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Examples Of Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

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Fate or free will? Fate is a recurring theme in the play that has caused an extreme amount of chaos and ultimately leads to the death of the two protagonists. The topic of fate and free will within the play is widely discussed and disagreed on by readers. Many points have been made that their decisions ultimately lead to their untimely demise. However, there are more points to prove that the tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet is due to fate. To begin, Romeo getting banned from Verona was one of the first things to prove that their fate was flawed against their favour. If Tybalt hadn't instigated a fight between him and Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt wouldn't have been killed in the process. If the fight hadn't happened, Romeo wouldn't have been …show more content…

The timing of situations is difficult to control and would typically be categorized as fate rather than free will since it can’t truly be controlled. At the beginning of the play, Paris wanted to marry Juliet and asked Capulet. Capulet won the readers over by saying that it was his daughter's decision. However, later on in the play when things were going bad for the family politically he went against his previous words and told Paris he could marry her. Juliet was not pleased with this decision made without her and argued with her father. She argued not only because she was married but also because her father decided this without her. During this heated argument Capulet said “That God had lent us but this only child; But now I see this one is one too much, And that we have a curse in having her.” (3.5.165-167). The word curse has been used a few times previously and has been said in multiple characters. The word curse can signify that fate has something bad in store. To be cursed or to be cursed means to inflict pain on others or that pain has been inflicted on you. Capulet states that Juliet is nothing but a burden to the family which causes the following events of Juliet drinking the poison to occur. Capulet's mindset on the marriage completely shifts which shows a lot about his character. It shows that Capulet will do anything to benefit his image including going against his daughter's wishes. The timing and

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247 Words | 1 Pages

Lord Capulet’s own free will forced Romeo and Juliet to pursue actions, such as marriage, that inevitably resulted in their deaths, which is demonstrated through Shakespeare’s use of foreshadowing. In Verona, there are expectations for young girls that they marry a fine man and labor babies, especially in high-class families such as Montague and Capulet. In the Capulet family, Lord Capulet has prepared a bridegroom, Paris, for his fourteen year old daughter, Juliet. Although, Juliet refuses to marry Paris because she is secretly already married to Romeo, but her father does not know that. As a result of Juliet expressing that she does not want to marry Paris, Lord Capulet angrily replies to her disobedience, “But fettle your fine joints’ gainst

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1903 Words | 8 Pages

In this interaction between Lord Capulet and Juliet, Lord Capulet is saying that he will kick her out of the house and allow her to die in the streets if she chooses not to marry Paris. He is calling her worthless and threatens to take away everything that she loves. This can have many different negative impacts on a girl her age. This comes at an especially unfortunate time since she is currently fighting her demons on whether she should stay committed to

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699 Words | 3 Pages

If Tybalt hadn’t affected the lives of Romeo and Juliet then, they both would have lived, revealing why others shouldn’t affect our own destinies. Furthermore, the Prince exiled Romeo for killing Tybalt, by stating, “And for that offense immediately we do exile him hence” (430 Shakespeare). As shown in the quote, the Prince exiles Romeo for defending himself against Tybalt. If this had not happened, Juliet wouldn’t have been sad so Paris wouldn’t have been forced on her, leading to Romeo and Juliet would still be alive and well.

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497 Words | 2 Pages

Saying she can "An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets"(iii.v.193) if she decided to not marry paris. Which caused her to go to the friar and make the plan that ultimately got her and Romeo killed. If Juliet's parents allowed her to have a say in who she could marry, the story would have had a better outcome. There are arguments to my claim saying the capulets parents cared about peace in the city of verona. Like when lord capulet called off Tybalt when Romeo showed up at their party. "

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693 Words | 3 Pages

Lord Capulet was one of the individuals that contributed to the termination of Romeo and Juliet’s lives. Being irate, Lord Capulet forces Juliet into a dilemma by saying, “But fettle [her] fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next/ to go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, or [he] will drag thee on a hurdle thither.” (III.v.154-156). Juliet characterizes as a loyal and obedient daughter, she always wants to please her parents whenever she can. This puts tons of pressure on Juliet’s decision.

