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Fate and choice in romeo and juliet
Literary analysis of romeo and juliet
Fate and choice in romeo and juliet
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One of the most asked questions about the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, is “Who is to blame for the untimely deaths of these young lovers?”. The play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is filled with very influential emotions. The tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet were brought about by many characters such as Lord Capulet, fate and a feud between two families. One of the most substantial characters in Romeo and Juliet is fate. There are many times where Shakespeare leads us to believe that fate is involved with the hapless deaths of Juliet and Romeo.
Shakespeare tells us fate is that it is an inescapable, all powerful force. After Mercutio has been stabbed by Tybalt. He angrily calls out the Capulets and Montagues on all the bad they’ve caused and all the bad they will be the cause of, and yells that they will be cursed with a plague (or, their fate is dark). “A plague on both your houses!”. When Mercutio yells at the two families, he is angry because his fate was tied in with theirs.
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a perfect example of how poor choices don’t only affect one’s own futures but also those of their communities. Romeo and Juliet fall in love despite their families, the Montagues and the Capulets, being enemies. The two marry in secret and plan to live a happy life together before a deadly fight breaks out between the Montagues and the Capulets and the lovers are separated. The heartbreaking story consists of risky decisions and bad timing. Romeo’s own impulsive nature, demonstrated when he kills Juliet’s kinsman, breaks Verona’s law of banishment, and suicidal act, all contribute to the tragic end of Romeo and Juliet.
In the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet are at the mercy of the stars. This is shown through the fact that the two lovers are impacted by many circumstances beyond their control, essentially caused by the family feud between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. However, Romeo and Juliet do choose to control their own lives by the decision’s they constitute and compose without the influence from someone else in the play, such as getting married in secret and taking their own lives. Despite this small amount of control they are still bound by fate shown by the reasons behind the secret marriage, Tybalts’ death and the suicides. Fate is one of the main thematic representations in the play Romeo and Juliet.
Are people in control of their destiny? Having no power over one’s destiny is an important theme in William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet. We are in told in the prologue that fate is going to drive the story. Romeo and Juliet are not in control of their lives. It is predetermined destiny, not free choice that manipulates the lives of these two lovers.
Shakespeare writes the play giving the audience the final decision of who is at fault for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the play fault can be placed on Romeo. He makes a variety of choices that lead to Juliet’s death and his own. Romeo is constantly blaming his own careless behaviors on fate.
This is why it is so shocking when the two become lovers. The power of pre-determined destiny gets the best of them. Shakespeare did not wait to tell the readers that Romeo and Juliet were a part of pre-determined destiny. For example, in the prologue it says "From fourth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life (Shakespeare prologue). " This means two unlucky children are born into enemy families, they become lovers and commit suicide.
In Verona, Italy, two young teens, one of a Montague and the other of a Capulet, have fallen in love. The Capulets and the Montagues have been feuding for as long as it can be remembered. A monk named Friar Lawrence tries to help the couple escape from the troubles of their family and the law, however the inevitable, Fate, gets in the way. The tragedy written by William Shakespeare raises questions on who is the blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. The long family 's feuds, Friar Lawrence, and fate all contribute to the death of Romeo and Juliet, but fate is put most to blame.
In the Elizabethan tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, the characters that are known to be adored, can even be the cause of adversities throughout the beautiful play. Many characters could be accountable for the death of Romeo and Juliet. It might be the Nurse, who had very poor judgement, stringing Juliet along in a relationship that wouldn’t last. Would it be Tybalt, the violent cousin, who resented Romeo? Unexpectedly, the person who is to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet is the carefree Romeo.
The long standing-family feuding and fate is ultimately to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. Some people may think that Romeo and Juliet are ultimately to blame for their own deaths, because they both killed themselves. They are wrong, the
People are always looking for someone to blame. It is no different when they read the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. There are many differing beliefs as to who is to blame for the deaths of the ill-fated young lovers, but the truth is that it was not one single person who determined what happened to Romeo and Juliet. Fate is to blame for the deaths of the teenage couple because it predetermined their unavoidable deaths, rushed the time span of the story, and put all of the characters into countless coincidental situations. No person in the story of Romeo and Juliet can be blamed for their deaths because Fate already predetermined their unavoidable deaths.
The most defiant choice that Romeo and Juliet take for their love is their choice to be married. Juliet knows that her father or anyone in her family would not approve of this choice, but she still does it cause she loves Romeo. This love struck mentality drives Romeo and Juliet to be married and this secret marriage causes turmoil when Lord Capulet demands Juliet to marry Paris. Although Juliet knows that she is already married to Romeo loyal to him, not Paris and refuses to marry “doth Paris” (Shakespeare. III.v.145).
’s free will? In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the use of free will throughout the play would give Romeo and Juliet a one way ticket to their deaths. Their “fate” was determined by events that could have been prevented by some people’s decisions. Romeo and Juliet led towards the path of death because of their own choices! Times in the play when the characters use their free will include Tybalt’s decision to fight Mercutio, the Prince ordering Romeo to be banished (instead of being executed), and, Juliet’s decision to disobey her parents to marry Romeo.
After Romeo being asked to read the guest list, Juliet having terrible visions, and the plague, it is clear that the death of the two star-crossed lovers was not decided by free will, but by fate. Everything that happened was totally out of there control, but it happened in this way because it was fate, and it was supposed to happen this way. A lot of people like to think that they have all control of everything that happens in there life, but some things happen for a reason, and free will cannot determine what the outcome will
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.