Quote 1
FRIAR LAURENCE
Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
(2.2.69-72)
Friar Laurence makes a convincing argument that Romeo's love for Juliet could nothing more than a crush. Just days ago Romeo was crying his eyes out over another woman, the unattainable Rosaline. Now, the "salt water" tears haven't even dried yet and he's talking about a new love interest.
Okay, Friar Laurence has good reason to be skeptical of Romeo's newfound "love." But, if he's so skeptical of the relationship, why does he agree to secretly marry the young couple? Well, he tells us: "For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households' rancour to pure love" (2.3.87-88).
In other words, Friar Laurence is crossing his fingers a union between Romeo and Juliet will force the feuding families to reconcile. But good intentions aren't enough. His meddling may not be solely responsible for the tragedy, but it's at least partly responsible. At the same time, Romeo and Juliet's love does eventually bring the two families together—but only after a double suicide.
Quote 2
FRIAR LAURENCE
But come, young waverer, come, go with me.
In one respect I'll thy assistant be,
For this alliance may so happy prove
To turn your households' rancor to pure love.
(2.3.96-99)
Friar Laurence doesn't believe that Romeo's love for Juliet is authentic (especially since Romeo was "in love" with Rosaline about two seconds ago), but he agrees to marry them anyway. What gives? Well, the Friar believes that a marriage between a young Capulet and a young Montague might be able to put an end to the long-standing family feud. Pretty conniving, don't you think?
Quote 3
FRIAR LAURENCE
Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
(2.3.69-72)
The Friar thinks Romeo's love is meaningless because it is so changeable—just days ago, Romeo was supposedly in love with Rosaline but now he wants to marry Juliet. But that does that automatically mean it's not real this time?
Quote 4
FRIAR LAURENCE
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume. The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so.
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
(2.6.9-15)
The Friar, who is worried about the long-term consequences of Romeo and Juliet's marriage, warns Romeo that his and Juliet's intense passion may end suddenly and violently, like the flash of gunpowder. And, yep: that about sums it up for us.
Quote 5
FRIAR LAURENCE
Here comes the lady. O, so light a foot
Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint.
A lover may bestride the gossamers
That idles in the wanton summer air,
And yet not fall, so light is vanity. (2.6.16-20)
When Juliet rushes into Friar Laurence's cell to marry Romeo, the Friar makes a big deal about the fragility and fleetingness of worldly pleasure (a young lover's "vanity"). But (of course) there's another meaning: Stephen Greenblatt tells us that, when Friar Laurence says Juliet's "light" foot won't "wear out the everlasting flint," he means that she will never "endure or subdue the hard road of life" (source).
Quote 6
FRIAR LAURENCE
Hold thy desperate hand!
Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art.
Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote
The unreasonable fury of a beast.
Unseemly woman in a seeming man,
Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!
(3.3.118-123)
In Romeo and Juliet, boys don't cry. Here, the Friar calls Romeo a "womanish" wimp for crying and threatening suicide. Give the guy a break, okay? Not only has he been in and out of love for the past month, he's just found out that he's going to be exiled without even getting to make love to his thirteen-year-old wife. (Heavy sarcasm.)
Quote 7
FRIAR LAURENCE
Who bare my letter, then, to Romeo?FRIAR JOHN
I could not send it—here it is again—
Returning the letter.
Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,
So fearful were they of infection.FRIAR LAURENCE
Unhappy fortune!
(5.2.13-17)
Friar Laurence blames "unhappy fortune" for preventing Romeo from receiving a letter explaining that Juliet isn't really dead. (We usually blame AT&T, but that's just us.)
Quote 8
FRIAR LAURENCE
Romeo! O, pale! Who else? What, Paris too?
And steeped in blood? Ah, what an unkind hour
Is guilty of this lamentable chance!
(5.3.148-151)
There's a lot of finger-pointing in Romeo and Juliet, but we get the feeling that none of the fingers are pointed in the right direction. Here, instead of, you know, taking some of the blame on himself, Friar Laurence just blames "fate."
Quote 9
FRIAR LAURENCE
I hear some noise.—Lady, come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep.
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents.
(5.3.156-159)
When Juliet awakens and finds Romeo dead, the Friar tells Juliet that a "higher power"—either God or fate—has ruined their plans. Hm. It seems like the Friar doesn't want to take any responsibility for the part he played in the couple's tragedy. After all, Friar Laurence (a grown man who ought to know better) is the one who (1) facilitated the secret marriage, and then (2) came up with the idea for Juliet to drink the sleeping potion that would make everyone think she was dead. We're pretty sure that, when the Prince says that some will be "punished," he's looking straight at this guy.
Quote 10
FRIAR LAURENCE
So smile the heavens upon this holy act
That after-hours with sorrow chide us not.
(2.6.1-2)
Friar Laurence seems awfully optimistic about this secret (and possibly illegal) marriage—and pretty quick to go from "the heavens are smiling" to "A greater power than we can contradict/ Hath thwarted our intents" (5.3.153-155).
Quote 11
FRIAR LAURENCE
Come, come with me, and we will make short work,
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till Holy Church incorporate two in one.
(2.6.35-37)
Here, Friar Laurence is talking about how the marriage of Romeo and Juliet will be performed in and by the "holy church." He's also referring to the biblical idea that a marriage between a man and woman unites them into "one flesh" (Genesis 2:2)—that "corp" in the middle of "incorporate" means "body." There's also a sexual allusion (of course): "incorporate two in one" means that Romeo and Juliet can get busy now that they're legally married.
