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How shakespeare presents death in romeo and juliet
How does shakespeare explore death in romeo and juliet
How shakespeare presents death in romeo and juliet
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In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, begins with an old family feud between the Montagues, and the Capulets. A burning hatred has developed between the Capulets and the Montagues(and is still present). Romeo of the Montagues has been invited to the Capulet feast through an unexpected invitation of thanks from a Capulet servant. There, he meets the love of his life, Juliet(who also happens to be a Capulet), and they fall deeply in love. They get married and as fate has it, their love is challenged by the family feud. Fate takes charge of a person’s life and destiny without their consent. Consequently, the fates of Romeo and Juliet have been already decided without them agreeing to it even though they are able to make their own decisions. …show more content…
And she doesn’t want it. But fate doesn’t care about what we’d rather be doing.”
Without expecting it, Romeo’s life was ruled by fate. Many moments in his life have evidence of this. For example, after his kind deed,the Capulet servant replied, “Now I’ll tell you without asking. My master is the great rich Capulet, and if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry!”(Capulet Servant 1.2.82-85). An invitation from fate has reached Romeo. By fate, his heart and his friends persuade him to attend without giving him clear thinking. Afterwards(a few scenes later), Romeo’s friend Mercutio duels Tybalt(cousin of Juliet), and died because Romeo was trying to stop the duel between the two. As a result of his new marriage, he longer possessed the right to fight Tybalt. His conscience helped him try to end their duel, but instead got his friend killed. Romeo’s other friend Benvolio told him to leave Mercutio, instead of avenging him. Mercutio’s death deafened Romeo’s ears to wisdom, and caused him to challenge Tybalt. The duel ended with Tybalt’s death, Romeo’s escape and the prince’s arrival. The prince questioned Benvolio and the
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Firstly, after the Capulet party, Juliet stood on the balcony, and mused about her experience in meeting Romeo(without knowing he was listening). She despised the fact that Romeo was Montague, and she was a Capulet. On the balcony, she cries, “Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, thou not a Montague What’s Montague?”(Juliet 2.2.40-42). Juliet could not tether with the fact that her lover was also her enemy. Fate did not desire that their love to be accepted on this earth.Secondly, after the death of Mercutio and Tybalt, Lady Capulet has a conversation with Paris about Juliet’s hand in marriage. Paris persuades the Lady Capulet to give him Juliet’s hand in marriage. Lady Capulet gives consent to Paris because of the death of Tybalt. Tybalt’s death made Lady Capulet think that it would be too late if Juliet married later since Tybalt died young. Paris tells Lady Capulet, “These times of woe afford no times to woo. Madam, good night. Commend me to your daughter.” And she replies,“I will, and know her mind early tomorrow”(Paris’ conversation with Lady Capulet 3.4.8-10). As it happens, Juliet’s fate was already decided by her parents against her will. Lastly, Romeo finds out that Juliet is ‘dead’. He buys poison from an apothecary with money and goes to the Capulet tomb to take the poison because he could not stand departing from his lover. Paris had been mourning, and sees
Romeo senses tensions are high with Tybalt, so he states, “I do protest I never injured thee but love thee better than thou canst devise.” (Lines 65-66 Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is trying to diffuse the situation because he realizes that Tybalt is his love's cousin. Mercutio is surprised by Romeo’s behavior, so he decides to fight Tybalt himself. Mercutio’s decision to fight Tybalt leads to his own death. Romeo is angered by the death of Mercutio and states, “Now, Tybalt, take the “villain" back again/ That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul.” (Lines 123-124 of Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is indicating that Tybalt is the villain now, because he slayed Mercutio. Romeo forgets about his attempt to befriend the Capulets and slays Tybalt. Romeo, murderer of Tybalt, solely focuses on Juliet and states “Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say “death"/For exile hath more terror in his look.” (Lines 12-13 of Act Three, Scene Three). Romeo does not care about Tybalt’s life, but only cares for the way it affects his relationship with Juliet. Romeo’s mother dies out of grief because of his banishment. Romeo’s recklessness in loving Juliet has led to the death of three
Since the beginning of the play, the existence of fate has been leading Romeo and Juliet to their deaths. This is first evident in the play’s dialogue when the Serving man asks Romeo to help him read the guest list for Capulet’s party. Shakespeare writes, “God’I’ good e’en. I pray, sir, can you read?/ Ay, mine own fortune in my misery” (I,ii,58-59). This demonstrates the theme of fate because Verona is a large city and the Serving man can be in any street in Verona asking any individual to help him read, but he coincidentally encounters
... middle of paper ... ... Some would contend that Romeo was controlled solely by fate, especially in his decision to die. After all, the chorus in the beginning of the play announces that Romeo will die in the end, and Romeo hints several times throughout the play that he will die early in his life.
Romeo and Juliet are madly in love with each other and will go to any lengths to be together. To support my thesis that the conflict between the heads of the Montague and Capulet families is responsible for Romeo and Juliet's death, I quote from Romeo and Juliet (V, iii, 291-293) Prince: ". Capulet! Montague.
Fate is the controlling force of the events that lead up to, and cause, the deaths of Rome and Juliet. It is no coincidence that Romeo meets the Capulet servant and is invited to the party. Fate brought him to the house of the Capel?s where he was destined to meet his future wife, Juliet. At the risk of being killed, the two lovers married their supposed loathéd enemy and consummated the marriage without even the slightest hint of detection from anyone who did not know of the wedding. Unfortunately, their sweet success would be short lived and their lives would be a downward spiral staring with Romeo?s banishment and ending with their deaths. Taking into consideration that Romeo and Juliet are predetermined to meet, love and die together, fate is clearly the dominant force of the play.
