1. The Friar’s Plan for Juliet
Romeo and Juliet – Act IV, Scene I

2. Learning Objectives To understand the main Characters in Act 4 Scene 1
You will learn about the following:
The background events that led up to, “The Friar’s Plan for Juliet”
Be introduced to the meaning of: Fate
Overall significance to the play
Reasons why Juliet immediately agrees to the Friar’s plan
Significant lines from the Scene
You will also have to complete the following tasks:
Write a letter from the perspective of the Nurse on the situation that has unfolded
Test on its significance

3. Starter
Why do you think that Juliet is still madly love with Romeo, even though he technically killed her cousin, Tybalt?
What sort of effect do you think that Juliet declaring to the Friar that she would rather stab herself than marry Paris have on the audience?

4. The Friar’s Plan for Juliet
O, shut the door! And when thou hast done so, Come weep with me, past hope, past cure, past help.
FRIAR LAWRENCE
O Juliet, I already know thy grief. It strains me past the compass of my wits. I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it, on Thursday next be married to this county.
Tell me not, Friar, that thou hear’st of this, Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it.
If in thy wisdom thou canst give no help,
Do thou but call my resolution wise,
And with this knife I’ll help it presently.
(shows him a knife)
God joined my heart and Romeo’s, thou our hands.
And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo sealed,
Shall be the label to another deed,
Or my true heart with treacherous revolt
Turn to another, this shall slay them both.
Therefore out of thy long-experienced time,
Give me some present counsel, or, behold,
'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife
Shall play the umpire, arbitrating that
Which the commission of thy years and art
Could to no issue of true honor bring.
Be not so long to speak. I long to die
If what thou speak’st speak not of remedy.
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Hold, then. Go home, be merry. Give consent
To marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow.
Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone.
Let not the Nurse lie with thee in thy chamber.
(shows her a vial)
Take thou this vial, being then in bed,
And this distillèd liquor drink thou off,
When presently through all thy veins shall run
A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse
Shall keep his native progress, but surcease.
No warmth, no breath shall testify thou livest.
The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade
To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall
Like death when he shuts up the day of life.
Each part, deprived of supple government,
Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death.
And in this borrowed likeness of shrunk death
Thou shalt continue two and forty hours,
And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.
Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes
To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead.
Then, as the manner of our country is,
In thy best robes uncovered on the bier
Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault
Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie.
In the meantime, against thou shalt awake,
Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift,
And hither shall he come, and he and I
Will watch thy waking, and that very night
Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua.
And this shall free thee from this present shame,
If no inconstant toy, nor womanish fear,
Abate thy valor in the acting it.
JULIET
Give me, give me! O, tell not me of fear!
(gives her a vial)
Hold. Get you gone. Be strong and prosperous
In this resolve. I’ll send a friar with speed
To Mantua with my letters to thy lord.
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope,
Which craves as desperate an execution
As that is desperate which we would prevent.
If, rather than to marry County Paris,
Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,
Then is it likely thou wilt undertake
A thing like death to chide away this shame,
That copest with death himself to ’scape from it.
An if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.
JULIET
O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris,
From off the battlements of yonder tower;
Or walk in thievish ways; or bid me lurk
Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears;
Or shut me nightly in a charnel house,
O'ercovered quite with dead men’s rattling bones,
With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls;
Or bid me go into a new-made grave
And hide me with a dead man in his shroud—
Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble—
And I will do it without fear or doubt,
To live an unstained wife to my sweet love.

5. Mini-Task 1: Background Information
In his cell, Friar Lawrence speaks with Paris about his upcoming marriage to Juliet
Paris says that Juliet’s grief about Tybalt’s death has made her unbalanced
Paris states her father has determined they should marry soon so that Juliet can:
A) Stop crying and B) Put an end to her period of mourning
The friar remarks to himself that he wishes he were unaware of the reason that Paris’s marriage to Juliet should be delayed
Paris tells the Friar of the wedding is in two days
Friar is shocked at haste - it ‘should be slowed’
Juliet then enter and treats Paris in a way that neither shows dislike or affection
She cleverly sidesteps his compliments, but Paris is still affectionate towards her
E.g.: She remarks that she has not married him yet
Friar Lawrence ushers Paris away, though not before Paris kisses Juliet once

6. Mini-Task 2: Story of the Scene
After Paris leaves, Juliet threatens to take ‘this bloody knife’ and kill herself if no help is given
She hates Paris and cannot believe how fate has worked against her
The Friar puts forward a plan:
Juliet will publically agree to marrying Paris
On the night before the wedding, she must drink a sleeping potion that will make her appear to be dead
This will put her to sleep for 42 hours
She will be laid to rest in the Capulet tomb on Wednesday night
The friar will send a letter to Romeo in Mantua to help him retrieve her when she wakes up
She will then return to Mantua with Romeo and be free to live with him away from their parents’ hatred
Juliet instantly agrees to the plan

7. Mini-Task 3: Overall Significance to the Play
Juliet now finds someone who is willing to assist her in getting out of the arranged marriage
The Friar has proven himself to be devious. This is considering that:
A) He schemes and B) Is inventive in aiding Romeo and Juliet
Paris is still clueless about Juliet’s true feelings about him and actually thinks that he is doing her a favour by wanting to marry her
The audience get to witness Juliet’s strength in this scene, since:
She is prepared to take her life rather than be without Romeo
She agrees to take the potion in the name of love
She is willing to find a way to defy her father’s rule
She agrees to the Friar’s plan, suggesting her determination and resolution to try anything to be with Romeo
The Friar’s plan offers hope for Juliet, but due to the influence of fate, it then becomes the vehicle of the tragedy
Fate: An event that unavoidably befalls a person which can be tragic. As a result, cause the following:
Creates a dramatic plot
Have pity on those who tragically suffer as a result of fate

8. Mini-Task 4: Juliet’s Reasons to Agree to the Plan
It saves her from the arranged marriage with Paris
It allows her to see the abandoned Romeo and spend some time with him
She now sees the Friar as an ally
Her parents may reconsider their decision about hating the Montague's and forcing decision on her when they think she has died

9. Mini-Task 5: Significant Lines from the Scene
Juliet: “Be not so long to speak. I long to die / If what thou speak’st speak not of remedy.”
Significance: Like Romeo, Juliet now believes that only death can offer a solution to her dilemma. This is considering that she sees no way of convincing her father not to get married to Paris
Friar Lawrance: “That copest with death himself to ’scape from it. An if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.”
Significance: The Friar realizes how desperate and bold Juliet is. He therefore proposes an idea that is not only dangerous and courageous but it may allow Juliet to spend time with Romeo in exile
Juliet: “Give me the vial. Give it to me! Don’t talk to me about/ fear.”
Significance: Juliet immediately accepts the Friar’s plan, even though it is risky, may put her life in danger and will get her parents sad thinking that she is dead. She is willing to do anything to be with Paris and spend time with Romeo

10. Assignment
Task: Pretend that you are the Friar who has just discovered the following:
The desperate state that Juliet is and how much she hates Paris
How eager Paris is on marrying Juliet
How risky his plan is
Write a formal journal entry expressing what his feelings would be on all that has happened and what he fears may happen if his plan does not to work. Ensure that you come up with events that can go wrong and the consequence this would have on both Romeo and Juliet. Ensure that you present Friar’s feelings about his fears in his journal entry
E.g. Juliet overdoses and dies, Juliet wakes up too early and has to get married to Paris, Romeo does not receive the Friar’s letter in time etc
- Format: Formal letter
Make sure to: Avoid having contractions, informal words and indent each of your paragraphs
Length: words
Due Date: May _______.