Astrology In Romeo And Juliet

The Renaissance era, or the re-birth, saw the emergence of new ideas and a deep curiously in anything mystical. The subjects of Elizabethan astrology fascinated many prominent Elizabethans. William Shakespeare makes over 100 references to Astrology. The subject is mentioned in everyone of his plays. William Shakespeare uses examples of astrology in Romeo and Juliet to show love and compassion. Astrological,stars are referred to in the astrological sense. One's fate is determined by the positions of stars at birth. Romeo and Juliet were said, in the Prologue, to be "star-crossed lovers", which means they were fated from birth to fall in love and die. In Act 1 Scene 4, Romeo has a premonition that the events of that night will lead to his death, and he mentions "the stars" in the astrological sense: "for my mind misgives,Some consequence yet hanging in the stars,Shall bitterly begin his fearful date ,With this night's revels and expire the term ,Of a despised life closed in my breast ,By some vile forfeit of untimely death." Juliet is the only character given a birthdate,"Lammas Eve at night", according to the nurse, which means July 31 (Lammastide is August 1). That makes Juliet a Leo. Leo is ruled by the sun. And Romeo compares Juliet to the sun in Act 2

Sometimes the characters themselves announce their resonances with a particular planet. In Much Ado About Nothing, Sir John the Bastard allows that both he and Conrade, his companion, are "born under Saturn . . . I cannot hide what I am: I must be sad when I have cause, and smile at no man's jests . . . " In The Winter's Tale, Autolycus (a thief) says of himself, "My father named me Autolycus; who being, as I am, littered under Mercury, was likewise a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." Mercury is a sly fellow; in Greek mythology, his first act after being born was to steal Apollo's