Showing posts with label scene 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scene 5. Show all posts

Thursday, March 19, 2009

What is Friar Laurence thinking?

Read Act 4, scene 5, lines 1-64. The family discovers Juliet 'dead'.
You won't understand half the words but I think you can figure out their reaction to finding her dead in bed the morning of the wedding.
Now Friar Laurence shows up (with musicians!).
He says:
"Now heaven hath all, and all the better it is for the maid." (She's in a better place.)
"And weep ye now, seeing she is advanced?" (why are you crying if she's in heaven?)
"She's not well married that lives married long." (a long marriage makes you unhappy, anyway)
"Yet nature's tears are reason's merriment." (if you are sensible you'll be happy for her)

My question is: what is the Friar thinking as he says these things. Put yourself inside the mind of the Friar. Remember that he knows things he isn't saying. In quotes (i.e. use quotation marks at the beginning and end) tell me what the Friar is thinking as he speaks to the grieving family.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Arranged marriages

Are there circumstances under which you would approve of an arranged marriage?
1. What about Third World countries where customs are different from the US? Would you support laws banning arranged marriages in India or any number of Muslim countries?
2. Suppose your parents arranged a marriage with someone you'd never met but you knew the person was wealthy and smart and very popular.
What about the opposite? Should parents be allowed to prevent you from marrying someone if you are not 16?