Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

Romeo is telling Mercutio that he has a dream. The dream is that if Romeo goes to the Capulet party he will die. Yet, he decides to go to the party anyway. The above quote is important to the theme of fate and choice, because most plays about fate and choice usually show the main character trying to change their fate but having their fate come true anyway. Romeo, however, chooses to go to the party despite of his ominous dream. The quote shows what happens to Romeo happens because he chooses to go to the party.

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

The first bad decision Romeo makes is choosing to go to the Capulet party, and the fact that he’s a Montague does not deter him and his friends from going. At first it seems as though Benvolio is forcing Romeo

Whenever a problem occurs, there is always someone to take the blame, whether it be a war between two countries or an argument between siblings. In the play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, it is no different. This story shows tragedy after tragedy and focuses on the tragic events that led the lovers to their deaths. However, there is much controversy surrounding who is to blame for the tragedies that took place. Some say that their families caused the deaths, while others say their counselor and mentor, Friar lawrence, is to blame since he married the two despite the potential consequences. Based on the facts, Romeo is to blame for all the tragedies that took place. Romeo acted infatuatedly, vengefully, and impulsively throughout this play, causing him to produce many tragedies along the way.

The concept of fate has touched many lives throughout the centuries, and over time it, along with its counterpart free will, has [been?] transcended into the form of literature. Its influence is evident in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, particularly in how Pip, and his object of affection, Estella, are repeatedly subjected to preordained events. Furthermore, free will, or the ability to determine our own destiny, also holds sway over the characters in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, specifically Romeo and Juliet themselves. Free will has a greater influence on the characters in Romeo and Juliet than fate, while in Great Expectations, it proves to be the opposite, with fate having more heavily impacted Pip, and his associates.

As the story of Romeo and Juliet further progresses, Romeo’s true character becomes more and more apparent; he seems to act solely by impulse. Romeo acts moreso with his emotions, and sudden thoughts than his brain which stores reason and logic. This causes for tragedy and unfortunate circumstance by the end of the poem. This shows how impulsive he is in most of his decisions and how he tends to be very dramatic in everything that he does. When Romeo discovers that Juliet is dead, he almost immediately dramatically decides to drink poison, to kill himself. “Here’s to love, O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick - thus with a kiss I die.” Which shows how quickly he makes wrash and dramatic decisions without thinking it through. If Romeo had not been so careless and impulsive in his decision, Juliet would have awoken and they would both still be alive.

To start off, Romeo should not have even gone to the Capulet party in the first place, even if it was to spy on Rosaline. As soon as he saw Juliet, he completely forgot about Rosaline. This proves he knows as much about love as Juliet does. After the party he could have just left, but no. He decides to go spy on Juliet like a creep, then climbs her balcony so they can talk and kiss more. The next day he goes to Friar Lawrence and tells him that he is over Rosaline and now he is in love with Juliet. Romeo asks if he will help them. “ In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; ” said by Friar Lawrence ( DBQ : Project , 2013). Romeo then goes and duals Tybalt, and he dies. Romeo is then banished. When this happened, Romeo had already got married to Juliet. Later on, when Romeo finds Juliet, he thinks that she is dead. He could have just waited another minute and she would have woken up, but he went and killed himself. He was so quick he did not even think. After he did this, Juliet woke up and say he was dead so she killed herself because of Romeo’s death.

His ignorance can be seen when he proceeds to depart to the masquerade party. He fears his doom and expresses it when he says, “By some vile forfeit of untimely death”(1.4.112). The young lover fears of his death by proceeding to appear at the Capulet's masquerade party. However, even though young Romeo can feel the forces of destiny, he still attends the party. His attendance leads to the two lovers meeting, and other events lead to the demise of the two. Another warning sign ignored by Romeo is the dream he has the night before his servant, Balthasar comes to inform Romeo of Juliet’s so called death. Romeo expresses this after waking from his slumber, “I dreamt my lady came and found me dead—strange dream that gives a dead man leave to think”(5.1.6-7). His ignorance of a simple warning leads to the tale in the dream to come true. Once he finds out Juliet is ‘dead’, he kills himself, only for her to wake up and find her love dead on the floor. This leads to Juliet slaying herself using a dagger. The downfall to Romeo and Juliet’s love was assisted by the young man’s ignorance of important warning signs and leads to the ultimate demise of the two

Romeo is saying that, his gut instinct is telling him to not go to the party. He feels that a consequence is hanging in his future if he does attend, yet he makes the mistake that causes his own death and Juliet’s by taking the risk of what could happen tonight and deciding to attend the Capulets party. If he had trust his instincts, he would not be dead right now, because he would have never met Juliet and fallen in love with her. By him meeting and falling in love with Juliet at the Capulets party, it caused his death and hers.

Romeo is saying he has a premonition that he will be controlled by fate and eventually lead to a

As humans, we´re gifted with free will to use our thoughts, words, and actions in order to create the life we desire. Free will can be greatly seen in timeless plays such as The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, and Pyramus and Thisbe, by Ovid. Both plays share similar plots, lovers who individually guide themselves to death with impulsive immaturity, and demonstrate how ignorance affects more than just their own lives. Though their misfortunes could be linked to fate, I believe that fate is just an idea and sometimes even an excuse created to explain choices and occurrences. To start off, the actions some characters in the play chose to make greatly impacted and encouraged Romeo and Juliets’ and Pyramus and

Do things happen for a reason or do the actions we make influence what happens to us? People choose to blame things that happen to them on something called fate. Google says that fate is the belief of something destined to happen to us. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the characters believe hat what happens to them is not their fault but that fate had created it for them. Although was what happened to them, fate or could it have been prevented if it was not for their bad decisions.

William Shakespeare achieves this through the numerous references made to Celestial Bodies, which asserts to the Elizabethan notion of one’s fate and fortune being predetermined; dictated by greater forces. This is demonstrated through Romeo’s premonition prior to the Capulet’s Ball, when he states, “I fear too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars Shall bitterly begin his fearful date” Within this passage, Romeo prophesises the onset of danger and misfortune. Romeo then continues, “With this night’s revels, and expire the term Of a despisèd life closed in my breast By some vile forfeit of untimely death. course, Direct my sail.” Remarking that the night’s festivities will culminate with his untimely death. Romeo then makes a direct reference to the existence of fate as he states, he whom steers my life’s course may direct him where desired, demonstrating the predetermination that is his life. Lastly this is shown as Romeo learns of Juliet’s supposed death and cries “Is it e’en so? Then I defy you, stars!” where he resents the fortune the stars have provided for him and therefore establishing the importance of

Whose Fault Was It? J.E.B. Spredemann once said, “Choices made, whether bad or good, follow you forever and affect everyone in their path one way or another.” Many decisions made by a person can affect their fate. In William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, the two star-crossed lovers ended up committing suicide due to remorseful decisions. The final tragedy of Romeo and Juliet was the fault of Romeo and Juliet because of their knowledge of the family feud, they acted before they thought, and they were the ones that ultimately made the decision to kill themselves.

Fate is considered to be the development of events that cannot be controlled. Yet fate is regarded to be determined by a supernatural power. In the love story “Romeo and Juliet”, written by Shakespeare, the two lovers’ fate is held in their own hands. Throughout the play, they imply death but death does not effect Romeo or Juliet at the time.