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 …show more content…
Juliet is also sent a vision by fate, causing her to drink Friar Laurence’s potion during a moment of doubt. Juliet is almost about to talk herself out of swallowing the potion when she says, “O, look! Methinks I see my cousin’s ghost, seeking out Romeo…stay, Tybalt, stay! Romeo, I come! This do I drink to thee,” (Iv. iii. 55-58) and takes the drink. Fate’s plan could have been ruined if Juliet did not take the poison, so a vision is sent to her, insuring that the plan stays on track. Farther along in the play, Fate sends yet another dream to Romeo. However, this dream is of good tidings. The dream shows a dead Romeo, but then Juliet, “breathed such life with kisses in my lips that I revived and was an emperor.” (V. i. 8-9) Fate sends this dream to leave Romeo in an upbeat mood, before he is told the news of Juliet’s death. This causes Romeo to be put through an emotional roller coaster. At one moment he is extremely happy, loving being in love, and then the next he is distraught, desperate, and ready to commit suicide. The series of good news and then bad news puts Romeo in a befuddled state of mind in which he is not thinking clearly. Otherwise, Romeo would almost certainly check in with Friar Laurence prior to committing suicide. Fate masterfully manipulated these events and sent the dreams and visions at all the appropriate times to cause the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Time, along with events, is manipulated by fate to instigate the lovers’ deaths. It is too much
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
Seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth; So that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd.’What makes a story so compelling?(5.3.10-12) In Shakespeare's tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet, the author makes fated occurrences to introduce the next event. In the story, many are fated occurrences that is not impacted by the decision of the characters but, happens naturally. Further, exploring these events will tells us how fate changes outcome.
Fate has its strange ways of determining what happens to individuals. Whether you believe in fate or not, there are some instances that suggest something greater is dictating outcomes in people’s lives. In the book, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there are two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who live in Verona and come from rival families; Romeo from the Montague family and Juliet from the Capulet family. The two meet each other at a Capulet party, and both fall madly in love with each other. Later that night, Romeo goes to Juliet’s balcony and the two exult in their unyielding love.
In William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers from feuding families fall in a foolish love. Many problems arise and the “star-crossed lovers” take their own lives in place for their love for one another. The two people most responsible for this tragedy are Friar Lawrence and Capulet. Fate plays a large role in the death of Romeo and Juliet seeing as if situations played out differently the play would have a different outcome.
In the end fate wins. Fate and it's horrible ways won and ended in the killing of two innocent lovers who were just teenagers after. Then again, had it not been for the death of the two lovers maybe the feud between two families would've never ended. In conclusion, fate will always get its way no matter the
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.
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.
Some believe that fate controls your life and what happens in it, others think that your decisions affect the outcome of your life. In the Shakespearian play “Romeo and Juliet”, two star crossed lovers from feuding families fall in love. Due to the actions they both take to pursue their love, they both end up dead along with other people. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet were not caused by fate but their own poor decisions.
Fate is the main reason why Romeo and Juliet ended up as a tragedy and not with a happy ending. In the modern world, most people choose to believe that they have a sense of responsibility and can control their own lives but, during the Elizabethan era some people had believed in fate and led their lives the way the stars told their future. Before the play in the prologue you were told what would happen very briefly. “ From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of ‘star-crossed’ lovers take their lives.” Meaning that Romeo and Juliet met because of fate & the stars aligned them to be together, it also states that both Romeo and Juliet are destined by the start to disaster. When Mercutio shouts “a plague on both your houses!” in Act 3, Scene 1, we are reminded of the protagonist’s fate. This bloody scene in which characters are killed gives us a glimpse of what fate has in store, marking the beginning of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic downfall. Even Romeo and Friar Lawrence blame fate when romeo says “ I defy you stars!” And Friar Lawrence says “ Unhappy
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.
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, 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.
Many people blame fate for the death of Romeo and Juliet. One reason being that Romeo and Juliet’s meeting at the party was determined by fate. However, Romeo went to the party because of love, and he wanted to see if he could find some else better than Rosaline. He saw Juliet and found a new love. Therefore, love is a stronger competitor than fate for their meeting. Moreover, another argument is that the prologue calls Romeo and Juliet “star-crossed lovers”, also known as lovers who are doomed because of outside forces (such as fate). While Romeo and Juliet may have had tough circumstances regarding their relationship, their doom was their own decision. They killed themselves in the name of love, not because of chance or
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
Fates role in death is another factor that plays a part in moving the plot along. Romeo and Juliet’s deaths made a huge contribution to moving the plot along and also bringing an end to the book. When Balthazar mistakenly tells Romeo that Juliet is dead, Romeo ends up committing suicide by poison, only to have Juliet wake up from her artificial slumber moments later to see Romeo dead. Fate played a part in Romeo’s suicde because Balthazar came at just the right (or wrong) time to run into Romeo, thus telling him that Juliet was really dead. That led to Romeo buying poison and killing himself. Fate also played a part in Juliet’s death, because she just happened to wake up only a few moments after Romeo committed suicide at her bedside, making her also kill herself. This was probably the most important plot movement in the entire book because their deaths ended the book, while at the same time killing off both of