Fate has played a tremendous role in Shakespeare’s most famous play, Romeo and Juliet. If it was not for fate and destiny, characters would not be pulled into such an animated state which engages and thrills the audience as it is exactly what destined the two young lovers to meet, love and ultimately meet their demise. Fate manifests itself throughout the play by acting in all the surrounding events of the two lovers: the ancient and incomprehensible feud between their families, the catastrophic number of mishaps, and the tragic timing of Romeo’s death. The poet skilfully employs the use of structural devices, dialogue and foreshadowing to foretell the fate of the two star-crossed lovers. The structure of the play is laid out according …show more content…
The omens can be used to reference to the stars and how the two lovers are “star-crossed” constantly reminding the audience of their fate. These omens are so evident that even the characters are aware of them. In Act 1, Scene 4 (line 107-114) Romeo envisions his death is quickly approaching and will happen upon this night: “some consequences yet hanging in the stars.” Shakespeare also uses diction to remind the audience that Romeo’s future is out of his control as his fate is “hanging in the stars.” The word “hanging” implies that Romeo’s destiny has already been set and it is out of Romeo’s reach to change, whilst “the stars” remind the audience of the “star-crossed lovers” in the prologue. Furthermore, in the Elizabethan times, people’s fate were controlled by “the stars” as they believed in astrology and its ability to control one’s fate. Romeo’s premonition is also keeping with what the Chorus tells the audience in the Prologue further solidifying fates decided role in the …show more content…
In Act 3, Scene 5 (Line 59-64) Juliet appears to be talking to fate and fortune itself: “O fortune, fortune! All men call thee fickle.” This could have deeper implications that Shakespeare is referencing to the Roman goddess of fortune “Dame Fortuna.” Dame Fortuna is often portrayed as “fickle” (unpredictable) goddess since she can cause men to rise to great heights or to cast them down in an instance. Therefore, Juliet begs “fortune” to spare Romeo since he is so full of “faith” that “fickle” fortune should want nothing to do with him. Since the goddess plays the role of fate and fortune it plays along with the statements of the Chorus in the Prologue once again reminding the audience that Romeo and Juliet’s path is set and there is nothing they can do to change it despite their free will, that fate is determined from the beginning and it is unchangeable or easily influenced as the Chorus said that the two children are “star-crossed lovers” in the prologue. This also causes the audience to question their free will as they are put in the passenger’s seat forced to watch all the events unfold despite their prior knowledge, allowing the audience to experience fate first
In Romeo and Juliet', fate plays an extremely powerful role throughout the story. Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed lovers," as the prologue at the start of the play indicated, they had fate against them. In that time, people were very wary of what the stars said. If two people's stars were
The theme of fate and fortune in Romeo and Juliet is shown by the line ‘A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life’. The word, ‘star-cross’d’ portray that the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, will meet because the stars are aligned for them. This shows that fate is a concept in Shakespeare's play. Fortune was a big part of the Elizabethan world and was believed to be the main controlling force in life. From zodiac signs to the wheel of Fortune, Elizabethan’s believed in fate and the
Fate is a hidden, but unavoidable force that leads to certain consequences in people’s lives. The theme of fate plays a crucial role in the main characters of the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet share a destiny that dooms them to tragic deaths immediately after the exchange of their zealous love. Despite their resolute attempts to challenge their destiny, the lovers still succumb to the inexorable powers of fate. In the Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, the principle of fate propels the lovers together with infatuation, tears them apart through a bitter demise, yet, ensures peace in Verona for many future generations.
In the book Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, fate plays a large role in moving the plot along. It does this by bringing people together. Fate also plays a role in a couple people’s deaths, including the main characters, Romeo and Juliet.
