Abstract
This thesis is the result of a keen interest aroused in the treatment of the Friar by Shakespeare during a course of study in Shakespearean Studies and the Elizabethan dramatists. The writer of this thesis feels that in the light of past and present researches there are still some things that can be said about Shakespeare’s treatment of the Friar. Therefore, the main purpose of this thesis is to find out whether Shakespeare, the keen observer of human nature, has likewise observed some of the outstanding ideals of the Friars of the Franciscan Order and whether he has portrayed the Franciscan Friar as striving after these Ideals.