Scene 3 – Friar Laurence and Romeo

Enter Friar Laurence alone with a basket.
Scene Setting: Friar Laurence enters alone, symbolizing his role as a solitary figure of wisdom and knowledge. He is holding a basket, possibly of herbs or plants, which will be important for the thematic exploration of nature’s duality.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
Check’ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day’s path and Titan’s fiery wheels.

Explanation:

• Friar Laurence opens the scene with a poetic description of dawn. “Gray-eyed morn” personifies the morning as a gentle, welcoming figure, contrasting with “frowning night,” which represents the darkness and negativity of night.
• The phrase “Check’ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light” shows the sun beginning to rise, creating lines of light in the sky, signaling the end of night and the beginning of a new day.
• “Fleckled darkness” is a vivid description of the fading night, while “like a drunkard reels” uses a simile to compare the night’s departure to a drunk person losing control.
• “Titan’s fiery wheels” refers to the Greek sun god Helios (Titan), whose chariot was said to pull the sun across the sky. This metaphor links the rising sun to a powerful force of nature.

Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye,
The day to cheer and night’s dank dew to dry,
I must upfill this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious-juicèd flowers.

Explanation:

• Friar Laurence speaks of the sun “advancing his burning eye,” where “burning eye” symbolizes the power and heat of the sun.
• “Dew to dry” implies the morning mist, which the sun will soon evaporate.
• “Osier cage” refers to a basket made of willow twigs, which is often used to gather plants or herbs. The basket symbolizes the earth’s natural resources, which the Friar will fill with both “baleful weeds” (poisonous plants) and “precious-juicèd flowers” (healing herbs). This reflects the theme of duality in nature, where good and evil exist side by side.

The Earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb;
What is her burying grave, that is her womb;
And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find,
Many for many virtues excellent,
None but for some, and yet all different.

Explanation:

• “The Earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb” personifies the Earth as both the giver of life (mother) and the taker of life (tomb).
• The paradoxical statement “her burying grave, that is her womb” emphasizes how death and life are intertwined. This duality is a central theme in the play—life and death, love and hate, good and evil.
• The phrase “children of divers kind / We sucking on her natural bosom find” references the idea that humans and animals depend on the Earth for sustenance, likened to suckling from a mother’s breast.
• “Many for many virtues excellent, / None but for some, and yet all different” speaks to the variety of life on Earth, with each being unique and fulfilling different purposes.

O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies
In plants, herbs, stones, and their true qualities.
For naught so vile that on the Earth doth live
But to the Earth some special good doth give;
Nor aught so good but, strained from that fair use,
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.

Explanation:

• Friar Laurence continues to reflect on nature, acknowledging that plants, herbs, and stones all hold powerful qualities, both good and bad.
• “Mickle” means “much” or “great,” and he emphasizes the grace and power inherent in these natural substances.
• He then explores the balance of good and evil in nature: “For naught so vile that on the Earth doth live / But to the Earth some special good doth give.” Even things that are harmful may have some redeeming quality.
• “Nor aught so good but, strained from that fair use, / Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse” highlights how good things can be corrupted when misused. This is a metaphor for human nature, where good intentions can be twisted into negative outcomes.

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime by action dignified.

Explanation:

• This line introduces the idea that virtue can become vice if misused. A good act, when distorted or misunderstood, can lead to negative consequences.
• On the other hand, “vice sometime by action dignified” suggests that immoral actions can sometimes be justified or elevated by the way they are carried out. This speaks to the moral ambiguity in life, much like the themes of love and hate in the play.

Enter Romeo.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
Within the infant rind of this weak flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power:
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part;
Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposèd kings encamp them still
In man as well as herbs—grace and rude will;
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.

Explanation:

• Friar Laurence picks up a flower and explains that within it exists both poison and healing properties. This duality mirrors human nature—both good (grace) and bad (rude will) reside in every individual.
• “Two such opposèd kings encamp them still” further emphasizes this internal conflict between grace and will. The “worse” side, if it dominates, leads to destruction, just as a diseased plant is consumed by a “canker death.”

ROMEO:
Good morrow, father.

