ipl-logo

Theme Of Coincidence In Romeo And Juliet

670 Words3 Pages

The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare tells the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers who come from feuding families; a love which ultimately ends in their deaths. In this play, coincidence is a dominating theme, often altering the course of events resulting in either a positive or negative outcome. There are various examples of coincidence throughout this story, such as the servant who cannot read, the news of Juliet’s plan never reaching Romeo, and Juliet awakening only moments after her love has died.

To begin with, Romeo meeting Juliet was a result of a coincidence. Lord Capulet’s servant, who is illiterate, is tasked with inviting a list of people to the Capulet’s party, when Romeo and Benvolio enter. Unable to read the list, the servant seeks Romeo’s help. After which, the servant …show more content…

Friar Laurence gives Juliet a vial of liquid, which when drunk will cause a deep sleep and Juliet will appear dead for forty-two hours. Romeo is to come wake Juliet then they will run away together. Friar Laurence entrusts Friar John to deliver a letter to Romeo in Mantua with news of this plan. But, Friar John is quarantined in a house of someone suspected to have the plague. He says, “I could not send it,—here it is again,—Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, so fearful they were of infection.” (Act 5, Scene 2, Line 14-16). Upon learning this, aware of the possible consequences, Friar Laurence cries out, “Unhappy fortune! The letter was not nice but full of charge, of dear import, and the neglecting it may do much danger.” (Act 5, Scene 2, 17-20). If Friar John had reached Mantua, Romeo would have not believed Juliet to be truly dead. Therefore, he would have not visited the apothecary to buy poison to kill himself, and the tragedy would have never happened. This coincidence causes a sequence of events which ends in terrible misfortune—the death of Romeo and

Show More
Related
595 Words | 3 Pages

The tale of Romeo and Juliet ends with the death of the two lovers. But there is a reason behind their passing. Friar Lawrence, a priest in Verona, had a big part of the play, and may be the reason for Romeo and Juliet to lay still forever in their graves. The friar was the one that devised the plan to fake Juliet’s death, but ran away in cowardice when he was afraid.

Read More
1111 Words | 5 Pages

After Juliet had drunk the potion, he gave her, Friar Lawrence wrote an urgent letter to Romeo with all of the details of Juliet’s location and when she would wake up. If Friar Lawrence thought it was that the letter was very important, he should've delivered it himself, or talked to Romeo in person. When he finds out that Friar John was taking his time to deliver it, the Friar realizes his mistake by saying, “Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood, The letter was not nice but full of charge, Of dear import, and neglecting it, May do much danger.” (5.2.18-21).

Read More
922 Words | 4 Pages

There are many characters that contributed to the tragic acts of love and suicide in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but who is the most to blame? In the famous play, we have two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, who have been feuding with each other for many years. Romeo, from the Montague family, and Juliet, from the Capulets, have fallen in love. Due to the distasteful acts from each side, their children must go to great lengths to keep their love a secret.

Read More
760 Words | 4 Pages

He is actually being set up by pre-determined destiny. The chances the Servant will invite the Capulet's most loathed enemy are slight. The chance that Romeo will attend and fall in love with the one person he can not love are even slighter. Pre-determined destiny sets all this up from the very

Read More
407 Words | 2 Pages

One of my characters Friar lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death. In Act 2, Scene 1 Friar says “Hold daughter I do spy a kind of hope. And thou darest I’ll give thee remedy.” This quote shows that Friar came

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

In the play it says, “In the meantime, against thou shalt awake, shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, and hither shall he come: and he and I will watch thy waking, and that very night, shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua. ”(4.1.113-117). But, instead Friar Lawrence sent another Friar to tell Romeo his plan, but something had went wrong, the Friar should had waited to give Juliet the potion after he confirmed Romeo about the plan. Also, Friar John flees the Capulet monument when Juliet needed him the most, and the result is her suicide. In the monument, Friar Lawrence attempted to persuade Juliet to go with him and flee the tomb.

Read More
577 Words | 3 Pages

This is shown when, after learning the Friar John never got the letter to Romeo, he says “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” (V.ii.17-19). In the quote, Friar Laurence is telling Friar John that the letter was of the highest importance, and that it not being delivered is going to cause a lot of bad things to possibly happen. This is one of the things that went wrong in Friar Laurence’s plan that he didn’t take into account could happen.

Read More
608 Words | 3 Pages

Also in act 4 scene 1 he says he will send a friar to Romeo, but the letter never got to him. Why? Well because Friar Laurence just gave him a letter saying take this to Rome, Friar John probably thought that it was just a normal letter and took his time. In other words, Friar Laurence failed to mention the importance of the letter, thus this ended in death.

Read More
790 Words | 4 Pages

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare has toyed with the emotions of its audience members for centuries. The play’s main characters, Romeo and Juliet, love one another in spite of the feud between their families and later on, in the wallows of grief, each take their own life. While the characters both meet their end tragically, it was their choices that realistically led them down that path. The cause of the two “star-crossed lovers” final end is not due to fate or destiny, but by their own foolish hands.

Read More
872 Words | 4 Pages

People are always looking for someone to blame. It is no different when they read the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. There are many differing beliefs as to who is to blame for the deaths of the ill-fated young lovers, but the truth is that it was not one single person who determined what happened to Romeo and Juliet. Fate is to blame for the deaths of the teenage couple because it predetermined their unavoidable deaths, rushed the time span of the story, and put all of the characters into countless coincidental situations. No person in the story of Romeo and Juliet can be blamed for their deaths because Fate already predetermined their unavoidable deaths.

Read More
717 Words | 3 Pages

He, meanwhile would send a note to Romeo informing him of the hoax that was being perpetrated on the Capulets and Paris, and asking Romeo to meet him at the graveyard where Juliet would greeted them alive and well. Unfortunately, the message never arrived. This was revealed when Friar John told Friar Laurence, " I could not send it, here it is again / Nor get a messenger to bring it thee" (5.2.14-15). Friar Laurence had not told the messenger the importance of the letter reaching Romeo. And, if Friar Laurence had followed the original agreement he made with Romeo: "Sojourn in Mantua; I 'll find out your man, /

Read More
704 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning of the book is where the smallest thing started it all. While Romeo was in town, he was approached by an illiterate Capulet servant named Peter. Romeo was asked to read the guest list for a Capulet party to Peter, because Peter didn’t know how to read. “I pray, sir, can you read?” After reading the list,

Read More
1233 Words | 5 Pages

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”, is a quote by the man himself, William Shakespeare, concerning human responsibility, otherwise known as the capability of completing an obligation, or duty sufficiently. These commitments or duties play a role in how a situation will play out, and dictate the consequences that follow. The choices made from the beginning to the end in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet are all examples of how people’s decisions, primarily those of Tybalt, Mercutio and Friar Lawrence, lead to a heartbreaking fallout. The pressure and burden weighing down the young lovers ultimately overwhelms them, causing an expeditious chain reaction. The influences behind each character’s ill-considered judgments,

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

After receiving their help the serving man invites them to the Capulet’s party, “and, if you be not / of the house of Montague’s, I pray come and crush a / cup of wine”. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in this line as the audience, unlike the other characters are aware of the fact that Romeo is a Montague. The use of this technique to is to put the audience above the other characters and forces them to anticipate the moment when the other characters will find out the truth. It was by fate that the serving man chose Romeo and Benvolio out of all people to assist him in reading an invite to the Capulet’s party. From the beginning play, Romeo is shown to have a special relationship with fate, which is illustrated by the several visions he as of his unfortunate death.

Read More
1057 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Theme Of Coincidence In Romeo And Juliet

Related Topics

Open Document