Analytical Exposition of Romeo and Juliet
Fate is defined as ‘the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time’. The time in which ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written, people in the society believed in spirits that controlled everyone and everything. In the world famous play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare, he refers to, ‘Star Crossed lovers” being Romeo and Juliet, with every action they take, follows a path leading to the inevitable, their tragic deaths. Every character in the play, has a predetermined course that has been determined by Fate. Friar Laurence has his part to play in the lives of Romeo and Juliet that will contribute to their demise. In William
…show more content…
Romeo and Juliet, have three main causes for their deaths: the role of fate, through its control over everyone, the role of the feud between the Capulets and Montagues, and the role of Romeo, in the death of himself and Juliet. Friar Laurence has a role in their deaths, but has pure intentions and is not to blame.
Throughout the play, fate had a major role in everyone’s beliefs, actions and demise, with the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet being a predetermined outcome dictated by fate. Foreshadowing is evident throughout the play and predetermines the events that will unfold. Superstition was a common belief in this time, with each individual believing in the spiritual. In the play, Romeo and Juliet were referred to as, ‘Star Crossed Lovers’ multiple times, with the belief of higher power in the stars being evident. Foreshadowing allows for the reader to have a build up to
…show more content…
In the play, there was multiple situations of Romeo lacking in maturity, being very impulsive or being very hormonal. Given the age of Romeo, he has no experience or knowledge about how to deal with certain situations, causing him not to think before acting. The course that Romeo feels he must follow can be seen in, “It is the east and Juliet is the sun/Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,” (2.2.3-4). By associating Juliet as the sun it demonstrates that he is being driven by her and she is influencing all of his decisions. With this also being a metaphor for how the sun gives life to the Earth, it insists that she gives life to him. It can be assumed how powerful she influences him with the sun controlling the rotation of other planets around the Milky Way. Romeo’s impulsive decisions lead himself and Juliet closer towards the inevitable course. This also highlights that Friar Laurence is not able to be blamed for their death as Romeo constantly makes rash decisions. The actions in which Romeo takes being pre-determined by fate, cause him to try and stop Tybalt and Mercutio fighting, starting a chain reaction with Mercutio stating “A plague a’both your houses,” (3.1.102) giving the inference of him calling on a higher power to punish both the Montagues and Capulets for his death. This event follows
The most blameable is fate. Fate is kind of like predestination. Everything for your life is already planned out. Evidence of this is in the play’s prologue. It states “ A pair of star cross’d lovers take their life; ” (DBQ project. Whos to Blame?, Document A). What it is trying to say is that ROmeo and Juliet’s relationship is doomed to fail. The term “star cross’d” means frustrated or aggravated by the stars. Those who believe in astrology claim the stars control human destiny. Another reason would be Romeo’s punishment for killing Tybalt. The evidence behind this fact is in Document C, Friar Lawrence says “ I already know
Who would be willing to die for their loved ones? Romeo and Juliet would and did. Romeo and Juliet’s love and death brought two families together who could not even remember the origin of their hate. When the parents saw what their children's love for each other, they realized that their fighting had only led to suffering and insoluble conflict. Romeo and Juliet loved each other to an extent that they killed themselves rather than live apart. They did it with no hiatus. Juliet says before she kills herself, “O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.”( 5, 3, 182-183) demonstrating how she would rather die than not be with him.
Imagine living a tragic existence, not even two entire decades long. Imagine being controlled by an invisible, yet limitless puppet string conducted by “the stars”. When fate is your enemy and time reveals each unraveling tragedy to your dismay, you understand how it feels to be the protagonist’s of Shakespeare’s most famous love story, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Tradition, heredity, and ancestry symbolize the celestial psychology that is the stars. Controlling every miniscule detail of the play from human behavior to action sequences, to the ultimate climax of the tale. The power that fate has is surprisingly destructible yet inevitable to audiences as they come to realize the given characteristics that cannot be changed, even to avoid death. The moment Romeo and Juliet initially saw one another, they were sure their love was meant to be. This feeling was brought on because their love was the solution of the stars, or forefathers, to cure the rivaling families’ animosity. Fate contributes to the development of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by relating to astrological terms, human behavior, and fate as an agent of destruction.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a love story that has been read for hundreds of years and is still studied today. The story is about a young boy and a young girl who are in love with each other but both of their lives end in tragedy. Many of the play’s character’s actions affect the outcome of the play, but no character can be put to blame of the outcome. The one thing that these events can be credited to is fate. Fate did many things in the play, such as caused Romeo and Juliet to meet and it caused Romeo to believe Juliet was dead.
