnum Force" fame: "a man's got to know his limitations."
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