Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: Fate Versus Free Will

1023 Words3 Pages

FLE: Romeo and Juliet: Fate Versus Free Will

“...A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;/...Do with their death bury their parents' strife./ The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,/ And the continuance of their parents' rage,/ Which, but their children's end, naught could remove,/ Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;/ The which if you with patient ears attend,/ What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.”
(Prologue, lines 6-14, p.7)
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare begins with Chorus telling the audience how the tragedy ends. He describes Romeo and Juliet as “star-cross’d” (Prologue, line 6, p.7) and their love as “death-mark’d” (Prologue, line 9, p.7), implying that the result of their love- their deaths- was fate set by the stars. However, the audience seems not to be the only one to know of this tragic ending- throughout the play, several characters consistently believe that fate is in action, though often confusing it with free will. Using diction, dramatic irony, and foreshadowing, Shakespeare compares fate and free will and connects them to the theme of responsibility.
Romeo is one of the characters who repeatedly suspects that he is being dragged along by fate. In Act 1 Scene 4, right before he meets Juliet, he claims to fear that there is “some consequence yet hanging in the stars” (Act 1 Scene 4, line 114, p.49) that would begin that night and end with his “untimely death” (Act 1 Scene 4, line 118, p.49). Shakespeare’s repetitive use of the word ‘star’ connects Romeo’s thoughts with the mention of Romeo and Juliet as “star-crossed lovers” (Prologue, lines 6-14, p.7), foreshadowing what would happen that night. This is also an example of dramatic irony; the audience knows that he w...

... middle of paper ...

...tragedy that resulted from his own choices and free will.
The literary devices that appear in lines that Shakespeare believes are results of fate are important. Dramatic irony and foreshadowing are both forms of ignorance; this shows that a person has not made a choice to affect their fate. Then, further relating Romeo and Friar Lawrence’s circumstances, though they try to make themselves and others believe that it was really fate that caused deaths, ultimately, they are both forced to take responsibility for what was caused by their own will; the Prince banishes Romeo and implies that he will punish Friar Lawrence accordingly. In this way, Shakespeare connects fate and free will by showing that one’s free will can bring about one’s fate. In other words, in order to lead a stable life, a person must be responsible and ready to take all consequences for his choices.

Open Document