Fate And Free Will : William 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.

In William Shakespeare's tragic play Romeo and Juliet, there are four quotes about fate and choice. The characters in the play choose their own fate, it happens because of their choices or actions. First, in the beginning of the play Romeo and Juliet are referred to as 'a pair of star-crossed lovers' (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue). Second, Romeo explains to Mercutio how he has a dream that if he goes to the Montague party he will die, but Romeo chooses to go to the party anyway. Third, Romeo kills Tybalt right after his marriage to Juliet. Fourth, Romeo decides to commit suicide because he hears of Juliet's death.

     Fate, for better or worse, interrupts everyone’s daily life, whether he/she chooses to acknowledge it or not. Thinking about fate conjures up different feelings for different people; some people believe strongly in it, some people think of fate as ridiculous, and some do not care one way or the other. However, in many instances, such as in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, far too many coincidences occur to be strictly coincidental. Fate creates a powerful effect throughout the entire play, starting in the prologue, continuing as Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love, and tragically ending in the lovers’ deaths.

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.

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 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.

The fact that Free Will didn’t take control of the story; it left Fate to be the murder of the lovers. Fate first kicked in when their eyes met at the Capulet party. When Romeo and Juliet spoke, their words had powerful contentment; they had such a strong feeling for one another that they could lay in each other’s arms forever. Their happiness didn’t last long; there were many reasons for this, for example; the marriage Lord Capulet arranged between Paris and Juliet. I believe that the plot of the play thus far leads the audience to believe that the deaths were a result of fate. The last act will determine once and for all if it is Fate or Free Will. Romeo again challenges Fate by

     One reason why fate plays a big role is that the play begins by hinting that Romeo and Juliet will be affected by fate. The chorus begins the play by giving the general idea of the story. He explains to the audience that Romeo and Juliet are doomed from the start. “From the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” (Prologue, 5-6). The chorus says that

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

Free will has a greater influence on characters in Romeo and Juliet as indicated by the many instances in which Romeo and Juliet decided that they wished to end their own lives. One such instance was when Romeo speaks to Friar Lawrence after having killed Tybalt. He states,“...--O, tell me, friar, tell me,/ In what vile part of this anatomy/ Doth my name lodge? Tell me, that I may sack/ The hateful mansion.” (Shakespeare III.iii.114-117) As this quote helps to illustrate, the power of free will can be quite harmful if used with malintent. If Romeo had been left to his own devices he would have chosen to stab himself. His decision to “sack/ The hateful mansion.” (Shakespeare III.iii.116-117) would have been of his own choosing, but it

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.

The deaths of Romeo and Juliet were freewill because of the choices they decided to make along the way.There was many times throughout the story where Romeo and Juliet could have prevented their deaths. For instance, Romeo could have handled Tybalt better, Juliet followed the priest plan, and finally it was Romeos free will to kill himself.

The concept of fate versus free-will in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet raises the question of whether or not the two “star-crossed lovers” truly had any chance of being with each other. Although Romeo and Juliet devise many ways to be together, they had no hand in their fate. Romeo being banished by the Prince and fighting for his life against Juliet's cousins are examples of how destiny controlled their eventual unpleasant meeting. Through literary elements such as irony, foreshadowing, and interference from other characters along with the major role of medicinal factors, such as the herbs Friar Laurence gives Juliet, the plague that stops the message of the Friar’s plan from reaching Romeo, and the references

Many people don 't believe that fate even exists. These people feel that one controls his or her own future. But in the case of the play, Romeo and Juliet written by Willian Shakespeare, this is not true. Romeo and Juliet is a story about two "star-crossed lovers" who ultimately die due to their fate. Since the moment they first time they met, things began in motion. These two lovers could not have done anything to change their course of fate, thus, why the story of Romeo and Juliet is a story controlled by fate, rather than a tragedy.

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.