Romeo And Juliet Fate Essay

Fate is an inevitable outcome in one's life. Romeo and Juliet met and died because of fate; they both were able to make out their doomed love. Romeo was destined to fall in love with Juliet as well as destined to be ripped apart from her. When two people are unable to be together due to any circumstance, they are said to be star-crossed lovers. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare shows that one’s fate cannot be reversed through the use of metaphor and oxymoron. In act I, scene five, Shakespeare uses a metaphor to demonstrate that fate is not to be reversed. Romeo and Juliet’s initial meeting represents more than a coincidence. Romeo and Benvolio are encountered by a servingman who asks them for help reading the guest list

Despite the fact that Juliet is a Capulet, Romeo exclaims, “ Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt” (I.v.116-17). This metaphor here shows how Romeo and Juliet are currently being set up for failure by fate. What he said conveys that his “life” is now Juliet because he has fallen deeply in love with her. Romeo directly compares his life to an “account”, to a “debt”. He is implying that his enemies gave him Juliet in a way and that he is grateful. Romeo worries that the Capulet’s will reject his “account” or payment of love and since the “debt” is expensive. Destiny puts the two together either way, knowing that their relationship would be forbidden. The second metaphor Shakespeare uses helps to communicate the theme of fate by explicitly comparing Juliet to the stars. She was frequently compared by Romeo as a brilliant star. As Romeo pursued Juliet he said ,“The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars'' (II.ii.19-20). This aids the audience's understanding of how Romeo and Juliet’s future is written in the stars. This fits into Romeo’s ongoing pattern of associating Juliet with something

Friar Lawernce comes up with the solution to Juliet’s problem by giving her a sleeping potion. Juliet’s worry about the effects of taking the potion is highlighted by the oxymoron, “I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins/ That almost freezes up the heat of life” (v.iii.15-17). This piece has the words “freezes” and “heat” in the same line. Juliet’s use of these opposite words here convey the disturbing feeling something terrible might occur that may endanger her life. This comparison of “cold fear” and the “heat” from her “veins” expresses the theme of fate. Despite the fact that Juliet is aware of the turnout the potion has on her life, she nevertheless defies her fate by the act of taking the potion. Shakespeare has conveyed through oxymoron how Juliet attempts to change her fate. The second oxymoron that is used to exemplify the theme of fate is when Friar Lawrence tries alerting Romeo of Juliet’s intentions in a letter. Friar Lawrence, is informed that he was never able to receive the letter due to a plague. The Friar reacts with. “Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood/ The letter was not nice, but full of charge/ Of dear import, and the neglecting it/ May do much danger (iv.ii.17-20). An approximate translation of “unhappy fortune” is “poor luck”. Friar Lawrence’s phrase compares the positive sense of “fortune” with an adverse word,