Examples Of Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

Paul Mekjian
Mrs. Ying
English 9 Period 5
15 March 2017
Star-Crossed Lovers?
Poor choices can cause tragic outcomes. Fate, on the other hand, is beyond someone's control. Many people believe that regardless of their actions, fate and destiny determine the outcome of their lives. However, in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, the outcome of Romeo and Juliet's lives were controlled by the choices that they made. Although the deaths of Romeo and Juliet were mentioned in the prologue of the story as star-crossed lovers, the tragic ending of the couple was determined by their free will as a result of unwise decisions.
The tragic outcomes of Romeo and Juliet were determined by their free will because they didn’t go with their

gut feelings. For example, when going to the Capulet party, Romeo said, “I fear, too early; for my mind misgives Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this night’s revels and expire the term Of a despised life, closed in my breast, By some vile forfeit of untimely death” (I, iv, 106-111). Romeo saying “My mind misgives some consequence”, shows that Romeo has a bad feeling about the party, and thinks that it will have a bad outcome. Additionally, Romeo goes on by saying, “Some vile forfeit of untimely death”, which suggests that going to the Capulet party will result in an unpleasant outcome of dying. This goes to show that Romeo’s death is controlled by his free will and decision-making, because he knows something is wrong and still decides to go to the party. Another example would be when Juliet was about to take the potion that Friar Laurence made her, she said, “What if it be a poison which the friar subtly hath ministered to have me dead”(IV,iv, 24-25). Juliet is having several doubts about taking the potion, and her gut feeling was to not take the potion. Her unwise choice of deciding to take the potion is the main reason why Romeo and Juliet died. Since Juliet made the decision to take the potion, Romeo found her in a death-like coma, and committed suicide. The argument that Romeo
Another reason why the deaths of Romeo and Juliet were determined by their free will and decision-making is because their relationship was moving way too quickly.

For example, after finding out that Romeo is a Montague, Juliet says, “My only love, sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me That I must love a loathed enemy” (I, v, 136-139). Juliet acted too fast and fell in love with someone that is an enemy of her family. When Juliet says, “Too early seen unknown, and known too late”, she means that she fell in love with Romeo without knowing who he was. The most logical conclusion we can draw from this is that their relationship was moving so quickly that Juliet had already kissed Romeo and fallen in love with him before even knowing his identity. Their choice of proceeding with their relationship so quickly is one of the reasons that led to Romeo and Juliet dying. Additionally, when Romeo and Juliet were talking to each other on the balcony by the orchard, Juliet asked, “What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?” (II, ii, 126), and Romeo responded, “The exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine” (II, ii, 127). The fact that after only kissing each other once, and talking for a brief amount of time, Romeo and Juliet want to get married, illustrates that their free will and decision making got them killed. Since their families are enemies, it was an obviously terrible choice for Romeo and Juliet to get married. The choice to get married this early in a relationship definitely played a big role in the tragic deaths of Romeo and

Juliet.