Fate In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Decisions and choices- an act of or need for making up one's mind, and the right, power, or opportunity to choose. Fate- a four letter word, a noun defined as the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as being determined by a supernatural power. These are what many can believe as the most powerful forces that shape our future. The playwright, William Shakespeare, wrote a tragedy of two youngsters in love. This tale was filled with drama, mixed-emotions, laughs, heartbreaks, and affection. Written as a tragedy, the play had ended like other Shakespearean tragedies had ended; in death. The death was inevitable because of decisions and choices made fates were shaped and had played a part in the events that blossomed the love of two star-crossed lovers. As an illustration, picture two families at war with each other, a feud that everyone gets caught in the crossfire. For instance, when innocent citizens are tired of watching their supposed ‘peaceful’ streets get disturbed by the feud, and as the prologue states, “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” (Prologue.6) The feud was poison for the city of Verona and its citizens. Besides crummy choices were made, therefore a cursed destiny was created for two naive lovers.

One's character and actions leads to their downfall, an inevitable fate. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a story about teenagers who fall in love, despite that their families despise each other. In the end, the two lovers kill themselves for each other. Their lives seem to revolve around fate and that they were destined to meet each other, and die. Through the romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare shows fate is inevitable through foreshadowing and the actions of characters.

Fate causes Romeo to be at the right place at the right time. If he does not walk near the Capulet’s house or if the servant is able to read, Romeo does not attend the party, thus he does not meet Juliet. After Romeo attends the party, fate strikes again as he stumbles into the Capulet’s orchard while trying to escape his friends. Juliet, after meeting Romeo mere hours before, emerges onto her balcony and, unaware that Romeo can hear her, proclaims her love for Romeo:

On the contrary, fate also shreds Romeo and Juliet’s love with death and melancholy. The two have just been married, and they are at the apex of their love. Before they could even have a proper honeymoon, Tybalt comes with bad intentions. He feels that Romeo has insulted the Capulets by coming to their party. Tybalt ends up killing Mercutio, one of Romeo’s dearest friends, in a fit of rage. Romeo is thirsty for revenge and cannot sit back after his friend has just been killed so he hunts down Tybalt and murders him without thinking of the consequences. He instantly realizes the major flaw in what he has just done when he cries, “O I am fortune’s fool!” (125) Tybalt’s violent nature, which eventually causes his death, is simply a part of fate taking its course. Another instance where fate contributes to ending Romeo’s love with Juliet is when Romeo screams, “Then I deny you stars!” (213) He believes that Juliet is dead and wants to reject his fate by killing himself to be with her in death, but she is not dead. It is incredibly tragic for Juliet when she wakes up from her long sleep to

The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, published in 1597. It is a story about how, “A pair of star-cross’d lovers [Romeo and Juliet] take their lives…/The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love…” (Prologue of Romeo and Juliet, 6-9) as they are forbidden to be together due to a long lasting and ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families. Their deaths are the results of many characters’ actions and fate, and there is not one distinctive person that can be blam¬ed for the young lovers’ deaths. Friar Lawrence is not to blame for these deaths as fate played a major role in their demise, he warned Romeo of his impulsive and unwise decision making, and his intentions were to abolish the ongoing feud between the two families. Further examination will prove that Friar Lawrence is innocent and his intensions were far from the passing of the two lovers.

In William Shakespeare’s play, “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”, fate plays one of the largest roles in the plot. In order to understand how fate plays a role it is important to examine how the story begins, when Romeo meets Juliet, and when Romeo fights Tybalt after Tybalt kills Mercutio.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, we meet the characters and how their actions led to a tragedy. Romeo and Juliet met, end up falling in love, and – since both cannot dream of living without the other – take their lives. While the play ends in a tragic death for both characters, it was their own reckless decisions; though others might believe that it was destiny that played a large role in the lovers’ downfall. However, the majority of the text evidence points to them making their own choices leading to their demise.

