In Shakespeares play, Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is portrayed as a strong independent woman who takes control of her own fate instead of letting others dictate it for her. Juliet throughout the play constantly shows how smart and strong she is. She makes decisions that she wants to make instead of making decisions that others want to make for her. She doesn’t let others control her and her fate, and executes many acts of bravery and intelligence to demonstrate this. At the beginning of Act IV, Juliet panics because of Romeo's banishment. The banishment caused her parents to marry her in Paris quicker. This is the exact opposite of what she wants, so she makes a plan and goes to Friar Lawrence for help. The very fact that her parents are trying to control her fate is enough to drive her mad, so much so that she says “God joined my heart and Romeo’s, thou our hands. …show more content…
[takes out the knife]” (IV.i.56-60) By saying this, Juliet is saying that she would rather take her own life than be married to Paris, for being married to him is not a life that she feels is worth having. This displays the fact that she would rather die than let others control her. She wants to live the life she wants, and if someone tries to dominate her life and choices, she will do anything to be free from it. On the topic of Juliet willing to risk her life, the plan that Juliet and Friar Lawrence created was another sacrifice she was willing to make. Juliet was so determined to be with Romeo that she made the brave decision to take the potion that would put her in a sleep so deep it would mimic death. This was a huge risk to take, and Juliet realized this. She gets scared and has all these thoughts and reasons why she should not do it; she even starts hallucinating! She thinks things like, “What if this mixture does not work at