In the play, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, is about two “star crossed” lovers who are destined to end in a tragic accident. Fate is the path that leads to the future and cannot be altered no matter the outcome. Set in Shakespearean time, fate was believed to be in control of people’s lives. The fact that Romeo and Juliet would never live a peaceful life, none of the tragedies would have not taken place if they had not met. In the prologue of the play, Shakespeare outlines that “two star’d crossed lovers take their life”. This foreshadowing creates the sense that fate shall claim superiority. The powerful nature of Romeo
Fate was foreshadowed to be an antagonist in the play Romeo and Juliet; even before the play started; it was foreshadowed in the prologue that the “star-crossed lovers” were “death-marked”. Fate impedes the union of a happy marriage between Romeo and Juliet by throwing many barricades in their way. One such barrier is their lineage; because Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, they are enemies by blood. Nevertheless, they
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 the play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, William Shakespeare explores the idea of fate, through the characters experiences. The play was taken place during the Elizabethan Era where the social norms were completely different to those today and the idea of fate was well and truly believed by the society. Shakespeare incorporates this concept of fate in different ways, he makes references to celestial bodies, employs premonitions and orchestrates events where Romeo and Juliet have no prior knowledge off. He introduces the two young lovers as ‘star-crossed’, which means their relationship is destined to end in tragedy and this is supported by events that occur in the play. Specific events
Fate is something that Romeo and Juliet can not escape in the play no matter how hard they try.When talking about Fate in the story the stars are referenced by the characters to explain coincidences that may happen to them . Shakespeare makes the fate of the star-cross’d lovers story clear from the very beginning by stating in the prologue of Act I “The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love”. (DBQ:Project, 2013) When both characters discover the others death, even if it is at different times they both decide to blame Fate. Romeo references the stars once again because he did not want to believe that a higher power/Fate would take Juliet away from him. Juliet looks to Friar Lawrence to know Romeo is dead and he tells Juliet “A greater power than we can contradict”. (DBQ:Project, 2013) He led Juliet to believe that Fate was also to blame for her husband Romeo’s death. Fate was not one of the characters that caused as much harm as the other two, but was the most blameable character for others in the play.
Fate has always been of interest to society, and even today, people continue to question whether someone’s life is destined for a certain fate, or if it is shaped by their own free-will. Such thoughts come into play throughout various acts and scenes of Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s play often strongly suggests that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is built upon fate and free-will. There are many critics who argue fate is what makes up this play in its entirety due to the various fate related ideas evoked throughout it. Although fate does indeed play some roles in the shaping of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, overall, it is free-will that plays a much greater role throughout their tragedy and is ultimately at work in this play.
Fate is defined as, ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power’. In the time in which ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written, many people were strong believers of fate and it was a common belief in society. William Shakespeare was a famous poet who is recognised for his powerful writing and contribution to the English language. One of William Shakespeare’s highly recognised plays is ‘Romeo and Juliet’ written in the late 1500’s. It is a play about two star-crossed lovers alongside fate who by their death end the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Friar Laurence is not to blame for the tragic events which occurs in the play due to the fact that other
Although the play “Romeo and Juliet” is lauded as one which excellently portrays unconquerable love, the most prominent theme of the play is not that of unconquerable love but rather of the death and tragedy that stems out from Romeo and Juliet disobeying fate for their own desires. This theme of relationship between fate and free will is present throughout the play and even emphasized through the use of literary elements. One such example of this theme being emphasized through the use of literary elements is the prologue. The prologue of the play employs the literary elements of alliteration, rhyme and foreshadowing to convey the theme of the relationship between fate and freewill, claiming that attempting to defy fate will leads to misfortune.
There are numerous warnings of fate in the play; all are ignored. Before the Capulet party, Romeo senses fate presence and he will be bound to it after that night. He feels there is “some consequence yet hanging in the stars” but ignores the signs and goes anyway. Luhrmann heightens the significance of this line by fading out non-diegetic sound and having Romeo look at the starts, which as supposedly commanding his destiny. Fate is also personified as cruelly taunting the characters, Later Juliet knows things are moving too fast, but doesn’t have the power to control her own emotions. “I have no joy of the contract tonight, it is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden” Another warning sign has been ignored.
In the very first act of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare clearly states that the play is controlled by fate. In the prologue, it states that "a pair of star-cross 'd lovers take their life" (I. Prologue. 5-6). Shakespeare refers to them as star-crossed lovers because they are doomed due to the position of the planets when they were born. In other words, he is saying that these two lovers will die because of fate and will have no way of preventing it. Later in that act, shortly after meeting Juliet, Romeo says,
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.