Romeo and Juliet Final Assignment

In Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.  For instance, Friar Lawrence is a wise old man who gives Romeo and Juliet good advice throughout the story. On the other hand, Friar Lawrence didn’t think about the consequences of his actions, which makes him a flawed hero. 

Friar Lawrence is a wise man who acts as Romeo’s mentor. For instance, when Romeo goes to the friar for advice about love, the friar tells him he needs to be careful and slow. He also said, “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast,” (II.iiii.91). The friar also gives Romeo advice after the fight with Tybalt. The friar tells Romeo to be a man and not let Juliet down by killing himself. The friar also gave Romeo three reasons to be happy: Juliet loves him, he is still alive, and the prince could have had him put to death, but exiled him instead. These examples show how the friar is a sage because they show that he is a wise man who helps Romeo when he doesn’t know what to do.

Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions. The friar made a plan with Romeo and Juliet that sounded good because he thinks it will end the feud between their families. The friar said, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89). What the friar didn’t think about was what would happen if something with his plan went wrong. For instance, how Romeo never got the letter from the friar saying that Juliet wasn’t dead, but sleeping. This one thing turned the friar’s whole plan from good to bad because Romeo killed himself thinking Juliet was dead and then Juliet killed herself since Romeo was dead. Overall, Friar Lawrence is a flawed hero because he didn’t think about the negative effects of his plan if things went wrong.

Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because he was thinking of doing good but ended up doing something bad.  The friar believed in the power of love to solve problems and thinks Romeo and Juliet’s marriage will turn their “households’ rancor to pure love,” (II.iii.89).  When the friar’s plan was failing and Juliet was killing herself, the friar ran instead of helping Juliet like he helped Romeo. In all, Friar Lawrence fits both archetypes because his plan to help Romeo and Juliet went wrong and he was too scared to stay and fix what he had done.

         In Romeo and Juliet, the character, Friar Lawrence, is an archetype. He fits in the category of two archetypes: the sage and the flawed hero.  The friar is a sage because he is a wise man who acts as Romeo’s mentor by giving him advice about his problems. The friar is also a flawed hero because he runs away when his plan fails and he is most needed. Overall, Friar Lawrence is both a sage and a flawed hero archetype because he is wise, but doesn’t consider the outcome of his actions.