Explanations are a tool people use to distance themselves of the blame of their own imprudent decisions. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it is not chance, but rather desperate and impetuous actions that bring about the demise of Romeo and Juliet. In the Victorian era, fortune was due to events outside the control of humans, determined by a paranormal influence. However, by no means was the departure of Romeo and Juliet out of their control; It happened because of the choices they made, whether it was that of Juliet’s, Friar Lawrence’s or Romeo’s.
Juliet always blames her own hasty choices on destiny. When Juliet first notices Romeo at the party in the first act, Juliet tells the nurse to “go ask for his name. When he says that her grave
As Friar John tells him that the letter cannot be sent, Friar Lawrence chooses to put responsibility on an “unhappy fortune” and not himself (5.2.17). Despite being a grown man, he decides to allow Friar John to travel alone to send the message. Instead of delivering the letter himself, he gives the critical duty to people that are not aware of the situation. Conscious of this, he disregards his obvious fault on fate. Moreover, when Friar Lawrence ends up seeing Paris and Romeo dead, he says it is “lamentable chance” that they have passed away. (5.3.151). Again, fate is blamed for something easily avoided. He is saying that it was out of his control that the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, died, but Friar Lawrence was the one who married them and directed the plan in the first place. Also, when Juliet rouses, the Friar tells her, “a power greater than we can contradict has thwarted our intents” (5.3.158). He discusses a power such as fate that could not be resisted and how it ruined the plan to reunite two lovers. However, he was the one that ruined the sending of the message to Romeo. The Friar doesn’t take any accountability at all for his actions and decides instead to blame overpowering
The characters repeatedly used fate as a justification by saying the series of events that took place were completely out of their control. In contrast, everything from the botched letter plan to the lovers’ suicides could have been avoided if the characters had just been thinking rationally. By having the characters assert their culpability to destiny, Shakespeare is proclaiming that people need to take blame for wrongdoings. They should understand that it is their own decisions that determine the future, not fate. In order to prevent wrongdoings from occurring again one must acknowledge one’s role in the incident and take ownership. If only Romeo and Juliet had been honest to themselves about the mistakes the made for one another, who knows what fate must have held for the two
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.
Friar Lawrence had the potential to prevent the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and instead, because of his choices, he caused them. Yes, the other characters may have contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death, but Friar Lawrence caused it. The blame rests solely on his soldiers. Works Cited Aubrey, Bryan. A “Critical Essay on ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
It is Friar Laurence’s good intentions, his willingness to take risks and his shortsightedness that lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence does not have very much time on stage, but the time he does have is crucial to the plot line. Through his words, Friar Lawrence demonstrates that he is well intentioned, yet sometimes shortsighted, and is not afraid to take risks to help others. He may do something out of the ordinary, if he thinks the outcome will help someone for whom he cares. For example, when he says "In one respect I'll thy assistant be;/ for this alliance may so happy prove, / to turn your households rancor to pure love" (II.iii.97-99), he is saying that the only reason he will marry Romeo and Juliet is that he hopes that the marriage will end the hostilities between the two houses.
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.
Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s stronger affections for each other because he married them and therefore binding their love. Friar Lawrence also came up with a risky solution to get Romeo and Juliet together for the rest of their lives without anyone knowing. However, it consisted of faking Juliet’s death and Romeo did not know she was not actually dead, but alive. Friar Lawrence’s messenger did not tell Romeo the plan in time because Romeo had already heard of Juliet’s death and had gone to her tomb to die with her. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the star-crossed lovers’ death because of his miscalculated
Actions are caused by ones personal choices, thus actions indeed speak louder than words. In today's society, people make a variety of decisions throughout their everyday lives. These decisions often lead to different outcomes and sometimes, they may cause a person to suffer consequences from his/her choices. Some people believe that everything happens for a reason; that everything happens because of fate. Others beg to differ as they consider that their decisions drive what fate has for them in the future and so they think that they are in control of their own destiny. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, two star-crossed lovers betrayed their own family in order to be with each other. Given that both Romeo and Juliet are both young, they made endless sacrifices and decisions just for them to be together without considering the consequences. All of their sacrifices resulted in vain as their tragic conclusion was their own death. Although fate played a significant role in the star-crossed lovers' downfall, Romeo and Juliet paid the consequences of their dreadful decisions due to their reckless rebellion which eventually led to their catastrophic ending.
