Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Theme of fate and destiny in romeo and juliet
Theme of fate and destiny in romeo and juliet
How does fate play a role in "Romeo and Juliet"
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Theme of fate and destiny in romeo and juliet
In Romeo and Juliet, the theme of fate is subtle, but crucial to the plot of the play. Many characters make reference to it. The play was set in the Elizabethan era where belief in fate was common and Romeo was a prime example. A grief struck Romeo declared, “It is even so? Then I defy you, stars,” (5.1.24), when he believed his beloved Juliet to be dead and with these words he defies this awful fate. Fate being written in the stars is implying that the universe is the soul decision maker for life’s events. A person's future was not based on their efforts or actions, only fate would determine the course of their life. When Juliet speaks of her love for Romeo that will outlast his life, she wishes, “Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will …show more content…
21-23). For Juliet, there would be no better way to honour her dead Romeo’s memory to have him live on as a star. Both their love and their death are ultimately written in the stars.
The concept of fate is frequently brought up in the play Romeo and Juliet. How they met, their families rivalry, and even the tragic inevitability of their death was all in the hands of fate. In the prologue, the reader learns that Romeo and Juliet were destined to be star crossed lovers, meaning that their love was doomed from the minute it began. As previously mentioned, the two were meant to fall and to fail, their story ending with the destruction of their lives, “...A pair of star-cross’d
“It lies not in our power to love, or hate, for will in us is over-rul'd by fate.” In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, it is clear that the leading theme is fate, as it is mentioned several times. Shakespeare allows the audience to see everything that happens “behind closed doors.” While some characters’ actions did affect the outcome of the play, fate is the ruling force.
In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, all the choices made by the star crossed lovers have consequences. The two lovers blame fate for their misfortune. They refuse to believe that fate does not determine the end result, only that they can do that. At the beginning of the play, Romeo is presented with a plethora of choices. The audience is introduced to Romeo as he sulks over his lover Rosaline.
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.
In efforts to overcome such hindrances to their love, Juliet feigns her death as planned. However, as a result of miscommunication, Romeo takes the news seriously, and thus, being propelled by zealous devotion, both use death as the key to unity. A variety of themes are implicated throughout the play. Fate, in particular, is well demonstrated. By using the motif of stars and characters such as Friar Lawrence, Juliet, and Romeo, Shakespeare truly and masterfully conveys that fate is the inevitable, unalterable and omnipotent force that controls all actions unto their consequences.
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.
think this is the case as, in spite of his arrogance, he does care for
“A pair of star cross’d lovers take their life” Somebody is going to die, because of a deep rooted feud between the lovers’ families. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragedy - in the traditional sense - that Romeo and Juliet (the main characters) die because of the fault of someone else. In this play, there are no evil characters, only hasty ones. There is no character going out of their way to cause trouble.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy mainly because of the downfall of the main characters through weakness or misfortune, which lead to their deaths but these flaws are not the only reasons for this tragedy, it is possible that their fate was “written in the stars” as there are many references made about these stars. Fate (the fact that life is already planned out and is out of human control) must be one of the key factors in causing the tragedy of the “star-crossed lovers” Romeo and Juliet. It is possible that there was “some consequence yet hanging in the stars”(I iv) that already had their lives scripted down and no matter how much Romeo wanted to defy them “I defy you stars”(I, vi) he could not. This must mean that Romeo’s life was already planned out. But fate was not only interpreted in the stars, somehow it seemed that some of the characters foreshadowed their own fate, like Friar Lawrence foreshadowed “love so gentle in [Romeo’s] view, should be so tyrannous in proof”(I, I), this meaning that Romeo may see the love he has now, as wonderful, but as it continues it causes trouble.
Due to these lines 6-11, it proves that Romeo and Juliet’s destiny was already written previously in the stars above, and the pair of lovers could do nothing but face it, together, hand in hand, with all that they had left. Soulmates, made for each other, meant to be, written in the stars, crafted by destiny, a pure product of passion… fate plays it’s role as well, as it is virtually destiny’s sister. Romeo and Juliet are undeniably perfect for each other. Their creator, Shakespeare, ha...
In Romeo and Juliet fate is evidently a major theme occurring in the play. For instance, people believed the future was written in the stars. In its first address to the audience, the Chorus states that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed lovers”, that is to say that fate (meaning a power often vested in the movements of the stars) controls them. This sense of fate permeates the play, and not just for
From the beginning of the play it is clear that Romeo and Juliet are doomed to die, They are considered victims of circumstance but the question is did they have responsibility for their fate? Could things have been different? Was it a bad series of events, was it a coincidence that fate was against them, were outside forces against them, It is not just a coincidence the language used in the prologue 'star-crossed lovers' and 'death-marked love' shows that it was all meant to happen from the beginning of the play, the words 'star-crossed' refers to an astrological outlook on destiny that was widely accepted in the period the play was written in, reference to this so early in the play creates a sense of anticipation for the audience and from the start they know what is going to be the outcome of the play but the question left on their minds is 'Why?' and 'How?'
Throughout the entirety of Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare is hinting at the “star crossed” deadly fate of the lovers spoken of by the chorus in the prologue. Romeo and Juliet are also constantly mentioning their uneasy feelings and how they can sense that something bad will happen, which confirm the aforementioned conclusion. This foreshadowing not only tells us this tragedy planned, but there must be pawns of fate that have to drive Romeo and Juliet together, while at the same time leading them to their death. In Romeo and Juliet, their deadly destiny was written by the universe and characters along the way, such as Capulet, Montague, Nurse, Friar Lawrence, Friar John, and Mercutio.
Throughout the play, it is clearly shown that fate has a huge role in the “star-crossed lovers” dire downfall. This is written in the prologue to foreshadow the ending. The prologue provides the audience with Romeos thought provoking promotion further warming the reader of the omnipresent force of fate which is looking over him, “Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars.” Here Shakespeare use literary techniques such as a metaphor to demonstrates that there is a deathly consequence written in fate for Romeo. Overall this provides the reader with the knowledge of what Romeo is thinking and foreshadows the end of the story. Shakespeare uses clever diction to imply that Juliet’s death is inevitable, "If all else fail, myself have power to die.” This clearly illustrates that fate is involved in the upcoming disaster. Not only have the lovers realized that there is a greater fore involved, but Friar Lawrence has too realized, “a greater power than we can contradict, hath thwarted our intents.” This shows that fate is a subjugate factor in the lover’s untimely
Shakespeare first establishes his stance on fate through foreshadowing. By referring to Romeo and Juliet as “star crossed lovers” he reveals that fate has
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.