In Act II, Scene 3 Friar Lawrence agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet despite the fact that they are the son and daughter of families who are involved in a bitter and violent feud. He hopes that such a union will cause the families to make peace ("rancor to pure love"). He marries them in secret the same day and tells no one. In fact, the only individuals privy to the information are the friar...
In Act II, Scene 3 Friar Lawrence agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet despite the fact that they are the son and daughter of families who are involved in a bitter and violent feud. He hopes that such a union will cause the families to make peace ("rancor to pure love"). He marries them in secret the same day and tells no one. In fact, the only individuals privy to the information are the friar and Juliet's nurse. One quote from Friar Lawrence which suggests that he has kept the marriage a secret appears in Act III, Scene 3 when he is attempting to convince Romeo to heed the Prince's declaration that he be banished to Mantua. He claims that once tempers have quieted he will announce the marriage and beg forgiveness from the Prince:
But look thou stay not till the watch be set,
For then thou canst not pass to Mantua,
Where thou shalt live till we can find a time
To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,
Beg pardon of the Prince, and call thee back
With twenty hundred thousand times more joy
Than thou went’st forth in lamentation.
Another quote implying his secrecy comes at the beginning of Act IV as he is speaking to Count Paris. Paris has come to ask the friar to marry him to Juliet. Of course, Juliet is already married, by Friar Lawrence. When Paris asks if the friar believes the marriage should be delayed, Lawrence, in an aside (not spoken directly to Paris but for the audience), "I would I knew not why it should be slowed." He is basically saying he wishes he didn't know why the marriage between Paris and Juliet cannot occur.
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