Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being the one who married them, he is a man of moderation. It bothers him that the entire city has been emboiled in the Capulet/Montague fued. He feels that once the families see the lengths to which the children will go to be together, they will relent and bless the union. Paris, with his overbearing manner and ego is not to his liking...so he would not reveal it to him. Also, being Juliets confessor, he is bound by the confessional to never reveal what passes there.
Hey, that's a great question. One would have imagined it might calm down the whole situation.
Perhaps he was afraid that it would turn the cold war between the Capulets and the Montagues into a fighting war. Perhaps Capulet would have Romeo killed so that Juliet would be free to marry Paris.
I think that he'd just gotten too used to the idea of secrecy. He was used to maintaining people's secrets, so it just didn't occur to him that actually outing R&J would do better than trying to preserve their secret marriage. He figured they'd run away and never come back, and nobody would come looking because they'd assume she was dead.
Then again, maybe Friar Laurence is just a lousy planner. His stupid stunt got three people killed. Shakespeare tried the same tactic in Antony and Cleopatra and it got Antony killed there, too. It worked in Much Ado About Nothing, but it would have been just hilarious if Claudio had decided to kill himself over Hero. Well, not so much hilarious, but at least consistent.
I never really understood the answer to that. It never seemed incongruent with the story or anything--he could have been scared of the reaction of Capulet, or felt he was duty bound to keep Juliet's secret. It has always surprised me that Paris could start making wedding plans with a girl who the Friar knew to be married without the Friar doing something.
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Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being the one who married them, he is a man of moderation. It bothers him that the entire city has been emboiled in the Capulet/Montague fued. He feels that once the families see the lengths to which the children will go to be together, they will relent and bless the union. Paris, with his overbearing manner and ego is not to his liking...so he would not reveal it to him. Also, being Juliets confessor, he is bound by the confessional to never reveal what passes there.
Hey, that's a great question. One would have imagined it might calm down the whole situation.
Perhaps he was afraid that it would turn the cold war between the Capulets and the Montagues into a fighting war. Perhaps Capulet would have Romeo killed so that Juliet would be free to marry Paris.
I think that he'd just gotten too used to the idea of secrecy. He was used to maintaining people's secrets, so it just didn't occur to him that actually outing R&J would do better than trying to preserve their secret marriage. He figured they'd run away and never come back, and nobody would come looking because they'd assume she was dead.
Then again, maybe Friar Laurence is just a lousy planner. His stupid stunt got three people killed. Shakespeare tried the same tactic in Antony and Cleopatra and it got Antony killed there, too. It worked in Much Ado About Nothing, but it would have been just hilarious if Claudio had decided to kill himself over Hero. Well, not so much hilarious, but at least consistent.
I never really understood the answer to that. It never seemed incongruent with the story or anything--he could have been scared of the reaction of Capulet, or felt he was duty bound to keep Juliet's secret. It has always surprised me that Paris could start making wedding plans with a girl who the Friar knew to be married without the Friar doing something.
oh gee, i don't know....
MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE ROMEO IS A FREAKIN MONTAGUE!?!