Quote 12
FRIAR LAURENCE
Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
Jesu Maria, what a deal of brine
Hath washed thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!
How much salt water thrown away in waste
To season love, that of it doth not taste!
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,
Thy old groans ring yet in my ancient ears.
Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit
Of an old tear that is not washed off yet. (2.3.69-80)
When Romeo bursts into Friar Laurence's chamber and declares his love for Juliet, the Friar points out that Romeo was all hot for Rosaline just the other day and now he says he's into Juliet. Good point. Yet, this same Friar agrees to help Romeo and Juliet get hitched just a few lines later. What's up with that?
Quote 13
FRIAR LAURENCE
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume. The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so.
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
(2.6.9-15)
The Friar tries (and fails) to convince Romeo to love more calmly. The Friar would sound like the play's voice of reason, except that he behaves more foolishly than anyone. And the most foolish guy, Mercutio? He's the only one who really seems to get it: the feud is dumb, and Romeo is an idiot. No wonder Shakespeare kills him off.
Quote 14
FRIAR LAURENCE
Hold thy desperate hand!
Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art.
Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote
The unreasonable fury of a beast.
Unseemly woman in a seeming man,
Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!
Thou hast amazed me. By my holy order,
I thought thy disposition better tempered.
Hast thou slain Tybalt? wilt thou slay thyself,
And slay thy lady that in thy life lives,
By doing damnèd hate upon thyself? (3.3.118-128)
Here, Friar Laurence and Juliet's Nurse prevent Romeo from committing suicide (because he's afraid Juliet hates him for killing her cousin, Tybalt). The Friar's critique of Romeo's rash and foolish behavior is successful (here anyway), but we're not sure which is more foolish—Romeo's desire to stab himself with his sword or Friar Laurence's insinuation that Romeo's emotions are "womanish" and unmanly.
Quote 15
FRIAR LAURENCE
On Thursday, sir? The time is very short.PARIS
My father Capulet will have it so,
And I am nothing slow to slack his haste.
(4.1.1-3)
Supposedly wiser and calmer than Romeo and Juliet, Lord Capulet and Paris also make a hasty decision that results in tragedy. Guess the adults don't have an advantage here.
Quote 16
FRIAR LAURENCE
Saint Francis be my speed! How oft tonight
Have my old feet stumbled at graves!
(5.3.121-122)
Friar Laurence doesn't move fast enough to save Romeo and Juliet. Still, despite his slowness, he stumbles (literally and symbolically) as much as those who move more quickly.
Quote 17
FRIAR LAURENCE
O deadly sin, O rude unthankfulness!
Thy fault our law calls death, but the kind prince,
Taking thy part, hath rushed aside the law
And turned that black word 'death' to
'banishment.'
This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not.
ROMEO
'Tis torture and not mercy. Heaven is here
Where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog
And little mouse, every unworthy thing,
Live here in heaven and may look on her,
But Romeo may not. More validity,
More honorable state, more courtship lives
In carrion-flies than Romeo. They my seize
On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand
And steal immortal blessing from her lips,
Who even in pure and vestal modesty
Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin;
But Romeo may not; he is banishèd.
Flies may do this, but I from this must fly:
They are free men, but I am banishèd.
And say'st thou yet that exile is not death?
Hadst thou no poison mixed, no sharp-ground
knife,
No sudden mean of death, though ne'er so mean,
But 'banishèd' to' kill me'? 'Banishèd'?
O friar, the damnèd use that word in hell.
Howlings attend it. How hast thou the heart,
Being a divine, a ghostly confessor,
A sin absolver, and my friend professed,
To mangle me with that word 'banishèd'?
(3.3.25-54)
Friar Laurence says that Romeo is an ingrate for not appreciating the fact that he's been exiled, not executed. But, as we know, Romeo and Juliet equate Romeo's banishment with death. Romeo accuses the old Friar of not being able to understand the implications of his forced separation from Juliet. Like Juliet's old Nurse (see 3.5.24 below) the Friar can't see things from the younger generation's perspective. (Psst. Check out the theme of "Youth" if you want to think about this generation gap some more.)
Quote 18
FRIAR LAURENCE
I will be brief, for my short date of breath
Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet,
And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife.
I married them, and their stol'n marriage day
Was Tybalt's doomsday, whose untimely death
Banished the new-made bridegroom from the city,
For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined.
You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
Betrothed and would have married her perforce
To County Paris. Then comes she to me,
And, with wild looks, bid me devise some mean
To rid her from this second marriage,
Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
Then gave I her (so tutored by my art)
A sleeping potion, which so took effect
As I intended, for it wrought on her
The form of death. (5.3.238-255)
When the Prince arrives at the Capulet family tomb, where Romeo and Juliet have just taken their lives, he demands that Friar Laurence explain what happened. What, according to the Friar's long speech, is the cause of the young lovers' deaths? What role does Romeo's banishment play in the tragedy?
Quote 19
FRIAR LAURENCE
O deadly sin, O rude unthankfulness!
Thy fault our law calls death, but the kind prince,
Taking thy part, hath rushed aside the law
And turned that black word 'death' to
'banishment.'
This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not. (3.3.25-30)
Friar Laurence says that Romeo is an ingrate for not appreciating the fact that he's been exiled, not executed. Like Juliet's old Nurse (see 3.5. below) the Friar can't see things from the younger generation's perspective. (Psst. Check out the theme of "Youth" if you want to think about this generation gap some more.)