Juliet is to drink a potion to make her appear dead, and later wake to be free of the shame of marrying Paris. Here, Friar Lawrence is assuring Juliet that he will send a letter to Romeo, explaining their plan. Romeo doesn’t receive that letter, and he does not know what is to happen. Free will comes with great consequences. Friar Lawrence and Juliet inflicted their own wounds by not telling Romeo of their plan. If they had taken the time to make sure that Romeo got the information, their plan might have succeeded, and Romeo and Juliet would be free to marry each other. A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents. (V, iii, 154-155)
The deaths of Romeo and Juliet are linked to Friar Lawrence’s plan.... ... middle of paper ... ... God joined my heart and Romeo’s, thou our hands. ”(IV.i.53-56)
In the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo plays the role of the tragic hero. In the play Romeo is an extremely impulsive individual. and makes his decisions without considering the consequences. Romeo makes terrible decisions that end up killing him. What Romeo Failed to see is that every decision he made had an even worse reaction.
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.
Being one of the most debated texts in history, Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, has the power and ability to divide audiences. Throughout the play, it is seen that Shakespeare has left the audience to contemplate the underlying cause of the Romeo and Juliet tragedy. Shakespeare begins by showing the reckless actions and choices of the lovers, illustrating one of the main contributing factors to their deaths. Friar Lawrence plays a large role in the deaths of the lovers as he is the main instigator, greatly contributing to the deaths. Also, demonstrated through the play is that the lover’s destiny is written in the stars. Without
Friar Lawrence wants to marry Romeo and Juliet in hopes their love for one another will end the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. He schemes and has the characters believe it is out of his love for Romeo and Juliet; as in their eyes, he is a fatherly figure. He is an older man who should be out to help the citizenry of Verona, but being egotistical, he uses Romeo and Juliet for his personal desires to end the feud between the families. Him being egocentric has the Friar make rash decisions in situations that he had not planned for. When the Capulets and the Montagues come together after the death of their children, Friar Lawrence says, “Her nurse is privy; and if aught in this/ Miscarried by my fault, let my old life/ Be sacrificed some hour before his time/ Unto the rigor of severest law.” (V.iii.266-269). The Friar explains Romeo and Juliet’s love story and the reasoning behind their secret marriage and why he went through with marrying the star-crossed lovers. He does not say that his rashness is to be blamed for their children’s death, but turns to the Nurse’s knowledge of the secret marriage. Friar Lawrence is showcasing his rashness by outing the Nurse’s role in the marriage and not taking blame for the deaths, but has the Prince decide his punishment. He wants to blame another character with the knowledge of the marriage to make it seem as though he is not to be blamed. His
In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the lovers meet their doom, in scene iii of Act V. With their fatal flaw of impulsivity, Romeo and Juliet are ultimately to blame for their death. Contrarily, if it was not for the unintentional influence of the pugnacious Tybalt, the star-crossed lovers may have remained together, perpetually. To the audience, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are already understood, for it is a Shakespearean tragedy. However, the causes, predominantly Romeo’s and Juliet’s fatal flaws of impulsivity and rashness, are as simple as Shakespearean writing. Though Romeo and Juliet are wholly to blame for their tragic suicides, in Act V scene iii, Tybalt is, in turn, responsible, as his combative spirit forced Romeo to murder him and Juliet to marry Paris.
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.
Ultimately, Romeo and Juliet become embodiments of impulsiveness. Through their rash words and actions in the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare sets forth that both are too hasty in their decisions, leading them into unfortunate events. As the plot unfolds, Romeo and Juliet’s futile love is torn apart by their family’s hate and animosity towards each other. Despite their constant struggle to let their love survive, it is doomed from the beginning of the tragedy. It is plain that lack of foresight and wisdom leads to disaster all around.