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588 Words | 3 Pages

His desire for higher social status became more prominent to the point he cursed his daughter Juliet" Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch! (3.5.160) when Juilet wasn't bursting with happiness as Capulets expected but rather saddened by her arranged marriage to Paris, instead of prioritizing his daughter he again said " And that we have a curse in having her. " (3.5.167) to force Juliet into accepting an arranged marriage to Paris. After being cursed and threatened to be disowned Juliet begged her mother " Delay this marriage for a month, a week" (3.5.199) As a woman Lady Capulet may not have authority over Juilet's marriage but as a mother, she could have stayed with Juilet and tried to comfort her but she chooses to leave her " Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word " (3.5.202) before leaving her daughter. As parents, the Capulets completely ignored the wants of their daughter which further drove Juliet to leave them without a

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817 Words | 4 Pages

Often teenagers struggle with this kind of parenting leading to rebellious acts and leaving them with a fear of lack of control. Juliet is a brave, ambitious character who takes control of the environment around her. Both families resented one another and their actions vastly affected others. When Capulet meets up with Paris, he talks about having something similar to an arranged marriage with his daughter but then Capulet says “And she agreed, within her scope of choice, Lies my consent and fair according voice” (Shakespeare 13). Which is ironic because he talks about asking for her consent but later manipulates her and threatens to kick her out of their home if she doesn’t marry Paris.

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602 Words | 3 Pages

Free Will A person with free will is a person that is explained with love and fate. In the story “Romeo and Juliet,” by William Shakespeare, two young lovers are ripped apart because of their feuding families, and one being a Montague and the other being a Capulet. Throughout the novel, free will is shown when Romeo and Juliet ignore their parents orders and decide to pursue a romantic relationship, when the Friar decides to allow Romeo and Juliet to marry each other in silence, and lastly, when they decide to sacrifice their lives for each other. Later in Act 2 Juliet says “ Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or of thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and i'll no longer be a capulet.’ (2.2,33-36).

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1375 Words | 6 Pages

However, this is because the characters’ choices are driven by their desires, despite society’s expectations. In Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet’s demise is not a consequence of their fate but the result of free will and crucial choices made by the characters themselves.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

The ultimate definition of fate vs free will in simplified terms is, “Some believe that people's lives and choices are predetermined, while others believe that humans are responsible for their own actions. ”(Doll). Although a lot of people believe in fate or free will, we also have to know that everything is up to you to make that decision for yourself. We know that a lot of people base all of their decisions in life on what their friends or the people around them are doing. If we go back to Romeo and Juliet, we can see that there were already some things set in stone that were going to happen to them before the end of the play.

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379 Words | 2 Pages

I also have valid reasoning as to why this situation is fate and not free will. It was always Romeo faith to meet Juliet from the time he was born to the time he died. Romeo didn’t just happen to crash the party that juliet’s family was throwing. He also didn’t just happen to miss the mailman that had his letter in it with the plan. It was fate, fate knew that Romeo was gonna die that night with his beloved.

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585 Words | 3 Pages

Are our lives already determined by fate? Or do our choices affect our lives. In William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet there are many tragic events, that seeme to happen by fate, but if fate wasn’t the cause then what or who was was the cause? Lord Capulet is the character most to blame for the tragic events in Romeo and Juliet because he was one of the main people who kept the feud going, it was his party that Romeo crashed, and he was the one who was forcing Juliet to marry Paris, causing her to want to make rash decisions. Lord Capulet is the most to blame for the events that occur in Romeo and Juliet because he was one of the main people who kept the feud going This feud has been going on for years, Lord Capulet has been keeping it going it the prologue of act one it says “From ancient grudge break to new mutiny” and from what this is saying it hasn't been getting any better.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout everyone's life, decisions are made using free will. But in the end, fate is what determines the outcome of everything. In the book Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there are decisions made by the characters using their free will, but no decisions could’ve stopped the tragedy of there love. All of the events leading up to Romeo and Juliet's death were not caused by free will, but they were caused by fate.

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492 Words | 2 Pages

He told Juliet she had to get married to Paris. “You must get married to paris”. He is forcefully telling his daughter she has to get married which is what causes all of the death. Another example is Lord Capulet should be punished because he tells Juliet if she doesn’t get married she will get kicked out. Lord Capulet Is telling Juliet that she has to get married to Paris or she will get kicked out and she will have to live on her own.

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1057 Words | 5 Pages

The theme of Fate vs. Free Will is dominant in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; however the theme of fate is more significant than free will. In the play both Romeo and Juliet meeting was contributed by fate as Shakespeare mentioned in the prologue that Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers that were meant to meet, fall in love and their death would be the reason for the feud to end between the two families. Fate was the reason Capulet’s servant asked Romeo and Benvolio to help him read the invitation for him that contained all the names of the people that were invited to the ball Capulet hosted. “…If you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine.

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