How Does Romeo And Juliet Make Personal Choices

Heraclitus once said, “The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become.” This quote applies to all people, including Romeo & Juliet, and Pyramus & Thisbe. Their stories are prime examples of how small choices can make a big impact. Even though the passages reference destiny many times, personal choice has more of an impact on the characters’ lives.

Romeo’s impulsive and capricious behavior eventually led to his sudden demise. After Romeo had been banished from Verona, the Friar hatched a plan to sneak Romeo into Verona again which involved faking the death of Juliet. Before the letter containing the details of the plan reached Romeo, Balthasar informs Romeo of Juliet’s

Pyramus and Thisbe were madly in love but they had never seen each other. They had decided to meet up under the tall mulberry tree at the Tomb of Ninus. Thisbe had arrived first and was waiting for Pyramus when she saw a lioness. The lioness had just eaten and had bloody teeth. Thisbe ran away but left her cloak. The lioness went back to its home but ripped up her cloak first. Before Thisbe could return, Pyramus came and he exclaimed, “The conclusion was inevitable. He never doubted that he knew it all. Thisbe was dead.”, (Ovid 5). He thought Thisbe was dead and before he could doubt himself, he killed himself. The conclusion of his life was not inevitable if he thought about the little evidence provided relating to Juliet's death. If he realized that there was no body or that there was no trail of blood, he could have discerned that Thisbe was not dead. When Thisbe came back and she saw that Pyramus was dead, she also killed

Many people may view these events as fate or destiny because there are too many delusions that set up the death of these characters and Romeo and Juliet mentions the stars frequently. For example, the prologue states, “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life … the fearful passage of their death-marked love (Romeo and Juliet.1.Prologue.6,9).” The mentionings of stars and “death-marked love” imply that the death of Romeo and Juliet was set up from the beginning and that they were going to die, one way or another. While these instances are abundant, there are also many occasions of people saying how they will defy destiny. One such occasion is when Romeo says, “Is it e’en so?—Then I deny you, stars!— Thou knowest my lodging. (5.1.25-26)” Romeo exclaimed this when Balthasar told him Juliet was dead. This quote is a key example of how Romeo’s choices are his own choices as he said how he was going to defy the stars and do what he wants instead of letting destiny set his