Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
A definition of fate would be the power that is supposed to settle
ahead of time how things will happen. In the famous play Romeo and
Juliet, written by Shakespeare, the two young lovers ended up becoming
a large part of what could be called fate. This ultimate power seemed
to control their lives and it forced them together. I think it was
fate however which ended their parents hatred for each other, some
people say if it wasn't for the unexpected fate, Romeo and Juliet
wouldn't have both died in the tragic way which they did. In this
essay I am aiming to come to a conclusion, in deciding to what extent
were Romeo and Juliet fated to die. Was it fate, a tragedy or both
linked together? They have different meanings and both could be a
possible way to describe the play. Tragedy centres more on one main
character, which by the end has usually died, 'the fall of a hero.'
Many tragedies are painful for the audience to watch and often people
believe if there are no values i.e. a moral/religion involved, then
there can be no tragedy. Does Romeo and Juliet fit these guidelines?
Aristotle is a Greek playwright. He came up with his own criteria of
what he thinks a tragedy should be. Aristotle believes the most
important ingredients of a tragedy, is that there should be a stable
plot, which is the most important feature of a tragedy. It should be
complete with each action leading to the next, so they are able to
connect in a realistic way and the play needs to be of a certain
length. The character should go from good to bad and needs to be
noble, idealized, yet logically constructed. The ending mu...
... middle of paper ...
...not in my
opinion. Finally he thinks the ending should be beneficial in the
sense that the audience are better off after watching the play. This
is true in Romeo and Juliet as I think you learn many lessons about
life, one, not to invade into other people's love and try to resolve
problems secretly. Taken as a whole, I would say that Romeo and Juliet
doesn't fit Aristotle's criteria, as he wants to be strict on
everything and in this case not all matters refer to it completely.
My essay has covered many areas of this play, involving Aristotle and
different Elizabethan tragedies as well, I have extended the essay and
researched more into fate occurring in other Shakespeare plays also.
Gemma Hinton 10BI Miss. Little, English Coursework, Shakespeare
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Someone once said "An individual can never escape their fate." Fate causes events in a person's life that are only controlled by a higher power. This is evident in the play "Romeo and Juliet" written by William Shakespeare because after reading his play, the reader learns that Romeo and Juliet's fate ultimately leads to their death. In the movie adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Zeffirelli does not include some of the significant fateful events that occur in the play. However, the events that do appear in the movie makes the viewer understand that the play’s lesson is fate leads to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths.
A tragedy imitates the emotional events of life by showing instead of telling. It does not have to be an exact replication of life, but instead have some realistic aspects to it. This type of play is special because an event in the plot is caused by a preceding choice or action performed by the character. Therefore, unlike a story where occurrences are caused by coincidences, a tragedy must have events that inescapably connect to one another as a result of the characters’ choices. Consequently, this idea of cause and effect must direct the plot of the play until the protagonists have an unfortunate end. Thus, the audience watching the tragedy will experience fear and pity for the characters since their actions will lead to their dramatic downfall. Similarily, William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, conveys these fundamental ideas, but it mainly emphasizes on certain tragic concepts. These components, explained by Aristotle, certainly make this play a quintessence of tragedy. They support the chain of events in Romeo and Juliet by using character traits and majors events to connect the plot and illustrate how the characters create their own ending. For this reason, Romeo and Juliet is a genuine tragedy because of its use of significant, tragic elements; tragically-flawed protagonists; and inevitable fate.
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.
