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What fears do Friar Laurence express in Act II, Scene 6?

Friar Laurence is expressing fears that the couple are rushing into marriage based on intense feelings that will not last.


Romeo has just made an extravagant pronouncement -- no future sorrow can outweigh the joy he feels during a single moment in Juliet's presence. In a foreshadowing of later tragedy, he says he is ready to die if necessary ("love-devouring death do what he dare") if only he can marry Juliet first.


Thus the friar (who is an older, more circumspect person) is fearful that this will be a fiery, short-lived passion. He  responds by warning Romeo about hot-headed, overly passionate love:



"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow."



When fire and powder come together, they explode. So too may Romeo's passions ("violent delights") explode and fizzle out once he gets what he wants. Gratifying Romeo's intense feelings may be like eating over-sweet honey. It's too much intensity; it will become unsatisfying or aversive. Friar Laurence is advising Romeo to be less intense in his love. A more moderate, sedate love will last longer.


But Laurence doesn't seriously expect Romeo to delay the marriage, and his other fear is that the lovers will engage in pre-marital sexual activity. So he urges them to come with him and make "quick work" of the wedding.

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