Romeo and Juliet

In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves, the secondary characters play an essential role in the book. In Romeo and Juliet by an English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence is an important secondary character who designs solutions for Romeo and Juliet and brings the play into the dramatic results. The failure of his plan causes the tragedy of death for both main characters at the end of the story. In The Sound of Waves, Shinji Kubo, a young and poor fisherman in Uta-Jima falls in love with Hatuse, a rich man’s daughter. Shinji and Hatsue try to be together throughout the book, but encounter many difficulties with their neighbors. Shinji’s mother tries to help Shinji and Hatsue by asking many people and going to shrines to beg the gods for help to get them together.

In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence greatly influences the Romeo and Juliet and brings the plots to the dramatic results. Without the presence of Friar Lawrence, the story will not be so unpredictable and the tragedy may not have occurred. Initially when Romeo comes to Friar Lawrence and asks for wedding, Friar suspects Romeo’s quick changes, but is reluctant to help Romeo for this marriage. Since Romeo sincerely asks for his help, Friar finally agrees to Romeo’s plan and he says “In one respect I'll thy assistant be; / For this alliance may so happy prove, / To turn your households' rancour to pure love” (2.3.98-99). In Friar’s viewpoint, this marriage should be a benefit for the city of Vernoa. Friar hopes that with this marriage, it will calm the two feuding families down and allow them to get together again. This action seems to be incorrect for Friar, because he is trying to solve a larger ...

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...luable in their ancient tradition.

In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence believes that people should learn the lessons from mistakes that they have previously made. In the final resolution, the fate still restates his statement, by having the two main characters killed. Because they have learned their lessons from their many years of disagreement, the hate between Montague and Capulet has been finally resolved through this tragic event. On the other hand, in The Sound of Waves, Shinji’s mom is crucial from the beginning of the story to the final resolution. She tries her best to bring a happy marriage to her son even she does not have one for herself. She is insulted by Hutsue’s dad but the kindness of Hutsue wins her heart again. Through a series of tragic events, Terukichi Miyata, Hutesu’s Dad, agrees the marriage of Shinji and Hutsue as the final decision.