Some people may not believe that fate is something that truthfully exists in the world. This portion of the population doubts that there is anything that is actually meant to be or supposed to happen thinking that there is always a way around troubling predicaments, knowing that it isn't necessary to turn out just one certain way. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others, however, believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event predestined and laid out before them like a roadmap to life; in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial force, pulling the characters into a more animated state. Because of fate, the play becomes tremendously thrilling and it is exactly what manages the two young lovers to meet each other in the first place. The moment that Romeo and Juliet meet is the exact incident that leads to their death, however unaware these "star-crossed lovers" are to that fact. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the couple's heartbreaking tragedy.
After catching Romeo at a party he was not supposed to be at, Tybalt had it out for Romeo. Just after Romeo and Juliet’s wedding, Tybalt comes looking for him wanting to fight. Romeo does not want to fight because he now loves Tybalt since he is family to him, but neither Tybalt or anyone else knows this reason. Quickly, Mercutio steps in and tells Tybalt that he will fight him in honour of Romeo. Sadly, this led to the death of Mercutio.
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.
Fate plays a major role in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The prologue describes Romeo’s and Juliet’s fate, which we see come up many times later on in the play. Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet unwittingly realize they cannot exist in such reality and that a tragic fate awaits them. The two families, the Montagues and the Capulets continue being rivals all the way to the end of the play until the inevitable event takes its place.
Shakespeare, through the dialogue and action of his characters, readily provides the evidence that both choice and fate are integral parts of human life. For example, Shakespeare illustrates fate through the words of Romeo who states, “I fear, too early, for my mind misgives some consequences, yet handing in the stars…” (I, IV, 116-117). Romeo believes that it is the stars that influence his life. It is not he who determines his life. He initially believes that his fate ultimately governs his choices, choices that cannot be controlled by humans. In addition, Shakespeare also reveals that choice plays a crucial role in determining fate. It is choice then that drives the decisions of the characters but these choices are made in the circumstance of their lives. And these circumstances cannot be removed from their consciousness. For instance, when Juliet says in her soliloquy before she drinks the sleeping potion, “Romeo, I come! This do I drink to thee” (IV, IV, 60) she is saying it is my fate and my choice to be with you. She chooses to drink the potion thus putting her into a coma-like sleep, and ultimately resulting in the death of them both. When Romeo declares, “Then I defy you, stars!” he is making the choice to challenge his fate of living without Juliet who he believes has died. Shakespeare has provided the evidence that fate and choice re so intertwined that they cannot be separated. Even the structure of his play alludes to this same perception.
Throughout the whole play the Capulet's and the Montague's have a distinct hatred for each other. This hatred only causes Romeo and Juliet to lie to their parents about their love. When Juliet finds out Romeo is a Montague, she is devastated. Even though their families are enemies, this doesn’t stop them from getting married. Friar Lawrence marries them believing this will end the feud between the two families, “In one respect I'll thy assistant be: For this alliance may so prove to turn your household's rancour to pure love.”
Romeo denies the fate of Mercutio who fought against Tybalt and lost, so he challenges Tybalt to fight in defense of his honor. His sense of honor would not allow himself to ignore the death of Mercutio. It mandated his absurd behavior to take Tybalt’s life which even further separated the Montague and Capulet family. Moreover, Romeo still decides to marry Juliet after he takes Tybalt’s life. His sense of honor leads him to find Father Lawrence who will marry both Juliet
After the killing of Tybalt by Romeo in anger of Tybalt injuring Mercutio, Capulet rapidly states that Paris and Juliet should be wed, “O’ Thursday let it be, / do you like this haste” (III 3.4-24), acting on impulse. Juliet does not love Paris, her father is just mad at Romeo. When Juliet lets her dissatisfaction of marrying the wrong man known, Capulet reacts with called her a “young baggage and disobedient wretch”, even his wife says he is overreacting but he still is not thinking and acting in impulse. These words and him compelling her to marry Paris are a key component in Juliet’s ultimate demise, since her father will not permit her being with Romeo, she goes to the friar and is quickly given a vial, if he had not, they could have made more ideas of how they could be together and explain their love to Juliet’s parents to give them insight. Capulet should have thought before he
Because the love between the young couple is so powerful, they go to Friar Lawrence and they are secretly married. On the day of their marriage Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, challenges Romeo to a duel. In the midst of all this chaos, Romeo's best friend, Mercutio, is murdered by Tybalt. Romeo then slays Tybalt out of revenge. When the prince of Verona finds out what Romeo has done, he banishes Romeo from Verona forever.
In regards to Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare chose fate to be a strong underlying theme which constructs the basis of the story line. Fate has the ability to control the characters’ lives and one minor change in the way it had acted would have changed the entire outcome. Through Romeo and Juliet’s spontaneous encounter, fate was largely responsible for love at first sight alongside controlling the misfortunate events that occur as a result of their love. Apart from love and misfortune, Shakespeare suggests that Romeo and Juliet were destined to die the way they did, despite the fact that it was their choice to end their lives. The outcome of the play was a direct result of fate, which to a notable extent was responsible for the many events which were destined to occur.