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Examples Of Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

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In the play Romeo and Juliet, author William Shakespeare uses characters Romeo and Juliet to demonstrate to the reader the idea of fate versus free will and how societal pressures can impact the life choices of an individual. INTITALLY... Initially when the reader is first introduced to Romeo and Juliet, they are living their own separate lives, unbothered and separate. Being the only children of two warring families, it is almost impossible for them to ever meet. While not much is said within the text about their daily lives beforehand, it can be assumed that Juliet lives the life of a hugely sheltered young girl due to her family’s status and her parents’ protectiveness. She is the Capulet’s little angel, always obedient, always ready to …show more content…

They discuss her current age (thirteen) and how once her birthday arrives, she will then be of age to marry. Juliet seems to be opposed to this idea, but she tells her mom that she will consider it anyways (“I’ll look to like, if looking like moving, but no more deep will I endart mine eye” 1.4. 103-104) as her parents wish. This will turn out to be an important scene to look back on later as the reader explores deeper into the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. It paints a picture for the reader of just how young, childlike, and nave Juliet was at the beginning of their tragic story, as most will assume that she is grown. Contrastingly, when one first meets Romeo in the play, he is under the belief that he is in love with another woman, Rosaline. During the majority of Scenes 1-3 of Act 1 he is horribly miserable due to her choosing to live in chaste and refusing his advances towards her. He rants on and on about how Rosaline is the prettiest girl he has ever seen, how nobody else in the world could ever even come close to comparing. This is the most apparent in Act 1 Scene 3 90-108 when he dramatically announces to an exasperated Benvolio “One fairer than my

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