Question

Nurse: O! he is even in my mistress' case,

Just in her case!

Friar Laurence: O woeful sympathy!

Piteous predicament! Even so lies she,

Blubbering and weeping, weeping and blubbering.

Stand up, stand up; stand, an you be a man:

For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand;

Why should you fall into so deep an O?

—Romeo and Juliet,
William Shakespeare

Read the passage, and then answer the questions.

What complication are the characters reacting to?



What is the friar’s tone?



What conclusion can be drawn about the friar?

Answer 1

What complication are the characters reacting to?
- Romeo’s extreme grief and swooning over his separation from Juliet (the result of his killing Tybalt and being banished). The Nurse’s line shows she sees Romeo in the same pitiable state as her mistress, Juliet.

What is the friar’s tone?
- Exasperated and admonishing but concerned and practical. He sympathizes briefly (“O woeful sympathy!”) then scolds Romeo to behave like a man and compose himself for Juliet’s sake.

What conclusion can be drawn about the friar?
- Friar Laurence is a pragmatic, moral guide: caring and sympathetic, yet stern and authoritative. He tries to restore reason and responsibility in Romeo rather than indulge melodrama.