Love, Fate, Change and Tragedy in "Romeo and Juliet"

Categories: Tragedy

It introduces the story of two lovers from rivalry families whom have been feuding till ancient times , introducing Romeo The son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague and Juliet The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet this are the major characters who play an essential role. However Shakespeare put his secondary characters in good use. Like, Juliet’s nurse and Friar Lawrence are characters which are not considered as the main focus of the play, nevertheless they have a crucial role in the lives of Shakespeare central characters.

The nurse acts as a link between the Capulet and Montague families, and thus allows communication and planning to take place between Romeo and Juliet, while Friar Lawrence plays an integral part in the lives of Romeo and Juliet as he is the one who unintentionally lead to the double tragedy at the end not to mention that Friar Lawrence raised Romeo. Without these characters, the play wouldn’t be as we know it today.

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Friar Lawrence is a kindhearted cleric who impacts the plot and lives of characters, the development of the main characters, and the play’s theme. Friar Lawrence influence on the play brings the action to the dramatic end, As well as being the sole figure of religion in the play he also plays an integral part in the action and plot of Romeo and Juliet by secretly marrying them hoping that the marriage may end the fuel, Romeo and Juliet meet in the Friar’s cell for their marriage and the Friar says, “Come, come with me…For, by your leaves you shall not stay alone, Till Holy Church incorporate two in one.

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”(II.vi.35-37).After Romeo’s banishment and being forced to marry count Paris, Juliet went to the Friar to seek answers for this mess or else she would end her life, and to prevent that friar Lawrence gives her the sleeping potion, He says to her, “take thou this vial, being then in bed, and this distilling liquor drink thou off.”(IV.i.95-96) Friar Lawrence wants Juliet to fake her own death and lie in the tomb of Capulet, to flee from marrying count Paris. However, this plan took a turn for the worse when Romeo does not receive the letter that the Friar had sent him demonstrating the tactic. He then kills himself over Juliet’s ‘death’, and Juliet’s response is killing herself over his death. Ultimately, the Friar’s wishes of ending the feud between the Montagues and Capulets are fulfilled tragically, but the reason of their reconciliation being the death of their own children.

Juliet’s nurse, the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. A vulgar, long-winded, and sentimental character, the Nurse provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches. Juliet and her nurse are very close, and she chooses to turn to the nurse for assistance in her relationship with Romeo. This allows the nurse to have a direct effect on the outcome of the story. The nurse can also be seen as a sort of mother figure for the young Juliet the nurse also plays an important role in the progression that takes place between Juliet and Romeo. Firstly, it is the nurse who initially reveals Juliet’s identity to Romeo. It can also be noted that, on more than one occasion, the nurse agrees to meet up with Romeo in order to obtain information and relay messages from Juliet. In act three, scene four, during one of their meetings, the nurse agrees to accept the delivery of a rope ladder so that Romeo may enter Juliet’s room in order to marry her and it’s all for the sake of Juliet even when she advised Juliet to marry count Paris, knowing that she may lose Juliet’s trust by saying so it was all still for her own benefit. However, what struck Juliet the most is when the nurse told her that Romeo is not the correct choice for a husband.

I think it best you married with the County.
O, he’s a lovely gentleman.
Romeo’s a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match,
For it excels your first; or, if it did not,
Your first is dead, or ‘twere as good he were
As living here and you no use of him. (III. v. 217 – 225.)

The nurse knows Juliet well and would be aware of the fact that she is, like Romeo, somewhat of a romantic. To advise her to marry Paris based on the fact that he is better-looking than Romeo says nothing at all to Juliet. Without the support of the nurse, Juliet takes matters into her own hands and loses that small piece of adult guidance that may have been able to prevent the final tragedy from taking place.  All in all, the nurse and the friar want what’s best for their “children” even if it means giving one of them a strange potion or marrying a count for the sake of his money and status.

Updated: Nov 01, 2022
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Love, Fate, Change and Tragedy in "Romeo and Juliet". (2020, Sep 09). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/love-fate-change-and-tragedy-in-romeo-and-juliet-essay

Love, Fate, Change and Tragedy in "Romeo and Juliet" essay
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