Friar Lawrence in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay

friar Lawrence of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet In reading critical analysis of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet I found that earthy heap call Friar Lawrence a moderate homosexual who elicits to others his voice of light and reason. An example of this sort of conclusion is George Ian Duthies opinion that Lawrence is A very deserving man, prudent and worldly-wise(xix.xx). G.B. Harrison views him as sympathetically treated, wise, grave, patient role(6). Due to this continuing interpretation, the view of Friar Lawrence has not really changed with the years. Mutschman and Wentersdorf followed the herd when they stated in their book that Shakespeare reveals no trace some(prenominal) 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 favorable light. (267)I feel that these conc lusions about the character of Friar Lawrence are not so completely true. His character needs deeper trial run in spite of the conventional ideas that have been passed from one critic to some other throughout the years. Lawrences highly 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 religion? Or could he merely be heretofore another stock character that Shakespeare stole from his predecessors?A Historical aspect 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, 19 55.Harrison, G.B. Shakespeare The Complete Works. overbold York New York beg, 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 deitys Judgement in Shakespeare. Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky, 1984.Simmons, Joseph Larry. Shakespeares Pagan World. Charlottesville University Press of Virginia, 1973.