Sunday, August 22, 2010

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, how do Paris and Friar Lawrence influence Romeo and/or Juliet?

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence influences Romeo by agreeing to perform the marriage in act 2, scene 2, and then, in act 3, scene 3, by telling him to wait for news in Mantua while he figures out a way for him to be reunited with Juliet. Next, Friar Lawrence influences Juliet to take a drug that will help her fake her own death in act 4, scene 2, thereby giving her a chance to escape to Mantua and finally be with Romeo.


Paris influences Juliet mostly because he has Lord Capulet's permission to marry her. If Paris had not wanted to marry her in the first place, there would not have been a need for her to fake her own death to avoid marrying him. Then, Paris forces Romeo to fight with him in act 5, scene 3 because he won't back down when Romeo tells him to leave with Juliet's body. Romeo even warns Paris by saying, "Good gentle youth, tempt not a desp'rate man" (V.iii.59) but Paris would rather fight to the death than save his life. 

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