In society, people have varying opinions on fate. Many question whether life’s events are pre-determined by fate or whether people have a destiny to serve a greater purpose. Fate versus free will is an archaic topic among philosophers that is ultimately up for interpretation.The question on whether or not something else is controlling life’s events or if they are simply a coincidence faces us in some point of our lives. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare plays with the idea of fate and its control on the events in the play. He forces us to realize the destiny between Romeo and Juliet involves the fate between the two opposing households as well. Shakespeare blurs the line between fate and free will in his play Romeo and Juliet to show that the outstanding cause of Romeo and Juliet’s tragedy was not something decided- it was fate. It is evident by the events in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that fate was the main cause of the tragedy in the play, and that Romeo and Juliet held the destiny to finally end the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues.
Instead of the friar’s plan he had in mind, Romeo is told by Balthasar about Juliet’s “death”: “her body sleeps in Capel’s monument, and her immortal part with angels lives”(v I, 19-20). Is looks like a straightforward accident that Balthasar told Romeo about his point of view of the event, by fate, Balthasar tells Romeo what he believes to be real, but this piece of false information he gave is the cause of the tragedy. After Romeo hears from Balthasar that Juliet is dead, he blames the stars (Romeo believed that his life was already planned in the stars), “is it e’en so? - then is defy you, star!”(V I, 25). Without know the plan of the friar, he had a plan to make end up with Juliet think it’s his fortune to die with his true love. Friar Lawrence’s plan is also broken because friar john was not able to send the message to Romeo: “I could not sent it, her it is again, nor a messenger to bring it thee/ so fearful were they of infection” (v iii, 14-16). Friar Lawrence’s plan being ruined, because of this small failure turned out to be deadly. Romeo, not know Juliet is not actually dead, make a huge incorrect decision, because he is ignorant, lead himself and Juliet towards their final stage of their planed life,concluding it
Fate is a supernatural force that will rearrange the timing of events beyond the control of anyone to lead to a particular outcome. Some people believe that it is fate that determines our destiny, others believe that it is determined by ones self. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, fate is a very prevalent theme that has a mass effect on the outcomes of the play. Fate is foreshadowed through the characters consistently throughout the play showing the reader that destiny is not in the hands of the character, but instead in the hands of fate. The timing of certain actions in the play will impact the results of said actions hence showing fates prevalence. Fate is present when Romeo meets the nameless servant. It is
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.
As a child did you ever dream of having a relationship like Romeo and Juliet? Believed to be one of the most romantic loved stories ever wrote, the question still arises as to whether it was really fate that killed them at the end, or their continuous bad choices throughout the play that ultimately ended in death? In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, throughout the story they both made many detrimental decisions that have always been long debated as whether it was fate or just bad choices. Believing in fate has been deliberated for many years and to whether or not fate played a role in what ultimately happens to Romeo and Juliet or could their poor choices have contributed more than fate alone.
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
“A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life”. In the prologue Shakespeare gave us a hint that the two lovers will take their life to death because of the misadventures in their relationship and life. Because of the feud between their families, they faced all the responsibilities and problems but still at the end they both died. But Romeo did all the sacrifices just to make their love successful. 4
Shakespeare in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet depicts the conflict between fate and free will through use of his characters’ actions and beliefs. Fate is the main driving force between the demise of the two main protagonists. Because of it, superstition, the actions of others, and the idea of chance are allowed a main role in the play building up to events that lead to a tragic end.
A timeless topic--fate and free will--still captivates society today. Fortune cookies, physics, and horoscopes all contribute to the obsession people have with this controversial debate over who manipulates life; fate or free will. No one is sure who really pulls the strings, but everyone has an opinion on the matter. Many famous plays center on this topic, and one such play that features characters’ views on fate and free will is Romeo and Juliet. This legendary play, written by William Shakespeare, has been beloved by people for centuries, as they contemplate who is the guiding force in life? The play discusses just this, while depicting the lives of Romeo and Juliet: two desperate teenagers each trapped in their own worlds, seeking love and freedom. The two “star-crossed lovers” are from feuding households, and each has their own distinct problems. Romeo jumps from girl to girl, never finding anyone to reciprocate his feelings until he meets Juliet. She is hidden from the world, and with every decision being made for her, she wants to control her own life, which she does with marrying Romeo. Although fate and free will are both undeniably found in the lives of Juliet and Romeo, it is ultimately fate and the way it manipulates the events, time, and the characters that brings about the untimely death of the two iconic teen lovers.
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.
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...