“It lies not in our power to love, or hate, for will in us is over-rul'd by fate.” In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, it is clear that the leading theme is fate, as it is mentioned several times. Shakespeare allows the audience to see everything that happens “behind closed doors.” While some characters’ actions did affect the outcome of the play, fate is the ruling force. The reader realizes this when the prologue states, “Two households, both alike in dignity/ In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, / From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,/ Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean./ From forth the fatal loins of these two foes/ A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life” (I 1-6). This translates to say two families have been rivals for many years. Romeo and Juliet are two from separate rivaling families that fall in love. The reader can acknowledge that these two individuals meet one another due to fate. However, they know that because of their parents’ hatred of each other, they can never be together. “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 v138-140). A decision is made that the only way to be happy is to take their lives. As soon as the play begins, the audience can foresee a tragic ending because of the language used. The timing in the play is impeccable, and this is what makes the play seem like fate has such a large influence. Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet are desperately seeking a way to be together and never want to leave each other. “Goodnight, Goodnight! Parting is such sweet sorrow/ That I shall say goodnight till it be morrow” (II ii 188-190). Romeo and Juliet... ... middle of paper ... ...se he believes Juliet to dead, drinks poison to take his own life as a last resort. What Romeo is unaware of is that Juliet is very much alive, so it is very ironic when he says, “Death, that has sucked the honey of thy breath,/ Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:/ Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet/ Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,/ And death’s pale flag is not advanced there” (V iii 101-105). This is fate in the works in the play. When Juliet sees that her love has not rescued her and rather is dead, she kills herself with a dagger found in the proximity. “O happy dagger/ This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die” (V iii 182-183). Every death is ultimately caused by fate, so says Friar Lawrence, “A power greater than we can contradict/ Hath thwarted our intents” (V iii 153-154). No one is to blame because everything happens for a reason.
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. Whole misadventured piteous overthrows Do their deaths bury their parents' strife? -Chorus As these words echoed through the hall of the Globe theatre, little did William Shakespeare know that this tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, would be examined and admired by playwrights for decades to come. So does fate play a major part in this tragedy?
Since the beginning of the play, the existence of fate has been leading Romeo and Juliet to their deaths. This is first evident in the play’s dialogue when the Serving man asks Romeo to help him read the guest list for Capulet’s party. Shakespeare writes, “God’I’ good e’en. I pray, sir, can you read?/ Ay, mine own fortune in my misery” (I,ii,58-59). This demonstrates the theme of fate because Verona is a large city and the Serving man can be in any street in Verona asking any individual to help him read, but he coincidentally encounters
In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, all the choices made by the star crossed lovers have consequences. The two lovers blame fate for their misfortune. They refuse to believe that fate does not determine the end result, only that they can do that. At the beginning of the play, Romeo is presented with a plethora of choices. The audience is introduced to Romeo as he sulks over his lover Rosaline.
Romeo drank a vile of poison because he heard the news that Juliet had died, but in reality she was asleep awaiting for his rescue. Juliet awakes to the horrifying sight of Romeo’s lifeless corpse where she commits suicide in the fashion of stabbing herself with Romeo’s dragger. Though both Romeo and Juliet seem to progress through the Five Stages of Grief in an instant. In the case of Romeo, he initially denies the news of Juliet’s “death” and then retorts to searching for a means he should use to kill himself. Romeo experienced the first stage of denial and skips all the stages until acceptance where he acknowledged the terms of the situation and believed that suicide is the best method in order to be with Juliet forever. “Romeo felt cold, even in that terrible heat … ‘It can’t be!’ said Romeo at last … Romeo had made up his mind. He would sleep with Juliet that night. The only question was what means should he use to kill himself? He felt nothing- his only though was to get Juliet and be with her forever” (Shakespeare 94). On the other hand, based on the inferences from the text, Juliet doesn’t seem to experience the Five Stages of Grief at all and appears as if she has given up hope and decide to die to live by
In this essay I am going to discuss who is responsible for the tragic ending of the play, by talking about how each character interacts with the one that dies and see if any of their actions could have resulted in the death of the main characters. During the essay I am going to eliminate characters that I think did not influence people enough to resort in the killings from my list below, whether it was Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Friar Lawrence, the Nurse, both the feuding families, Fate or other influential characters including the writer, Shakespeare himself. At the end I will draw a conclusion of who I think is most to blame for the deaths at the end of the play, although I do think each person added their own little bit to the cause, and explain why to answer the initial question that I was set.
Fate is the controlling force of the events that lead up to, and cause, the deaths of Rome and Juliet. It is no coincidence that Romeo meets the Capulet servant and is invited to the party. Fate brought him to the house of the Capel?s where he was destined to meet his future wife, Juliet. At the risk of being killed, the two lovers married their supposed loathéd enemy and consummated the marriage without even the slightest hint of detection from anyone who did not know of the wedding. Unfortunately, their sweet success would be short lived and their lives would be a downward spiral staring with Romeo?s banishment and ending with their deaths. Taking into consideration that Romeo and Juliet are predetermined to meet, love and die together, fate is clearly the dominant force of the play.
In efforts to overcome such hindrances to their love, Juliet feigns her death as planned. However, as a result of miscommunication, Romeo takes the news seriously, and thus, being propelled by zealous devotion, both use death as the key to unity. A variety of themes are implicated throughout the play. Fate, in particular, is well demonstrated. By using the motif of stars and characters such as Friar Lawrence, Juliet, and Romeo, Shakespeare truly and masterfully conveys that fate is the inevitable, unalterable and omnipotent force that controls all actions unto their consequences.
