In act two, scene three of Romeo and Juliet, we meet Friar Lawrence, who carries a basket of flowers, weeds, and herbs, and speaks to himself about the special properties that they possess. He doesn't identify any specific powers that the herbs possess, but he says that they all have the power to do good or harm, depending on how much of each is used. As he puts it, "Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied."
The idea here is that a medicine becomes a poison if administered in the wrong dose and vice versa. This is ironic because the help that Friar Lawrence gives to Romeo and Juliet, although meant kindly, becomes, by the end of the play, poisonous. Friar Lawrence tragically fails to apply his learning about herbs, weeds, and flowers, to his own actions.
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