Have you ever wanted to be the one? You know, the grand hero
who saves the day, or the underdog who takes a stand? We’ve all been there, or
at least in a situation where someone was desperately needed to take a stand.
Now, travel back to the 16th century to Elizabethan England in the
time of the famous Shakespeare. Meet Friar Lawrence, a priest in the classic
Shakespearian play, “Romeo and Juliet”. What if the only way you could save
someone was to hurt another? Although Friar Lawrence’s decision to marry Juliet
and Romeo wasn’t necessarily the best for them, it did however contribute to
another bigger, and more immediate cause.
To
begin, Friar Lawrence didn’t actually think Romeo and Juliet’s love was true enough
for them to be married. For example, Friar Lawrence says, “Holy Saint Francis,
what a change is here! Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear so soon
forgotten?” (2.3.69-70) This line shows how shocked he is that all of a sudden
Romeo is happy, so much that it seems as if he had forgotten about Rosaline.
Secondly, Friar says, “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.”(2.3.101)
Here, Friar provides Romeo and Juliet with the advice that true love is
patient, and isn’t developed just in spite of someone else, like Rosaline for
example. The faster you fall in love, the faster it will all fall apart. On the
other hand, Friar can still be seen as the hero in this situation. Friar says,
“In one respect I’ll your assistant be, for this alliance may no happy prove to
turn your household’s rancor to pure love.” (2.3.98-99) Although Friar doesn’t
believe Romeo and Juliet are truly in love, he reveals that he will marry them
in attempt to end the mutiny between the Montague and Capulet’s. Therefore,
what Friar Lawrence did was in a sense ethical, just not in the interest of
Romeo and Juliet.
Overall, Friar Lawrence married
Romeo and Juliet to turn their rival family’s hate into love. He did what had
to be done, even though Romeo and Juliet were not mature enough to marry each
other. In this case, sometimes there isn’t a clear line that decides ethical or
unethical. What we can learn from Friar Lawrence’s actions is that sometimes it’s
the size of one problem that in the end outweighs another.
