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Romeo And Juliet Free Will Essay

1375 Words6 Pages

Title of my Report (HOOK INSERT HERE) In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there are two lovers from opposing households, Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague, and despite the long standing hatred neither side can remember what it is about. It is when Romeo goes against his better judgment and sneaks into a Capulet party that he meets and falls in love with Juliet. As the reader we know their fate from the prologue alone: these lovers will die. However, this is because the characters’ choices are driven by their desires, despite society’s expectations. In Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet’s demise is not a consequence of their fate but the result of free will and crucial choices made by the characters themselves. …show more content…

Romeo and Juliet were impulsive and narrow minded, causing them to make quick decisions without thinking things through. Throughout the play, the reader is told that they understand the flaws in their choices, yet they still make those same decisions. A great example of this is when Romeo kills Tybalt impulsively in reaction to Mercutio's death. Afterwards, he proclaims,“ O, I am fortune's fool!”(Shakespeare 3.1.128) He blames fate, except this is not fate but an act of free will that complicates the story for Romeo later on, putting him in a tough position. He was in a fragile state of mind, but that doesn’t mean his decisions were not his own. Juliet ends up doing the same thing later on. When they have a moment on the balcony, Juliet unknowingly confesses her love to Romeo. He then begins trying to in return confess his love to her, but she freaks

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Romeo acts out of anger and doesn’t think things through once again. According to James McCue, “Brain studies show the frontal lobe-which is responsible for decision-making, impulse control, sensation-seeking, emotional responses and consequential thinking-does not finish developing until our early-to-mid 20s.” This helps to show why Romeo made these rash decisions because his brain hasn’t fully developed, and he was only thinking about the best decision for that moment in time, not the best for his future. Finally, both Romeo and Juliet rushed into getting married shortly after meeting each other. Romeo is mostly to blame for this because he was rushing into things with Juliet, and Juliet thought that it was the best because she thought she loved Romeo.

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In a play like Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare which is a classic, dating back to the 16th century, it can be expected that discussions have happened based on the question: Did Romeo and Juliet cause their ultimate demise based on choices they made, or does fate take control of their life the second they meet? Because people are able to argue both sides of the case, there has never been a definite answer on whether or not fate, or poor choices takes place in this Shakespearean play. Although fate is something that definitely is shown in this play, poor choices ultimately cause the death of Romeo and Juliet. Every action that someone makes affects someone else, like dominoes that continue to fall until eventually, everyone has fallen. Whether or not they be intentional or accidental, every action has an equal opposite reaction.

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William Shakespeare develops Romeo and Juliet as victims of free will in the play Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the story, the characters make impulsive decisions that would eventually lead to their downfall. Some of their decisions, such as rushing into marriage shortly after meeting, paved the way for their untimely demise. This impulsive behavior illustrates their susceptibility to the consequences of acting without considering the ramifications. The characters of Romeo and Juliet are victims of free will because they decided to be hasty with their decisions.

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In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare there are two young lovers. They are Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The Montagues and Capulets are two feuding families in Verona who have hated each other for centuries. However, Romeo and Juliet love each other which will produce problems. The two lovers die in the end because of Romeo's loss of self-control.

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Free will can cause teens to make both superior and poor decisions, but with factoring in other people’s actions to the situation it can lead to an unintended ending such as death. William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, written in 1597, is about two young “star-crossed lovers” who fall in love and are kept apart by their feuding families. After facing many difficulties they decide to kill themselves so they can be together. According to The Choice is Yours: The Fate of Free Will by Marcelo Gleiser, young teens’ free will can drive them to do unexpected things that affect both themselves, their families, and others around them. Some of Romeo and Juliet’s decisions are based on freedom of choice.

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While Shakespeare plays with the concept that Romeo and Juliet’s lives are left in the hands of fate, he also argues that individuals around them make choices of their own free will that cause Romeo and Juliet’s death. Friar Laurence's free will and the choices he makes impact the way Romeo and Juliet get to their fate. . While Friar Lawrence is talking to Romeo about his new found interest in Juliet, he has an idea about how they can end their families feud with their love. “For this alliance may so happily prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love,” (2.3.98). Here, Shakespeare shows that Friar Laurence is a character of hope.

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Throughout everyone's life, decisions are made using free will. But in the end, fate is what determines the outcome of everything. In the book Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there are decisions made by the characters using their free will, but no decisions could’ve stopped the tragedy of there love. All of the events leading up to Romeo and Juliet's death were not caused by free will, but they were caused by fate.

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Was it fate or free will that killed Romeo and Juliet? In the prologue of this play, Shakespeare refers to Romeo and Juliet as “A pair of star-cross'd lovers.” Star crossed lovers are people whose love is destined to end in tragedy. Free will is when people are able to make their own decisions and have consequences based off their decisions instead of predetermined consequences. Fate was definitely the reason for Romeo and Juliet’s tragic deaths because of the unexplainable coincidences, uncharacterized choices, and conscious decisions that all lead to the same inescapable outcome.

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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.

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