Throughout Romeo and Juliet the tragedy written by William Shakespeare there are examples of tragic heroes. There are seven things needed to be a tragic hero, the character has to be of high rank, originally good, in a conflict, flawed, realize his error too late, become isolated, and produce a caratharis. The Friar in this play expresses and shows all of these traits, and therefore can be considered a tragic hero.
             The Friar is of high rank because he is a priest and a priest at that time period was considered to be the highest of all. He is also highly ranked because he was intellectual and could communicate well with others. The Friar is originally good because he tries to marry Romeo and Juliet to unite the two households but it does not work out. He also is originally good because at first he does not think they should rush into things, but he thinks of uniting the households and goes along with the wedding. Here he shows his good intentions in changing his mind about marrying Romeo and Juliet when he says,
             Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell.
             But come, young waverer, come go with me.
             Inn one respect I'll thy assistant be;
             For this alliance may so be happy prove
             To turn you households' rancor to pure love."(II iv 88-93).
             The Friar is in a conflict by involving himself in the whole marriage of Romeo and Juliet. He has to lie to everyone, which is also more trouble for him if he gets caught. He also is involved by not telling anyone about the love between Romeo and Juliet before his good intentions turned into a violent ending. He is also in a conflict because he does not tell the Prince of this and if the Prince finds out the punishment could be death.
             Being contradictory to his own words reveals the Friar's flaws, by first saying that he would not marry Romeo and Juliet and then doing it to unite the families. He is also i
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