Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's tragic plays. It is about two star crossed lovers who commit suicide when their feuding families prevent them from being together. The play has many characters, each with his/her own role in keeping the plot line. Some characters do not have a great amount of lines, but have the plot revolving around them. Such a character is Friar Laurence. At first glance, one may overlook this character and dismiss him as only a minor player in the story of Romeo and Juliet. Upon closer examination, it becomes obvious that the Friar plays a crucial role in the development of the play. Throughout the play he attempts to guide young Romeo and Juliet through their struggles, and unwittingly causes their deaths.

Friar Laurence does just this in the passage I have chosen to analyse, Act IV scene i, lines 89-106. By now Romeo and Juliet are already secretly married, and Juliet has come crying to the Friar in hopes that he will devise a plan for her to get out of her predicament of being forced to marry Paris. Bring the sympathetic and paternal man that he is, cannot deny her request. And being the religious man that he is, he wants to find a way to avoid doubly marrying Juliet, so he helps her plan her "death". Here we see the control that Friar Laurence has over the events that occur.

The Friar brings out his deadly weapon- a vial of distilled liquor -that will, when drunk, cause Juliet to fall into a deep, death-like slumber. All of her blood will flow cold through her veins, her heart and lungs will cease to move, and her limbs will become stiff and clammy, just like a corpse. Then in forty two hours time, she will awake in the family tomb, as if she had merely been sleeping, and the banished Romeo will be by her side.

The purpose of this scene is to increase interest and suspense for the audience. It further characterises Friar Laurence as a caring man, a healer who wants to eliminate the suffering of those around him, but his is also someone who meddles with powers he cannot altogether control. He tries to fix the lovers' problems, not knowing that his influence will lead to their deaths.

It also reinforces Juliet's character in that she is hopelessly devoted to her Romeo, that she is young and naive, and that she will do anything in order to be with him, no matter what the consequences may be.

Shakespeare is widely known for his wonderful poetry and powerful language in all of his plays. Romeo and Juliet is no exception. By analysing certain passages, one can discover the deeper meaning of the play. In the particular passage that I have analysed there are a few examples of figures of speech. For instance, lines 99-100, "The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade to wanny ashes" is a metaphor for all the color in her cheeks and lips that will turn a pale, bluish grey color, likes a corpses' would be. Lines 101 and 102, "thy eyes' windows fall/like death when he shuts up the day of life" is a simile comparing death to the shutting of a window, or being closed off from the world. This foreshadows the fate of Juliet after she drinks the potion. These lines are a personification of death. Line 100, "thy eyes' windows" is a metaphor for eyelids.

Shakespeare is famous for using such expressive and emphatic words in all of his works. A few words that I thought were powerful in this passage were 'wanny' and 'ashes'. Wanny means colourless, pale, sickly and sallow, and ashes connotes death, or being cremated. I felt that the words 'stark', 'cold', and 'stiff' foreshadow what it will be like for Juliet in the tomb; cold, bleak, bare stone walls, filled with rotting corpses and bones. Another word I found to be quite powerful was liquor, because just as some people drink to escape their problems, Juliet drinks the vial of distilled liquor to rid her problem of marrying Paris. I also believe that it is ironic for Juliet that she drinks the potion the Friar has given her that will make her appear dead, then it backfires on her when Romeo hears that she is dead, then he goes to the tomb where she lies and poisons herself.

By studying several passages from the play, one can comprehend the entertaining and typically subtle language of Shakespeare. The passage I have analysed in this essay is not one of the major pieces of the puzzle,yet without it the play would not be complete, just as it would without the character of Friar Laurence.