Romeo And Juliet Foreshadowing

Fateful Flutters

Do small choices really spark catastrophic consequences? Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare, set in the early 1300s in Verona, Italy. The two families of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet take part in a feud, we do not know what this feud is about but it was strong enough to keep poor Romeo and Juliet apart. Throughout this play, we see Shakespeare’s characters struggle with simple things that change the course of fate. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony, conflict, and foreshadowing to prove this further.

In almost the entirety of this play, dramatic irony is used to keep the readers on the edge of their seats. The chain of events that led to the two teens’ deaths certainly had the audience’s eyes rolling.

Romeo predicts his own death, and while he could’ve turned around and gone home, he decided to go to the party anyway and cause the death of himself as well as Juliet. The audience clearly can think of many ways to avoid the deaths of these teens, but the easiest way was to dismantle the Capulet-Montague feud. Teens will do what they want, regardless of what their parents say. The most simple way to avoid their deaths would be to dismantle the feud. The parents realize this at the end when the prince says, “Where be these enemies?—Capulet, Montague, See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love...” (V.ii.301-303) The prince tells Lord Montague and the Capulets that their hatred towards each other has caused the deaths of their beloved children. In act 4, the

The characters in Romeo and Juliet are all caught up in the terrible decision making of the teens and it leaves them stressed. Juliet’s dad is left stressed over his daughter’s unexpected “death”, and under all this stress he doesn't realize that the timing is very convenient for Juliet. She doesn't want to marry Paris, and when she finally agrees then she ‘dies’ the next day. Incredibly convenient, right? Lord Capulet shows us his stress by saying, “All things that we ordainèd festival turn from their office to black funeral: our instruments to melancholy bells, our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast, our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change, our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse, and all things change them to the contrary” (IV.v.90-96). The tragic “death” of his daughter leaves him absolutely heartbroken. All the wedding plans are now funeral plans. While Romeo and Juliet’s intentions aren't terrible, their oversight of the bigger picture is. They put people in danger for their own personal gains. Friar is one of these people and we see it when he says, “Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake. She will beshrew me much that Romeo Hath had no notice of these accidents” (V.iii.24-27). Friar is realizing that Juliet will wake up before Romeo arrives, and this will be a major shift in the plan. We see Friar start to panic and realize that this won't work out all too well. Now we all know and love the nurse and Juliet