If Capulet had sent a literate servant he would know that Romeo is a Montague and would not bother talking to him. Additionally, Romeo feels these premonitions just before he enters the party. He says “there is some consequence, yet hanging in the stars”, which means that he feels some bad is going to happen to him, an untimely death. Despite this he decides to go the party in which he meets Juliet. Overall, the destined events that occur prior to Romeo meeting Juliet are responsible for their tragic deaths.

Everyone wants to marry the love of their life. Seeking the approval of our family and friends, we all look ahead fondly at the idea of living a long and happy life with our soulmate. Unfortunately, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet this is not the way life played out.

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary”(Jim Rohn). For the most part to acquire what you want you will have to take a gamble which may or may not pay off. Taking a risk is doing something which you do not know what the outcome will be in order to achieve what you want. Consequences are the outcomes of our actions. Most people believe that both risks and consequence are bad things, but as bad as people might think they are they can be just as good as they can be bad. In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare develops the idea that the consequences of taking risks can often be very pleasing and worthy. In other words, risks are worth taking and the consequences can be very gratifying. Romeo yearn

To summarize the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet’s party, decides to marry her, and goes to Friar Laurence for help. Shortly after their marriage, Romeo gets in a fight and kills Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, resulting in Romeo’s exile. After Tybalt’s death, Juliet’s parents arrange her marriage with Count Paris. Juliet initially refuse but after going to the friar for help and creating a plan to fake her death, she agrees to get married. Her decision makes her father very happy and he changes the wedding date, ruining Juliet’s plan. To improvise, Juliet takes the poison a day earlier than she had planned. Taking the poison early eliminates the time needed to inform Romeo of the plan. This means that when Romeo hears of Juliet’s death, he believes she is actually dead and decides to kill himself at her tomb. Shortly after Romeo’s suicide, Juliet wakes up. The play ends with Juliet killing herself with a dagger after seeing Romeo’s corpse and the two families discovering their remains. Whether the outcome of Shakespeare’s play was a result of fate or free will is much debated but, imagine the ending of the play if Romeo, Juliet or Friar Laurence made a different decision and it is likely the result would not be a tragedy. This is why even though fate brought the protagonists together, the outcome of the play was a result of free will.

A timeless topic--fate and free will--still captivates society today. Fortune cookies, physics, and horoscopes all contribute to the obsession people have with this controversial debate over who manipulates life; fate or free will. No one is sure who really pulls the strings, but everyone has an opinion on the matter. Many famous plays center on this topic, and one such play that features characters’ views on fate and free will is Romeo and Juliet. This legendary play, written by William Shakespeare, has been beloved by people for centuries, as they contemplate who is the guiding force in life? The play discusses just this, while depicting the lives of Romeo and Juliet: two desperate teenagers each trapped in their own worlds, seeking love

Most of Shakespeare's plays are conceived around a foundation in either tragedy or comedy, this polarity of themes allowing him to experiment with the full range of human emotions. Typically, an integral part of a Shakespearean tragedy is love, which is frustrated by a breakdown in order, or the character of the hero, due to some human limitation. The play Romeo and Juliet has all these typical characteristics. However, the resultant conclusion of events for the characters in this tragedy is adversely affected by the hands of fate, and not solely the product of human limitations. Fate in fact has a decisive role in the events of the play; it is a series of rapid coincidental events, which lead to the final tragedy.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is an interwoven story of love and tragedy. Shakespearean tragedies all share a common element: the heroes are all fundamentally flawed, it is through their actions and weaknesses that lead to their eventual downfall. The inevitability of fate serves only a minor role in bringing about the hero’s downfall, but he ultimately chooses it for himself through his actions. Due to the couple’s profound love for each other, both made hasty decisions, contributing to their tragic ending. In Act 3, scene 5, Juliet’s thoughtlessness is demonstrated throughout this scene, evident in the plot, theme and characterisation in contributing the true tragedy of the play.

On, lusty gentlemen.” [Act 1.5. 107-113] Despite the warning of death, Romeo tells fate, which he believes to be controlling his life, to take over and “guide his sails.” Romeo and Juliet could have been spared had the Prologue, and Romeo’s first dream in the play, been seen as warnings.