Fate In Romeo And Juliet

Fate can be an influential factor throughout one’s life, but the outcome of their difficulties is dependent upon how they choose to respond to the situation. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is a prime example of how this theme in literature applies to real life scenarios. The careless judgements Romeo and Juliet made ultimately drove them to death. As the story progresses, it becomes more evident that the lovers’ sad outcome was the result of their own poor decisions. These decisions derived from desperateness, adamancy, and the strength of the love they had formed for one another. Romeo and Juliet each demonstrated a sense of desperateness from the moment the story opened. Romeo’s first mistake was rushing into a relationship with

Thus, each Romeo and Juliet resorted to suicide. Some may say the situation was out of their control because they did not take part in any aspect of the feud. Regardless, they were aware of the threat of the feud as they made one reckless decision after another. Within a few days of marriage to Romeo, Juliet had been informed that she was to be wed to Count Paris. Knowing what this meant for her and Romeo, she ran to Friar Laurence for advice. In her confession to the Friar, Juliet exclaims, “Tell me not, friar, that thou hearest of this, unless thou tell me how I may prevent it. If in thy wisdom thou canst give no help, do thou but call my resolution wise and with this knife I’ll help it presently” (Act 4.1.50-54). Juliet’s failure to consider every outcome is a display of the same naivety that brought her into this predicament in the first place. Her age and inexperience continuously served to cloud her judgement. Because of this, Juliet felt so trapped in this arranged marriage, she only saw death as the lesser of two

Juliet determines that in order to get out of her marriage trap, she must commit a fake suicide. To accomplish this, she drinks a liquid that puts her into a coma-like state for 42 hours. However, when the message gets relayed inaccurately, Romeo is told that Juliet is dead. Immediately, he becomes grief-stricken. “O mischief, thou art swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate men! I do remember an apothecary, and hereabouts ‘a dwells… Come, cordial and not poison, go with me to Juliet’s grave; for there must I use thee” (Act 5.1.35-38, 85-86). Romeo’s options include staying alive and honoring his late wife, or to move on from Juliet just as he had with Rosaline. Instead, he chose suicide of the most swift manner he could devise. Romeo’s resolution brought downfall for himself and for his marriage, as Juliet faced the horror of awakening to a lifeless