Friar Lawrence in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay

friar Lawrence of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet In reading precise analysis of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet I found that many people call friar Lawrence a moderate man who elicits to separates his voice of wisdom and reason. An example of this flesh of conclusion is George Ian Duthies opinion that Lawrence is A very worthy man, prudential and worldly-smart(xix.xx). G.B. Harrison views him as sympathetically treated, wise, grave, patient(6). Due to this inveterate interpretation, the view of Friar Lawrence has non really changed through the years. Mutschman and Wentersdorf followed the herd when they declared in their book that Shakespeare reveals no trace whatever of the widespread prejudices of non-Catholics in connection with this aspect of the life of the Roman Church. On the contrary he does everything in his dramatic power to show his friars and nuns, their lives and customs, in an unequivocally affable light. (267)I feel that these conclusions abou t the character of Friar Lawrence are not so completely true. His character needs deeper examination in scandalise of the conventional ideas that have been passed from one critic to another throughout the years. Lawrences passing questionable actions in the drama need be looked at in regards to the position he holds as a man of the cloth. Are his actions wise and acceptable to the church? Is Lawrence a meddlesome man going against his vows to his godliness? Or could he merely be yet another demarcation character that Shakespeare stole from his predecessors?A Historical Look Back In 1594 Shakespeares audience would have been used to the convention of the friar or other religious persons as the brunt of jokes or humorous situation... ...ml.Byrne, Muriel St. Clare. Elizabethan life in Town and Country. London George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1954. Duthie, George Ian. Romeo and Juliet. Cambridge J. Dover Wilson, 1955.Harris on, G.B. Shakespeare The Complete Works. New York New York Press, 1952.Kennard, Joseph S. The Friar In Fiction. New York Haskell House Publisher Ltd., 1923.Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare and Politics. Shakespeare in a changing World. 1st. Arnold Kettle. London Lawrence and Wishart, 1964. 124-5.Mutschmann, Henrick, Karl Wentersdorf. Shakespeare and Catholicism. New York AMS Press, 1969.Reed, Robert Rentoul Jr. Crime and Gods appraisal in Shakespeare. Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky, 1984.Simmons, Joseph Larry. Shakespeares Pagan World. Charlottesville University Press of Virginia, 1973.