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Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet Research Paper 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 …show more content…

Not only are the Friar's actions ironic (giving Juliet a potion that imitates death for her to live, only to have her die in the end) and foreshadow events to come, but he also makes a reference to fate as he goes to fetch Juliet from the tomb; he says, “[Juliet], come from that nest / Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep: / A greater power than we can contradict / Hath thwarted our intents.” (Shakespeare V.iii.151-4) The Friar blames this tragedy on fate when he says “a greater power...hath thwarted our intents.” This meeting was obviously doomed from the start because of fate, and the irony and foreshadowing make it very clear. Critic Ruth Nevo claims that,“The powerful irony of [Romeo’s] death scene is that as he swallows his fatal potion he is in fact nearer the fulfillment of his heart’s desire than at any other moment in the course of the drama.” (Nevo 249). As Nevo states that Romeo “is in fact nearer the fulfillment of his heart’s desire than at any other moment in the course of the drama” it is basically suggested that Romeo would never had had the chance to be with Juliet. They have formed a literal asymptote with the line that is happiness together, separated only by fate. Also, the irony of Romeo's death scene, which is mentioned above, strengthens the claim that they would have …show more content…

Critic Martha Tuck Rozett points out the irony present in the play by comparing it to another of Shakespeare’s works, Antony and Cleopatra; Rozett explains how both of the tragedies, although both bear a similar ending, the moods of the plays are completely different. Rozett states that “while in Romeo and Juliet the speeches are filled with the language of sorrow and punishment, sacrifice and woe, and an emphasis on the survivors’ ability to learn from their dying mistakes, in Antony and Cleopatra...the stage littered with bodies is thus not the tragic spectacle one would expect it to be, for it serves as a reminder that all the deaths in the play are voluntary and self-imposed acts which assert the individual’s power over his or her own fate.” (Rozett 163) By stating that the ending of the plays Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet have different connotations, Rozett essentially proposes that fate dictates Romeo and Juliet. Rozett also somewhat refers to the foreshadowing that occurs in the play when “the survivors’ ability to learn from their dying mistakes” is mentioned. In the play, one of the first lines is “do with their death bury their parents' strife”; this foreshadows the claim Rozette makes because it is ironic how their deaths do, in actuality, bury their parents’ strife. (Shakespeare I.Prologue.8) Critic Tanya Pollard also references the irony present

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