Fate is responsible for the deaths of the lovers. Discuss
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
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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.
Secondly, the ‘ancient grudge’ between the two household is an aspect of fate that can be deemed responsible for the lovers’ deaths. Shakespeare describes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets as ancient, meaning it has been going on for a very long time. Consequently, there were ongoing brawls occurring in the streets of Verona and as a result of this feud many characters are driven to extreme behaviours, including Tybalt and Mercutio. If this ancient grudge had not existed then there would be no reason for them to have a duel, however, as it did exist they had no other choice. Tybalt is furious that Romeo, a Montague, had come into the Capulet household and wanted to take action. He decided to duel with Romeo but as he didn’t want to Mercutio accepted the offer. This specific duel between Tybalt and Mercutio was the undoing of the lovers’ lives. After Tybalt had killed Mercutio, Romeo felt pity and sought revenge and ended up killing Tybalt
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:
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.
Fate was the fundamental factor that led to the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. It is present throughout the entire play, setting the scene for the tragic events to take place. Two scenarios which show that fate played an imperative role in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths are when Romeo read the ball invite which was addressed to someone else and when Friar John had to stop while delivering Friar Lawrence’s message resulting in Balthasar reaching Romeo first. The first scenario is seen in the text where a servant of the Capulet family
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.
Romeo and Juliet who were “star cross’d lovers “, meaning that the two were chosen by fate to be together. Even though they were chosen by the stars, Shakespeare says that they were “death mark’d”, implying that the only way to preserve their love was in the afterlife. Many tragedies that occurred were intended to happen, for instance, when Tybalt was killed by Romeo. Shakespeare creates the character Tybalt to refer to him as “Fortunes fool”, thus meaning he is merely just a puppet being toyed by fate. But before anyone was massacred, fate already had arranged Romeo and Juliet’s marriage to go downhill when Lord Capulet decided for Juliet to marry Paris.
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.
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
The prologue shows, Romeo and Juliet both are like stars. They have their own life and their own choices but something along the way made them cross paths thus beginning the count down to their death. The Capulet Party was the first place their stars crossed. This is important because, Fate had planned for both of their stars to meet here. Making Romeo forget about Rosaline and Juliet to forget about Paris. If it were not for fate, the star-crossed lovers would have never met which would mean Juliet would probably be married to Paris and Romeo would most likely not be able to forget Rosaline. Another Example to represent fate errors brought upon would be when ,
Due to Tybalt's brash and aggressive nature, it would only be natural for his character to seek revenge for the embarrassment Romeo indirectly laid upon him. However, what Shakespeare fails to do in this regard is give concrete motivation for why Tybalt hates the Montagues. Without that information, Tybalt stays completely one-dimensional and has no depth whatsoever. The same can be said for Mercutio, albeit to a lesser extent. Though he may have an eccentric and intriguing personality, his background and past remain a mystery - particularly his relations to Romeo, besides being his best friend. Though it is a somewhat dark moment when Mercutio dies, it gives us nothing to really feel the pain that Romeo has, and therefore his actions to kill Tybalt to the viewer is just seen as a crude plot device to stir more drama. The only kind of emotional attachment we feel for both of their deaths are barely substantial and amount to little. Their deaths, along with Friar Lawrence's plan to marry Romeo and Juliet to make peace, and even Romeo and Juliet meeting in the first place is directly linked to the feud, if not caused by it, and the hatred between the two families just shows how stubborn and selfish humanity can be. Though the feud may have had a role to play when setting the story, you cannot blame the feud alone for the events that took place, since that was entirely independent
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.
It is because of fate that they meet because Romeo says it himself. The final deaths of the lovers is the "consequence" that he is talking about and the bitterness that starts the pathway to their ultimate tragedy is their first encounter, since they are supposed to be opposing enemies. It is also evident that Romeo cannot make intelligent decisions for himself when he says: ?Tut, I have lost myself. I am not here. / This is not Romeo. He?s somewhere else.?(Romeo and Juliet I i, 205-206). Romeo says he is not himself and that his mind is off somewhere else. As fate would have it, Romeo rushes head on into situations that were out of his control .For these reasons, Romeo and Juliet's first meeting was sure to happen, fate being the most powerful force at work, determining their future.
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.
William Shakespeare’s playwright Romeo and Juliet reveals the tale of ‘star-crossed lovers’ believed to be wistfully riven from the compelling force of fate. Perhaps Shakespeare used fate as an intention to persuade the audience the concept was the reasoning to their “death-marked love”. However, like the two young lovers, multiple characters portrayed innumerable rash and care-free decisions that played part to result in the young lovers impending doom.