Examples Of Freewill In Romeo And Juliet

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet follows two teens on opposite sides of feuding families that fall in love. They face hardships from each other’s impulsiveness, and hide their love from their own families. In the play, two themes are commonly brought up; fate and freewill. Many question if the character’s actions are brought on by some higher power, or if they in control of their own lives. Shakespeare’s purpose of writing in this form was to show how fate has a large aspect of the characters’ lives.
The first sign of fate was as early as Act I when Caplet gave an illiterate servant a guest list to his family’s party. The servant stops Romeo and asks if he can read the list. As Romeo is reading off of it, he spots Rosaline’s name, the girl he

After Romeo’s banishment, Juliet became extremely impulsive. She said that if she could not be with her husband, she would kill herself. She went to Friar Lawrence for guidance and help. Friar Lawrence and Juliet’s plan was fairly simply. On the night before her betrothed wedding to Paris, she would take a sleeping potion that would make her appear dead. That night, Friar John would deliver Romeo a letter that said she was not dead that he and Friar Lawrence must break her out of her tomb after the funeral. Then, they would run away together. Unfortunately, Friar John was unable to deliver the letter to Romeo. He went to find his friend to go with him, but after he was visiting the sick, health officials thought their house may have a plague infestation. They kept the men quarantined, and he never sent someone else to deliver the letter. Friar Lawrence himself even yells about fate saying, “Unhappy fortune!” (V.ii.17). If Friar John had gone himself, or had left earlier, Romeo would have received the letter, ending his confusion and stopping both of their untimely

Balthazar hears the news that Juliet is dead. He runs to find Romeo to inform him of the tragic rumor. With no letter to prove her otherwise alive, Romeo runs back to Verona to go to her tomb. When he arrives, Paris is already there. Romeo fights him off and ends up killing him, although Romeo is the one breaking in. As he walks in he finds her lying there. He notes how alive she looks, “Beauty’s ensign yet is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, and Death’s pale flag is not advanced there,” (V.iii.94). Romeo grabs the poison he bought and drinks it, dying almost instantly. If he had waited only a few more moments, he would have seen Juliet wake from her long rest, and Friar Lawrence run in. The Friar tells Juliet to leave, saying he is dead and that there is nothing she can do. She wards him off and tells him to go. After he leaves, Juliet speaks to Romeo. She grabs his dagger and stabs herself. The Friar came back in too late, and found the pair dead on the floor. The couple’s rash decisions led to their young and unfortunate deaths. If the Friar had come in earlier he could have stopped Romeo from drinking the