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Theme Of Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

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In Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare in 1595, has a common theme of Free Will vs. Fate throughout the play. We see it in Act I, III, and IV of the play. It doesn’t just happen between the two main characters of Romeo and Juliet; but also Paris, the man intended to marry Juliet, Lord and Lady Capulet, and Friar Lawrence. The first clear portrayal of this theme is in Act I Scene II, when Lord Capulet is talking to Paris of marrying Juliet. This is the first time we hear of Juliet losing her free will. “Let two more summers wither in their pride/Ere we may think she to be ripe for a bride. (I.II, 10-11)” Here Juliet’s father is telling Paris that he wishes to wait to marry her off to him, because she is too young. In return Paris responds by saying, “Younger than she are happy mothers made. (I.II, 12)” Paris is telling Lord Capulet that younger girls often marry and become happy mothers. He wishes to marry Juliet sooner rather than later. The second clear appearance of this theme is in Act III Scene IV, …show more content…

Juliet has just found out that Romeo has been banished and her Nurse told her that is would be best for her to just marry Paris. Juliet seeks condolence with Friar Lawrence, but while doing this she states she is just better off dead. “Be not so long to speak. I long to die/If what thou speak’st speak not of remedy. (IV.I, 67-68)” Juliet is telling Friar Lawrence that if he takes too long to speak that the only solution for her dilemma is death. Here Juliet is exercising her free will to kill herself, instead of marrying Paris which is her fate. So the Friar devises a plan to reunite her with Romeo and gives her a vial of liquid to make it seem as if she is dead. Juliet rejoices by telling the Friar, “Love give me strength, and strength shall help afford. /Farewell, dear Father. (IV.I 126-127)” Juliet is asking for strength to get through this moment in her

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Lord Capulet’s own free will forced Romeo and Juliet to pursue actions, such as marriage, that inevitably resulted in their deaths, which is demonstrated through Shakespeare’s use of foreshadowing. In Verona, there are expectations for young girls that they marry a fine man and labor babies, especially in high-class families such as Montague and Capulet. In the Capulet family, Lord Capulet has prepared a bridegroom, Paris, for his fourteen year old daughter, Juliet. Although, Juliet refuses to marry Paris because she is secretly already married to Romeo, but her father does not know that. As a result of Juliet expressing that she does not want to marry Paris, Lord Capulet angrily replies to her disobedience, “But fettle your fine joints’ gainst

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When Romeo is banished from Verona to Mantua due to his actions, Juliet is heartbroken. But her heart aches even further when she learns that she will be married to Paris. Wanting to escape the marriage and run away with Romeo, Friar Lawrence devises a plan. In this plan, Romeo will take Juliet away after she drinks a potion that will make her fall into a deep slumber for 42 hours, feigning death. Juliet takes the potion and falls asleep, and Paris, who could have married her, visits her tomb in morning.

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“I will not do such with a filthy man like you Paris, you are nothing like the man I love,” Juliet stated. The Capulets arrived filled with joy seeing their daughter alive after they had just said goodbye for the final time. “Daughter let’s return home and everything will be better and you will. Never have to worry again. You and Paris married and happily be together and we can pick up just where we left off.”

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Now that Juliet is (unwillingly) being wed to Paris, the Friar sees a solution in a vial of poison that will make Juliet seem as though she’s dead. His warning speech goes: “Take thou this vial, being then in bed / And this distilled liquor drink thou off / When presently through all thy veins shall run / A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse / Shall keep his native progress, but surcease” (Act 4, Scene 1). Essentially, the Friar is warning Juliet of what how the poison will affect her. He instructs her to lay in bed as if asleep, and drink the liquid.

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In desperate measures Juliet arrives to the Friar’s cell for comfort but instead, the Friar rids Juliet of her sorrows by providing her with a potion that will make her seem as though she is dead so she will not have to marry the prince Paris. When Romeo receives news from his servant about Juliet’s “death” he takes action immediately by stating, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight” (Shakespeare 213). Friar Lawrence’s decision on giving the vile to Juliet drove Romeo to want to kill himself just so he could lie with his wife in her grave. Once the potion wears off and Juliet awakens, she discovers Romeo’s dead body next to her so she also decides to commit suicide to join her husband.

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Are people in control of their destiny? Having no power over one’s destiny is an important theme in William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet. We are in told in the prologue that fate is going to drive the story. Romeo and Juliet are not in control of their lives. It is predetermined destiny, not free choice that manipulates the lives of these two lovers.

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Verona, a city in which a pair of “star-crossed lovers” and all of its citizens overall, blame the “greater power,” fate, to veil their own actions. Fate and free will, both play a major part in Romeo and Juliet. However, only one of the two is actually true. On one side, fate supposedly controls the character’s destiny. But they are completely unaware that it is actually their free will and their own actions in which they are in control of.

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Lord Capulet: That night was a troublesome night for me. My emotions were a mess and I reacted poorly. But Juliet’s dismissal was improper for her age. As my wife said “Well, think of marriage now. Younger than you Here in Verona, ladies of esteem Are made already mothers.

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Romeo and Juliet Fate Essay What is fate and why does Shakespeare use fate? Fate is the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. William Shakespeare uses fate to drive the plot of the story where this event drives to another. How does fate drive the story of Romeo and Juliet? First, Did fate cause two enemies to fall in love, did fate cause Friar Lawrence to go against better judgement and secretly marry Romeo and Juliet, did Romeo has a dream that if he goes to the Capulet’s party something bad will happen, then Juliet proclaims that she has an “ill-divining soul!”

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/ If, in thy wisdom thou canst give no help, / Do but call my resolution wise, / And with this knife I 'll help it presently" (4.1.51-54). To appease Juliet, Friar Laurence gave her a potion to consume that would enable her to feign death, thereby averting marriage to Paris.

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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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Seeking to flee her father’s demands about marrying Paris, Juliet ran to Friar Lawrence in pursuit of a plan, or else threatening to take her own life. Once Friar Lawrence finally gave in to Juliet’s pleas, he comforted her by saying, “Let not the Nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. / Take thou this vial, being then in bed, / And this distilling liquor drink thou off” (4.1.92-94). This proposition made the entire Capulet family believe that Juliet was dead, but unfortunately it was not passed on to Romeo in the right means, which made him believe that Juliet was truly dead.

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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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