Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "There is no such thing as an accident; it is Fate misnamed." This is clearly shown in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a play about love and hate and the eventual demise of "star-crossed lovers," Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare eloquently states throughout the play that Fate is to blame for the lover's deaths in the end. While some may argue that the characters are to blame due to their choices, which, the readers may claim, were acts or free will, the reality of the situation is that Fate is to blame for causing Romeo and Juliet to fall in love as well as causing the situations that led to their deaths.
To begin, Romeo and Juliet falling in love was all by the wicked hands of Fate. One example of Fate being behind the doomed love is seen at the beginning of the play, when Lord Capulet sends a servant out to invite people on a list he is given to a party at the Capulet house. The servant, unable to read, happens to bump into Romeo and asks for his help. Romeo, happy to oblige, sees Rosaline, his "love," is on the list and, after the servant kindly invites him to attend the party, Romeo debates whether or not he should go to the Capulet's house. Finally, after Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, insists Romeo goes to the party to at least compare Rosaline to the other women of Verona, Romeo declares, "I'll go along, no such sight to be shown, / But to rejoice in splendor of mine own" (1.2.107-8). Romeo has decided to attend the party in hopes that he may be able to win over his "love" Rosaline. But, without chance (i.e. fate) meddling in the affairs of both the Capulets and the Montagues, Romeo would have never been invited to the party. The servant of t...
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...kespeare, a play about love, hate, and the death of two doomed lovers, Fate is to blame for the lover's demise. While some may argue that Friar Laurence is the cause of Romeo and Juliet's death, Fate is actually to blame. This is shown clearly at the beginning of the play with the mention of "star-crossed lovers," as well as throughout the play with references to "fortune" or "stars." Fate caused Romeo and Juliet to fall in love as well as meddled in the situations regarding both Romeo and Juliet, therefore causing their demise and fulfilling its duty. While it may have been hard to see at times, Fate was omnipresent throughout the play and played a significant role in the end. The star-crossed lovers were doomed; they just refused to see their fate.
Works Cited
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: And Related Readings. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 1997. Print.
In efforts to overcome such hindrances to their love, Juliet feigns her death as planned. However, as a result of miscommunication, Romeo takes the news seriously, and thus, being propelled by zealous devotion, both use death as the key to unity. A variety of themes are implicated throughout the play. Fate, in particular, is well demonstrated. By using the motif of stars and characters such as Friar Lawrence, Juliet, and Romeo, Shakespeare truly and masterfully conveys that fate is the inevitable, unalterable and omnipotent force that controls all actions unto their consequences.
(Shakespeare.3.1.143). And he and Juliet are both little toys for fate. But, they never give up on their love. Romeo and Juliet’s traits cause them to go along with their fate and contribute to their downfall.
“It lies not in our power to love, or hate, for will in us is over-rul'd by fate.” In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, it is clear that the leading theme is fate, as it is mentioned several times. Shakespeare allows the audience to see everything that happens “behind closed doors.” While some characters’ actions did affect the outcome of the play, fate is the ruling force.
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. Whole misadventured piteous overthrows Do their deaths bury their parents' strife? -Chorus 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?
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.
In Act 1 scene 2, a Capulet servant is walking along the streets of Verona trying to hand out invitations to a party. The only problem with this is the servant can't read. He runs into Romeo and Benvolio on the street. They read the list for him and decide to go to the party that the Capulets are throwing. This is fate because if the servant had run into any other person on the streets of Verona, Romeo would never even know about the Capulet party. Benvolio told Romeo to "Go thither and with untainned eye compare her (Rosaline's) face with some that I shall show". He wants Romeo to go look for someone at the party to get over his first love Rosaline. This is a bad thing for them since when Romeo and Juliet meet they don't know they are enemies. The servant running into Romeo and Benvolio is fate. If they hadn't run into each other, Romeo would've never met Juliet.
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.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves, the secondary characters play an essential role in the book. In Romeo and Juliet by an English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence is an important secondary character who designs solutions for Romeo and Juliet and brings the play into the dramatic results. The failure of his plan causes the tragedy of death for both main characters at the end of the story. In The Sound of Waves, Shinji Kubo, a young and poor fisherman in Uta-Jima falls in love with Hatuse, a rich man’s daughter. Shinji and Hatsue try to be together throughout the book, but encounter many difficulties with their neighbors. Shinji’s mother tries to help Shinji and Hatsue by asking many people and going to shrines to beg the gods for help to get them together.
A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
So it is likely that Shakespeare meant for fate to be the cause of Romeo and Juliet's death. I think that the family feud is the main cause for the death of Romeo and Juliet. If the families were not so hateful towards each other Romeo and Juliet would not have kept there love for each other a secret, and they would have no need for committing suicide. This also backs up the point that fate could be to blame for their deaths.
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?
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 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.
Works Cited for: Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. New York City, NY: Folger Shakespeare Library, 1992, 2011. Print. The.
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