Fate is a dominating force which operates the development of events. Most people believe that fate is predestined and nothing can be changed. But even a person 's fate is determined by a complex combination of conditions and factors. It includes the choices people make according to the tendencies of their own mind, each time they encounter a specific circumstance. In the play of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, the protagonists believe that their lives are controlled by destiny and luck. However, they had ability to choose what they wanted to do and change their fortune over their lives. Although fate seemed to influence what happened to Romeo and Juliet, their choices ultimately contributed to the result of tragedy because they made their
Aristotle proposed what is believed to be the first definition of a true tragedy. Specifically, he states that a tragedy triggers great pity and fear caused by the main characters’ actions alone. Likewise, a true tragedy lacks coincidence and fate plays little in the overall play. William Shakespeare writes the play of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in which the audience knows the destiny of these two tragic heroes from the very beginning. Although this play is tragic knowing that the lives of two lovers are lost, it is not a tragedy as Romeo and Juliet are not solely responsible for their own deaths. Destiny is determined through the hands of greater forces than that of Romeo and Juliet, making this play merely tragic and not a true tragedy. Therefore, the play of Romeo and Juliet is not a tragedy as coincidental events, the role of fate, and Romeo and Juliet’s numerous tragic flaws are what ultimately cause the outcome of this play.
Destiny or fate is a controversially talked about subject that has arised for many years. ‘Destiny is referred to as a predetermined course of events.’ Many people, especially in Shakespearean times, believe that God has a life plan for every individual. A sense of destiny in its oldest human sense is the soldier’s fatalistic image of the ‘bullet that has your name on it’ or the moment when ‘your number comes up’ or a romance that was ‘meant to be.’ Many Greek legends and tales teach the futility or trying to outmanoeuvre an inexorable fate that has been correctly predicted. Today we have people that can ‘predict out future’ whether we nowadays still have the belief in the stars and the ability to read them is another controversial matter. Elizabethan astrology fascinated many prominent Elizabethans. The subject is mentioned in every single one of Shakespeare’s plays. At the time the play Romeo and Juliet was published Robert Burton was the astrologer of the era. In Shakespeare’s plays astrology was often critical to the plots when the actions and events surrounding characters are said to be ‘favoured’ or ‘hindered’ by the stars. In the tempest the main character is said to be based on John Dee, who was a famous astrologer and scholar in the Elizabethan era. Destiny is the idea of necessity ‘everything in the world is conditioned and takes place according to necessity.’ ‘Fatalism is based on the assumption that everything in the world and in peoples lives is predetermined by natural or super natural forces, that God set everything out.’ Destiny also mans ‘dragged by force.’ If Romeo would have stayed in his, not gone to the Capulet’s party, left the party when Capulet saw him would all this of happened? That is the idea of destiny...
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.
think this is the case as, in spite of his arrogance, he does care for
Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona, Northern Italy. The city is divided by civil war between two noble families, the Capulets and the Montagues. The. The feud is an old one, from ancient grudge to new.
Even though nobody likes it, bad luck exists. There is no way to get rid of it, it is just a part of life. Not everything can go the way someone wants it to. If something random happens to someone and it favours them, like winning the lottery, then that is good luck for that person. Likewise, if something random happens to someone and it is unfavourable, like a rampaging rhinoceros escaping from a nearby zoo and brutally slaughtering them and 23 other people, that would be bad luck. Just like everybody else, William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet are victims of bad luck. The Capulets and Montagues hate each other, Juliet has an arranged marriage to Paris, and there is a plague in the city of the messenger. And so it is bad luck and fate that ultimately cause the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
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.
Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet The play, Romeo and Juliet, involves plenty of bad luck and misfortune that ultimately leads to the deaths of these star crossed lovers. Romeo and Juliet are referred to as, "star crossed lovers" because they were destined to fall in love and die a tragic death. The stars have decided that they would fall in love and die, with everyone else the stars have decided their future. The audience were given hints that Romeo and Juliet were going to die when the prologue stated, "Death-mark'd love."
Some people may not believe that destiny is something that truthfully exists in the world. These people doubt 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 is not 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 believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event is laid out before them like a road map to life, in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial element which makes fate as important as any character in the production. The events leading up to and during the party were definitely caused by fate. 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 tragedy.
Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Works Cited Missing Whether the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is mostly based on fate is questionable. According to the oxford dictionary fate is 'the future as determined by such a power' or 'death, destruction'. Many say that the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet was due to the actions of themselves and others. However how could the actions of themselves and others produce such a dreadful tragedy?
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.