Some people may not believe that fate is something that truthfully exists in the world. This portion of the population doubts that there is anything that is actually meant to be or supposed to happen thinking that there is always a way around troubling predicaments, knowing that it isn't necessary to turn out just one certain way. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others, however, believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event predestined and laid out before them like a roadmap to life; in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial force, pulling the characters into a more animated state. Because of fate, the play becomes tremendously thrilling and it is exactly what manages the two young lovers to meet each other in the first place. The moment that Romeo and Juliet meet is the exact incident that leads to their death, however unaware these "star-crossed lovers" are to that fact. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the couple's heartbreaking tragedy.
Then, the meeting of the star-crossed lovers, the climatic fight between Mercutio and Tybalt which Romeo ends up getting banished for killing his new family member, and ending with the letter not reaching Romeo which causes young suicide of feuding families. Fate is shown throughout the whole play from start to finish. From act to act, there is always a hint at the end that something will happen to Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. All in all, the theme of fate as a controlling force is the main theme because it messes with the main characters which make them both end their lives for each other as the fate leads them to
Romeo and Juliet made many choices out of their own free will, including an irreversible decision that ended in despair for all characters. “All are punished!”(5.3.305). In the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, the actions of Romeo, the actions of Juliet, and the actions of others prove that free will is more paramount than fate in the plot of the play.
Just as the Friar says in the beginning of the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, “Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast.” (II.iii.94). this was a sign of foreshadowing for for the death of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Even though fate was a factor that had contributed to a tragic end, there was also personal choice involved, and ultimately, the story may have had a different ending if it weren’t for the flaws of the lovers and their inability to have a grip on reality in dire circumstances. Over the course of the play, the lovers from the conflicting households have not matured and remain rather static in development. Furthermore, in this tragedy, the only son of the montages remains rather childlike, Juliet still seems immature and their relationship over all seems more like a play act on lover rather then something mature and sustainable. Overall, from start to finish, Romeo and Juliet were living in the moment, being absurd and silly rather then focusing on the future and trying to work problems out effectively.
Shakespeare, through the dialogue and action of his characters, readily provides the evidence that both choice and fate are integral parts of human life. For example, Shakespeare illustrates fate through the words of Romeo who states, “I fear, too early, for my mind misgives some consequences, yet handing in the stars…” (I, IV, 116-117). Romeo believes that it is the stars that influence his life. It is not he who determines his life. He initially believes that his fate ultimately governs his choices, choices that cannot be controlled by humans. In addition, Shakespeare also reveals that choice plays a crucial role in determining fate. It is choice then that drives the decisions of the characters but these choices are made in the circumstance of their lives. And these circumstances cannot be removed from their consciousness. For instance, when Juliet says in her soliloquy before she drinks the sleeping potion, “Romeo, I come! This do I drink to thee” (IV, IV, 60) she is saying it is my fate and my choice to be with you. She chooses to drink the potion thus putting her into a coma-like sleep, and ultimately resulting in the death of them both. When Romeo declares, “Then I defy you, stars!” he is making the choice to challenge his fate of living without Juliet who he believes has died. Shakespeare has provided the evidence that fate and choice re so intertwined that they cannot be separated. Even the structure of his play alludes to this same perception.
When reading the prologue, it says “Two households, both alike in dignity, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean” (Shakespeare Prologue.1-4). Before the play even starts, we know how much these families hate each other and that blood is involved in a bad ending for all. Romeo comes from the Montague’s, and Juliet comes from the Capulet’s. These two families were in war with each other from the beginning of the story and these family disputes play a huge role in the death of Romeo and Juliet.
In scene five, act three, Romeo was finding his way into the tomb where Juliet’s supposed dead body was resting. When Romeo found Juliet’s dead body, he brought out his poison and exclaimed that “Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die,” (Shakespeare 5. 3. 120), and followed to drink the poison, killing himself. In this passage, Shakespeare explains how Romeo dies, using diction to make the scene romantic. “Thus with a kiss I die,” (Shakespeare 5. 3. 120), can be seen as as a romantic way to die, but it was Romeo’s choice to drink the poison, which ended his life. Furthermore, this decision also resulted in Juliet’s death, shortly after. This passage explains Romeo’s foolishness because instead of killing himself on the spot, he could have waited. Although he would not expect for Juliet to wake up, simply waiting for others to arrive at the tomb to mourn with would have wasted enough time for Juliet to wake up. After some time passed, Juliet woke up from the effects of the potion she drank. When Juliet woke up from her fake coma, she found Romeo dead next to him. She took his dagger and exclaimed “O, happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die,” (Shakespeare 5. 3. 174-175), and of course, she died shortly after stabbing herself. Shakespeare included
In regards to Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare chose fate to be a strong underlying theme which constructs the basis of the story line. Fate has the ability to control the characters’ lives and one minor change in the way it had acted would have changed the entire outcome. Through Romeo and Juliet’s spontaneous encounter, fate was largely responsible for love at first sight alongside controlling the misfortunate events that occur as a result of their love. Apart from love and misfortune, Shakespeare suggests that Romeo and Juliet were destined to die the way they did, despite the fact that it was their choice to end their lives. The outcome of the play was a direct result of fate, which to a notable extent was responsible for the many events which were destined to occur.