Even though he has agreed to marry Romeo to Juliet not more than a day after the young couple meet, Friar Lawrence preaches patience and moderation to Romeo at the beginning of Act II, Scene 6. The Friar warns that something which happens swiftly may seem too good to be true and can eventually lead to complications. The Friar says,
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so.
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
The "violent delights" refer to the accelerated pace of the two young people's relationship. It also may refer to the mercurial change in Romeo who, only the day before, was resolutely infatuated with another woman. He urges Romeo to take things slowly and to let true love develop between the two.
He must realize that he is actually enabling the foolish whims of the youngsters. That things may end violently is foreshadowing for the ultimate tragedy of the play. In his quest to bring the feud between the Montagues and Capulets to an end, the Friar has abandoned his own good sense in performing a marriage which, as he predicts, could come to misfortune.
No comments:
Post a Comment