Explanation:

• Romeo enters and greets Friar Laurence, showing respect and familiarity. His greeting is simple, yet it signals his connection to the Friar.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
Benedicite.
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?
Young son, it argues a distempered head
So soon to bid “Good morrow” to thy bed.
Care keeps his watch in every old man’s eye,
And, where care lodges, sleep will never lie;
But where unbruisèd youth with unstuffed brain
Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign.
Therefore thy earliness doth me assure
Thou art uproused with some distemp’rature,
Or, if not so, then here I hit it right:
Our Romeo hath not been in bed tonight.

Explanation:

• Friar Laurence, surprised at Romeo’s early appearance, jokes that his greeting signals that Romeo must be disturbed or ill, as young people are known for sleeping soundly.
• The Friar implies that Romeo is not getting sleep due to some emotional turmoil, perhaps because of his love-stricken state.
• The humorous exchange introduces the theme of emotional disturbance influencing physical well-being.

ROMEO:
That last is true. The sweeter rest was mine.

Explanation:

• Romeo agrees with the Friar, implying that he hasn’t slept much because his mind is filled with thoughts of love.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?

Explanation:

• The Friar, still unaware of Romeo’s changed affections, asks if he has been with Rosaline, his previous love interest. This line shows that the Friar expects Romeo to still be grieving over Rosaline.

ROMEO:
With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No.
I have forgot that name and that name’s woe.

Explanation:

• Romeo dismisses Rosaline, claiming he has forgotten her and the pain she caused him. This marks his shift in feelings towards Juliet.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
That’s my good son. But where hast thou been
then?

Explanation:

• The Friar expresses relief that Romeo has moved on from Rosaline but is now curious about where he has been if not with her.

ROMEO:
I’ll tell thee ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy,
Where on a sudden one hath wounded me
That’s by me wounded. Both our remedies
Within thy help and holy physic lies.

Explanation:

• Romeo, in poetic terms, says he has been with his “enemy,” meaning Juliet, the daughter of the Capulets, whom the Montagues are supposed to hate.
• “Wounded me” and “by me wounded” refer to the love that has both hurt and healed him. Romeo seeks Friar Laurence’s help to mend the emotional “wounds” caused by his love for Juliet.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift.
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

Explanation:

• The Friar advises Romeo to be clear and straightforward, warning that vague explanations lead to vague answers. He wants to understand the situation fully.

ROMEO:
Then plainly know my heart’s dear love is set
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet.
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine,
And all combined, save what thou must combine
By holy marriage. When and where and how
We met, we wooed, and made exchange of vow
I’ll tell thee as we pass, but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us today.

Explanation:

• Romeo confesses his love for Juliet, explaining that she loves him as well. He seeks Friar Laurence’s help to marry them, hoping their union will help end the feud between their families.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.

Explanation:

• The Friar is shocked by Romeo’s sudden change of heart. He comments on the fickleness of young love, implying that Romeo’s love for Rosaline was shallow and based on looks, not deep emotional connection.

ROMEO:
Thou chid’st me oft for loving Rosaline.

Explanation:

• Romeo responds, reminding the Friar that he often scolded him for his obsessive love of Rosaline.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.

Explanation:

• The Friar clarifies that his criticism was not about loving but about being overly obsessed or “doting” on Rosaline, indicating that his feelings were not balanced or rational.

ROMEO:
And bad’st me bury love.

Explanation:

• Romeo recalls the Friar’s advice to forget Rosaline, implying that he was advised to bury his love for her.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
Not in a grave
To lay one in, another out to have.

Explanation:

• The Friar suggests that Romeo should not bury love in a literal sense, replacing one love with another. He warns against rashness in love.

ROMEO:
I pray thee, chide me not. Her I love now
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow.
The other did not so.

Explanation:

• Romeo pleads with the Friar to not scold him, emphasizing that Juliet returns his love in kind, unlike Rosaline, who did not reciprocate his feelings.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
O, she knew well
Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell.

Explanation:

• The Friar comments that Rosaline knew Romeo’s love for her was superficial and not genuine, as it was based on superficial attraction.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
But come, young waverer, come, go with me.
In one respect I’ll thy assistant be,
For this alliance may so happy prove
To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.

Explanation:

• The Friar finally agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, hoping that their union will end the feud between their families.

ROMEO:
O, let us hence. I stand on sudden haste.

Explanation:

• Romeo, eager to marry Juliet, urges the Friar to hurry.

FRIAR LAWRENCE:
Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.

Explanation:

• The Friar advises Romeo to slow down and act with caution. This reflects the play’s theme of hasty decisions leading to negative consequences.

They exit.
End of Scene