Friar Lawrence

Also known as: FRIAR LAWRENCE / Friar / Lawrence · Family: None · Role: friar · First appears: Romeo and Juliet · Act II, Scene III

In Act II, Scene III, Friar Lawrence acts as Romeo’s mentor when Romeo asks him to marry him to Capulet’s daughter that day. Though he reproaches Romeo as a “doting” pupil, he agrees to assist because he hopes the marriage will turn the households’ rancour into love. In Act II, Scene VI, he brings Romeo and Juliet to the church so they can be joined in marriage.

In Act III, Scene III, Friar Lawrence is also Romeo’s friend, and Romeo protests that the friar has mangled him by telling him he is banished. By Act IV, Scene I, he serves as Juliet’s guardian and mentor, offering a desperate plan: she is to drink a potion that will counterfeit death and help her avoid marrying Paris, then Romeo will be told to meet her after she awakens and take her to Mantua. Juliet accepts the danger without fear and later presents herself as repentant and obedient to Lawrence’s commands.

In Act V, Scene II, Friar Lawrence learns from Friar John that his urgent letter to Romeo was never delivered because infection fears prevented its dispatch. In Act V, Scene III, he reveals that Romeo and Juliet were secretly married, while the returned letter confirms that Friar John had been detained. He is also connected there with Balthasar as a friend.