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Theme of fate and chance in Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare drama literary analysis
What luck or fate happened to romeo and juliet
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Throughout the famous Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, the idea of fate and chance influences and affects the course of the entire story. During acts one through four, the “star crossed lovers”, are affected both positively and negatively by fate. Fortune, chance, and destiny play a very crucial part of the story as it unfolds. Also, they help us to understand the play.
In the very beginning of the play, chance affects Romeo and Juliet in a positive way. During Act One, Scene Two, one of Capulet’s servants asks Romeo and his cousin, Benvolio, for help. The servant has a list of people whom he needs to invite to the party, but since the servant cannot read, he asks these two gentleman for help. Romeo, still depressed about Rosaline’s
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In Act Three, Scene One, Juliet’s hot headed cousin, Tybalt, challenges Romeo to a duel. “I am for you,” he says, drawing his sword. Romeo refuses, but his brave and equally hot headed friend, Mercutio, steps in to fight Tybalt. Mercutio ends up dying and Romeo, enraged by his death, kills Tybalt for revenge. The Prince decides to banish Romeo as punishment. This fight takes place on the same day that Romeo and Juliet are married. Juliet is waiting for nightfall so that she and Romeo can spend their wedding night together. “And bring in cloudy night immediately. Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, Romeo, Leap to these arms, untalked of and unseen. Come, civil night, all in black.” Little does Juliet know that Romeo has now been banished for the murder of Tybalt. This is an example of how chance and fate affected Romeo and Juliet because this fight that causes Romeo to be banished just happens to take place on the same day that Romeo and Juliet could be together. It is purely chance that Tybalt chose this day to challenge Romeo to a duel. Act Five has one of the final and most chance-filled circumstances. Friar Lawrence concocts a plan to allow Romeo and Juliet to be together. He gives Juliet a potion that will let her sleep for 42 hours and appear dead. The Friar then says that Romeo, who has been banished to Mantua, will receive a letter to come back secretly
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.
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.
It is not merely a coincidence that Romeo and Juliet meet in the first place. A serving man comes across Romeo and Benvolio in the first act, unaware that they are Montagues, and informs them about the Capulet party: "My master is the great rich Capulet, and, if you be not / of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a / cup of wine" (I ii, 86-88). It is by fate that Romeo and Benvolio run into the Capulet serving man and discover the party. It is not just a simple accident that the serving man tells the two cousins about the party at which Romeo is destined, yet unaware, that he will meet his love. Furthermore, before Romeo attends the Capulet party, he says, "Some consequence yet hanging in the stars / shall bitterly begin this fearful date" (I iv, 114-115). Romeo already predicts what the fates have in store as he says something bad might transpire if he dares to show up at the party, where he will meet Juliet.
The play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare tells the story of two very young lovers who die. It just appears that fate controlled the outcome of the story. But if you really study and interpret the story you will realize it is a series of a few simple coincidences, which made the outcome so tragic.
think this is the case as, in spite of his arrogance, he does care for
created the tragic outcome of the accident. I think that if it wasn’t for the simple. bad luck, Romeo and Juliet could have been together. The Elizabethan audience would have seen it like this because they had first hand experience of the society and values of the time. The modern audience has a much narrower understanding of all the things affecting Romeo.
Romeo and Juliet is widely known to be a tragedy, but what caused the atrocity for which it is so renowned? Some may argue fate was to blame for Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths, that the situations these young lovers faced were depicted as being out of their control. Could Romeo have refused to attend the Capulet masque? Was Romeo destined to duel the raging Tybalt? Did Romeo and Juliet truly have to kill themselves? If one considers the specific circumstances and causes of these situations, the fact that all scenarios are the result of choice rather than chance, and the notion that the characters were never left without options, only one conclusion can be determined. It was unarguably the decisions made by characters, not those made by fate, that were responsible for the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet.
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?'
I think the story of Romeo and Juliet was based on fate and destiny as I have said no one can be that unlucky, everything that happened must have happened for a reason all of which added to their tragic fate. Every little thing contributed to the ending. I think it was down to fate and destiny it was not a coincidence. There are many ways that this could have been stopped if it wasn’t meant to happen. ‘ For never was a story of more woe Than this of her Juliet and her Romeo.’(5.3.309)
Both Romeo and Juliet speak of the role of fate and chance, it plays a
Romeo and Juliet made many choices out of their own free will, including an irreversible decision that ended in despair for all characters. “All are punished!”(5.3.305). In the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, the actions of Romeo, the actions of Juliet, and the actions of others prove that free will is more paramount than fate in the plot of the play.
Romeo and Juliet is regarded as one of William Shakespeare’s most tragic love stories, which has its influence on many aspects of the entertainment industry. In the context of this play, there are uncertainties surrounding whether the fatalities occur as a result of free will or under the uncontrollable force of fate. Through Romeo and Juliet’s premeditated encounter, Shakespeare indicates that fate is primarily responsible for love at first sight. Simultaneously, Romeo and Juliet are also portrayed as victims of their own destiny which induces their misfortunes and deaths. Apart from being one of the major themes, fate is also a main contributor to the outcome of the play.
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.
The lovers of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet are perhaps the most famous pair of lovers in history. Their story has been told and remade in countless ways, with a variety of endings. The original piece however ends with tragedy in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, fate is the driving force in that the star-cross lovers are destined to have a tragic end. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses literary elements to reveal that our actions are not what controls our life, but it is fate that determines what will happen to us.
To begin with, the theme of fate over freewill is brought up recurrently in the catastrophic play, Romeo and Juliet. Before the beginning of the play, Shakespeare introduces the idea of fate within the prologue. “A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life [sic]” (Shakespeare, Act 1 Prologue L.6). The term “star crossed lovers” is used to...