Examples Of Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

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Paul Mekjian Mrs. Ying English 9 Period 5 15 March 2017 Star-Crossed Lovers? Poor choices can cause tragic outcomes. Fate, on the other hand, is beyond someone's control. Many people believe that regardless of their actions, fate and destiny determine the outcome of their lives. However, in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, the outcome of Romeo and Juliet's lives were controlled by the choices that they made. Although the deaths of Romeo and Juliet were mentioned in the prologue of the story as star-crossed lovers, the tragic ending of the couple was determined by their free will as a result of unwise decisions. The tragic outcomes of Romeo and Juliet were determined by their free will because they didn’t go with their …show more content…

For example, after finding out that Romeo is a Montague, Juliet says, “My only love, sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me That I must love a loathed enemy” (I, v, 136-139). Juliet acted too fast and fell in love with someone that is an enemy of her family. When Juliet says, “Too early seen unknown, and known too late”, she means that she fell in love with Romeo without knowing who he was. The most logical conclusion we can draw from this is that their relationship was moving so quickly that Juliet had already kissed Romeo and fallen in love with him before even knowing his identity. Their choice of proceeding with their relationship so quickly is one of the reasons that led to Romeo and Juliet dying. Additionally, when Romeo and Juliet were talking to each other on the balcony by the orchard, Juliet asked, “What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?” (II, ii, 126), and Romeo responded, “The exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine” (II, ii, 127). The fact that after only kissing each other once, and talking for a brief amount of time, Romeo and Juliet want to get married, illustrates that their free will and decision making got them killed. Since their families are enemies, it was an obviously terrible choice for Romeo and Juliet to get married. The choice to get married this early in a relationship definitely played a big role in the tragic deaths of Romeo and

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