Jerod Kimbrell
Ms. Darras
Honors English 1, R
30 April 2012
Romeo and Juliet: Fate or Free Will? In Shakespearse’s classic play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the two star-crossed lovers created one of the most notorious tragedies known to man. Romeo and Juliet met as an act of a single force known as fate. Fate is the idea used to describe a circumstance when it is meant to happen; fate is the living body responsible for controlling everything, except the decisions you personally make. Act I indefinitely demonstrates Romeo and Juliet met as an act of fate. Fate was able to force its way into Romeo’s mind, in order to plant a seed, a seed in the form of a dream in which a girl who he met at the Capulet’s party would direct him to
…show more content…
Romeo did not just stumble upon Juliet, these repeating coincidences intertwining Romeo and Juliet’s destiny can only be acknowledged as an act of fate. Another sign Romeo and Juliet met as an act of fate is because as soon as fate brought the two together, it tested their love with challenges outside of either of their control to change or stop. One way fate tested Romeo and Juliet’s love was by making their relationship even more difficult than just having opposing families; Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, kills Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, and Romeo retaliates by killing Tybalt. Another way fate tested Romeo and Juliet’s love was by forcing Paris to be so eager to marry Juliet. The challenges and strong love Romeo and Juliet are presented with were never part of their plan and therefore must have been an act of fate. It seems as though fate goes extremely out of its way to insist on making the lover’s relationship even more difficult. As time progresses with Romeo’s banishment, Paris becomes more and more anxious to marry Juliet. In effort to get out of the arrangement, Juliet sought out the friar who schemes a plan to free Juliet from the upcoming union. “Hold, daughter. I do spy a kind of hope . . . If, rather than to marry Country Paris . . . And, if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.” (4. I. 821). The will of Paris and the friar devising this plan were not under Romeo, nor Juliet’s control, and therefore must be viewed as an act of fate. It seems as
One's character and actions leads to their downfall, an inevitable fate. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a story about teenagers who fall in love, despite that their families despise each other. In the end, the two lovers kill themselves for each other. Their lives seem to revolve around fate and that they were destined to meet each other, and die. Through the romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare shows fate is inevitable through foreshadowing and the actions of characters.
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:
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.
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
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 was foreshadowed to be an antagonist in the play Romeo and Juliet; even before the play started; it was foreshadowed in the prologue that the “star-crossed lovers” were “death-marked”. Fate impedes the union of a happy marriage between Romeo and Juliet by throwing many barricades in their way. One such barrier is their lineage; because Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, they are enemies by blood. Nevertheless, they
In William Shakespeare’s play, “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”, fate plays one of the largest roles in the plot. In order to understand how fate plays a role it is important to examine how the story begins, when Romeo meets Juliet, and when Romeo fights Tybalt after Tybalt kills Mercutio.
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
When telling the tragic, but beloved story of Romeo and Juliet from one of William Shakespeare’s many plays there are several characters in the story that could possibly be held responsible for the star-crossed lovers deaths. Three of those many characters should stand out more than others to blame for the beloved main characters deaths. These three characters are the Feud, Lady Capulet, and Fate. The Feud is one choice to blame because it it the cause of many other conflicts that take place in the story. While Lady Capulet does not cause as many conflicts as the Feud she does present one main problem to Juliet by pressuring her to get married to Paris as soon as possible. Lastly Fate is used many times in the play to explain why Romeo and
Romeo and Juliet is a story of a forbidden love, written by William Shakespeare. Some may say that it is a tragedy of fate. Fate is defined as forces outside of your control that makes things happen. An example of fate is when you miss your bus and meet the person who will turn out to be your spouse while you’re standing on the platform waiting on the next bus. I think Romeo and Juliet is the exact opposite of fate, they undoubtedly took things into their own hands.
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.
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.