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...
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...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.
Since the beginning of the play, the existence of fate has been leading Romeo and Juliet to their deaths. This is first evident in the play’s dialogue when the Serving man asks Romeo to help him read the guest list for Capulet’s party. Shakespeare writes, “God’I’ good e’en. I pray, sir, can you read?/ Ay, mine own fortune in my misery” (I,ii,58-59). This demonstrates the theme of fate because Verona is a large city and the Serving man can be in any street in Verona asking any individual to help him read, but he coincidentally encounters
The play also implies that no one is exempt from fate's power and that all lives and all destinies are determined by it, alone. In addition, Shakespeare wisely chooses the motif of stars to reinforce his theme of fate. Containing a rich variety of themes and motifs, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet undoubtedly stands out as a brilliant work in the history of literature.
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.
...he play that he will die early in his life. The best explanation, however, is that Shakespeare does not rely on fate entirely. Romeo holds responsibility for his actions in regards to committing suicide, whether or not he was destined to die from the beginning.
William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet tells the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers who belong to two opposite families: the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo and Juliet; the protagonists meet at a party and instantly fall in love, they soon have the Friar perform for them a secret marriage. The play ends with Romeo and Juliet’s death this outcome is do to the protagonists’ free will.
After Romeo kills Paris, and then himself, Juliet wakes as Friar Lawrence rushes over to her. Friar Lawrence is saying that a higher power, in this case, fate, has ruined their plan. We know that Friar Lawrence is talking about fate when he says that they cannot contradict this power. You cannot contradict fate, it always has it’s way in the end, whether we know it or not.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy mainly because of the downfall of the main characters through weakness or misfortune, which lead to their deaths but these flaws are not the only reasons for this tragedy, it is possible that their fate was “written in the stars” as there are many references made about these stars. Fate (the fact that life is already planned out and is out of human control) must be one of the key factors in causing the tragedy of the “star-crossed lovers” Romeo and Juliet. It is possible that there was “some consequence yet hanging in the stars”(I iv) that already had their lives scripted down and no matter how much Romeo wanted to defy them “I defy you stars”(I, vi) he could not. This must mean that Romeo’s life was already planned out. But fate was not only interpreted in the stars, somehow it seemed that some of the characters foreshadowed their own fate, like Friar Lawrence foreshadowed “love so gentle in [Romeo’s] view, should be so tyrannous in proof”(I, I), this meaning that Romeo may see the love he has now, as wonderful, but as it continues it causes trouble.
In a nutshell, fate is the concept that everything is predetermined, and that human beings have no control over what happens in their future. We as people either deny fate or use it to defend ourselves against life, but in either case, consequences are often unavoidable. Take the case of Romeo, when he kills his cousin-in-law, Tybalt. Romeo, who kills vengefully kills Tybalt for slaying his friend Mercutio, cries out, “Oh I am fortune’s fool!” when he sees Tybalt dead. This line is obviously Romeo blaming fate for the fact that his sword impaled Tybalt. In this case, it is clear that all the fate blaming in the world will not save Romeo from the Prince of Verona’s doom. Romeo is thereafter banished for slaying Tybalt, getting lease from the punishment of death only because Tybalt himself was a murderer. Romeo faces the consequences of his actions and heads off to Verona, where thereafter a couple failed plots and some plague or another lead to him and Juliet dying. Romeo, despite a concrete belief in fate, ends up still dealing with the consequences of kill...
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.
Shakespeare, through the dialogue and action of his characters, readily provides the evidence that both choice and fate are integral parts of human life. For example, Shakespeare illustrates fate through the words of Romeo who states, “I fear, too early, for my mind misgives some consequences, yet handing in the stars…” (I, IV, 116-117). Romeo believes that it is the stars that influence his life. It is not he who determines his life. He initially believes that his fate ultimately governs his choices, choices that cannot be controlled by humans. In addition, Shakespeare also reveals that choice plays a crucial role in determining fate. It is choice then that drives the decisions of the characters but these choices are made in the circumstance of their lives. And these circumstances cannot be removed from their consciousness. For instance, when Juliet says in her soliloquy before she drinks the sleeping potion, “Romeo, I come! This do I drink to thee” (IV, IV, 60) she is saying it is my fate and my choice to be with you. She chooses to drink the potion thus putting her into a coma-like sleep, and ultimately resulting in the death of them both. When Romeo declares, “Then I defy you, stars!” he is making the choice to challenge his fate of living without Juliet who he believes has died. Shakespeare has provided the evidence that fate and choice re so intertwined that they cannot be separated. Even the structure of his play alludes to this same perception.
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?'
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
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.
Shakespeare first establishes his stance on fate through foreshadowing. By referring to Romeo and Juliet as “star crossed lovers” he reveals that fate has