Allusions In Romeo And Juliet

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In Act 1 Scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses allusions to help support the theme of fate in the play. In the quote, “She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate-stone On the fore-finger of an alderman…” Shakespeare alludes to common English folklore with the use of Queen Mab. In old English folklore, there were many beliefs of fairies influencing dreams. Mercutio says that Queen Mab is a tiny fairy that controls people’s dreams of which these people have no control of. The way of how dreams are uncontrollable by Queen Mab are similar to how uncontrollable fate is in the play. Shakespeare uses the Queen Mab allusion as a metaphor to fate and how unpredictable fate can be. This further enforces