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. …show more content…
Fate can be defined as being “a power that determines and controls everything that is or happens,” (Newfeldt (Ed.) p.431) while destiny can be described as “what is predetermined to happen in spite of all efforts to change or prevent it.” (Newfeldt (Ed.) p.321) Therefore, fate is the entity that decides all that will occur, and destiny is the decision made by fate. Tragedy can be defined as the dramatic representation of serious and important actions that turn out disastrously for the main character. This indicates that the tragedies in Romeo and Juliet were the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and to say fate and destiny were not responsible for these tragedies, is to say the characters of the play, rather than some intangible force, were aware and in control of the actions that caused Romeo’s and Juliet’s
Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, written by the ever-famous William Shakespeare, is an eloquent story of passionate love between two teenage individuals of a time long ago. These individuals, Romeo and Juliet, fall helplessly in love with each other, in spite of the fact that their families, both upper class, have been enemies for generations. The two lovers therefore strive to maintain their ardent bond with each other in secret. They also encounter various obstacles along the way and suffer serious consequences, such as Romeo's banishment to Mantua and the obligatory marriage of Juliet to Paris.
Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a story of two young lovers. These two hearts, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet belong to feuding families. The family feud causes them to keep their love a secret and therefore only Romeo, Juliet, Benvolio, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence know of their love. Romeo and Juliet are able to look past the feud and let themselves fall in mad love with the other. They let themselves do almost anything for the other and at times it seems like too much to do, even for the one they love. Although fate and character traits play a key role in the play, ultimately Rome and Juliet’s personal choices lead to their downfall.Fate originates all of the conflicts in Romeo and Juliet, from when they met until they die.
Romeo and Juliet is a play by William Shakespeare that tells the tale of two young lovers who come from opposing families. At first they don’t even know that the other exists; However, that all changes one night at a party that Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, throws. Romeo and Juliet fall madly in love and rush to get married. Sadly, these two don’t get a happy ending, and one question remains: who or what is to blame for the lovers’ tragic end? Is it fate or human choice?
As these words echoed through the hall of the Globe theatre little did William Shakespeare know that this tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, would be examined and admired by playwrights for decades to come. So does fate play a major part in this tragedy? Or does their blood stain the garments of civil hands? Could it have been the loyal Mercutio, who swore on both their houses?? Tybalt the hated enemy? or was it Friar Lawrence who tried to end the fighting between households. Or does the blame go on the ancestors who began it. Many would agree that the death of these lovers cannot be blamed on anyone but themselves. This question cannot be answered without looking deeply into each characters involvement in the tragedy.
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.
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.
From the beginning of "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet", the reader knew how the story was going to end, hence the title of the story and the explanations in the start. After reading through the story, there were multiple frustrating moments where events could have gone one way but ended up going in another. Every act in the story added onto the total tragic ending. The things that happened could have been because of fate, but everything had to start somewhere. Everything had to start somewhere. Everything that occurred in the story would not have been possible if it was not for the Friar who had agreed to the marriage.
Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Before starting to decide to what extent fate was responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, I should first decide what is fate? According to the dictionary, fate is the 'inevitable destiny or necessity destined term of life; doom.' This basically means, that fate can be described as a pre-planned sequence of events influencing ones life. In Romeo and Juliet, it is obviously true to say that fate was a contributor to the deaths of the young couple, but could it have been the sole contributor?
Once in a while many people make bad decisions. Usually these decisions don’t cause them any harm in their futures, unlike Romeo Montague’s and Juliet Capulet’s decisions. In Verona, a city in Italy, two lovers fall in love. The catch is their families despise each other. Eventually Romeo get’s banished from Verona, and Juliet is forced to marry someone she doesn’t want to marry. Juliet takes a potion that knocks her out for 42 hours, and feigns her death, hoping she does not have to marry Count Paris. Romeo assumes Juliet is dead, and drinks a potion that kills him, and when Juliet wakes up and realizes that Romeo is dead, she stabs herself. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Romeo and Juliet, the main protagonists, Romeo and Juliet, make poor choices which eventually lead to their death at the end of the story.
Although evidence points to bad choices causing the tragedy of Romeo and Juliets’ deaths, destiny could have played a part. A servant asked Romeo to read him a list which eventually lead to him being at the Capulet party and falling in love with Juliet (Shakespeare 385). Had he not been asked to read the guest list, their entire relationship would’ve never happened; they wouldn’t have died. Even though there are several points where it seems destiny and fate control the lovers, it was their foolish decisions that lead to their
Romeo and Juliet is a well-known Shakespearean love story about two “star crossed lovers,” Romeo and Juliet with predetermined fate. Romeo and Juliet’s feuding families were part of their fate, this feud interfered with their love and ended it in death. Throughout the play Romeo and Juliet attempted to change their fate, however their attempt to change fate resulted in failure. Shakespeare also uses foreshadowing to give an idea of how their actions will affect them. In this essay I will explain how the two families feud results in the ultimate fate of Romeo and Juliet and illustrates that
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 Shakespeare’s famous 1597 play Romeo and Juliet, the two-star crossed lovers die tragically. Famous for the simplicity of its characters and the language, the play analyses the ramifications that are set upon the two main protagonists. This is correspondingly due to the ongoing conflict between both families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The deaths of the two characters circulate around the concept on whether it was free will or fate. However, the resultant consequences of events for the characters in this tragedy was highly affected by the hands of fate, and not by freewill. It is evident that fate is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet due to the
In Shakespeare's timeless story, Romeo and Juliet, two young teenagers fall in love. They come from the two families that have an unending feud with each other, making their love dangerous. They are married in secret by a friar, but shortly after Romeo fights with and kills Tybalt, a Capulet. The prince banishes him, and it causes Juliet and the friar to come up with a plan to get them together. However the plan does not work, and Romeo kills himself, and when Juliet awakes and sees Romeo dead, she also kills herself. The question then becomes, was fate or free will involved in the deaths of these lovers? A multitude of evidence is given throughout the play to prove that fate plays a key role in the tragic deaths of these two lovers.
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.