Over Reacting and Fate in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juilet

536 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Shakespeare hamlet theme of death

Over Reacting and Fate in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juilet

Romeo and Juliet were described as 'star crossed lovers' in the beginning of the play. The term 'star crossed' referrers to the stars one is born under; with this crossed means not to be. So by the beginning of the play this love was already doomed. This play also contains strong; very emotional characters that brings about giving poor advice to Romeo and Juliet and soon leads to the death of the two lovers. Over this three day love affair soon ended in death. If we make different decisions would there be different outcomes?

Many characters like friar Lawrence, the nurse, and Benvolio gave the couple poor advice and in turn lead to bad decisions and impulse on Romeo and Juliet's part. The first of poor decisions started when Benvolio talked a recently heart broken Romeo into going to a Capulet's party to watch rosaline dance. Rosaline was an old love of Romeos from before the story took place. At the Capulet's party he found a new love by the name Juliet, instantly upon impulse they meet and kiss. By the next day under Friar Lawrence's guidance they meet again and get married.

Romeo and Juliet were soon married and later that afternoon Juliet's cousin Tybalt kills Mercutio during a small fight in the street. Romeo sees this injustice and upon impulse kills Tybalt in revenge. Under the advice of his friends he flees the scene of the murder. Soon the prince finds out and he banishes Romeo from Verona. That same day Juliet finds out that her lover Romeo has been banished for killing her beloved cousin and she threatens to kill herself. She goes to friar Lawrence's cell and he gives her a strong sleeping potion. This strong potion will put her to sleep for a few hours so then she will appear dead; and not have to marry Paris like her father had arranged for her.

The next day was the day of Juliet's wedding where she would be married to Paris. The night before she took the potion and the nurse has discovered her lying on her bed looking like she had died. Romeos man witnesses the funeral of Juliet and he tells Romeo of the news. Romeo is crushed so he buys a poison and heads back to Verona to die next to Juliet in her Capulet's tomb.

Show More
Related

  • Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare constantly utilizes the motif of stars to convey and develop the prominent theme of fate. Even as early as the prologue, the words, "A pair of star-crossed lovers..." reveal Shakespeare's intent in conveying the association of fate with this motif. Like stars, fate exists in the heavens. Both are untouchable and unalterable, and as seen in this line, it is inev... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Fate, Traits, And Choices in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although fate and character traits play a key role in the play, ultimately Romeo and Juliet’s personal choices lead to their downfall. Fate originates all of the conflicts in Romeo and Juliet, from when they met until they die. Romeo is in love with Rosaline at the very beginning of the story and has just found out that she has taken the vow of chastity. Meanwhile, Lord Capulet has given County Paris Juliet’s hand in marriage if he can wait until she is sixteen. The Capulets have a party so that Juliet and the Count can meet and he can then woo her.

    Read More

  • How Poor Decisions Brought Misfortune in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Hasty And Rash Decisions In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    360 Words  | 1 Pages

    The play shows that hasty and rash decisions can have fatal and tragic consequences for some characters in ‘Romeo and Juliet”

    Read More

  • Examples Of Impulsive Actions In Romeo And Juliet

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    He is often quick to act or make assumptions about groups of people such as the Capulets. Romeo’s first sign of impulsiveness is when he falls in love with Juliet at first sight. He disregards his former love Rosaline and just looks in awe at his new love. Before he speaks one word to Juliet , he proclaims, “I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (1.2.51). That night, he sits under Juliet’s balcony and hears her asking herself, “O be some other man!” (2.1.42). Romeo can not bear listening to this anymore and proclaims, “Henceforth I will never be Romeo.” (2.1.51). This scene proves how Romeo acts impulsively. The next day, Romeo and Juliet get married by Friar Lawrence. Soon after they are married, Romeo is walking the streets of Verona and sees Mercutio, Benvolio, and Tybalt arguing. Romeo tries to break up the scuffle, but this ends up getting Mercutio killed under his arm. Because of Mercutio’s death, Romeo picks up his sword and kills Tybalt. Romeo is banished from Verona to a nearby city called Mantua. While in Mantua, he hears word that Juliet has died, but unknowing to Romeo, she has just taken a sleeping potion that will disable all of her bodily functions. Romeo decides that he wants to say one final goodbye to Juliet before he kills himself with the poison he bought from an apothecary. After Romeo drinks the poison he cries, “Here’s to my love!” (5.4.119). By this action, Romeo shows that he

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Bad Decisions Analysis

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition to being a rich, nice, and suitable man, Paris was not a Montague. Lord Capulet was impressed with Paris and scheduled an abrupt wedding for the marriage of Paris and Juliet, without knowing of the secret matrimony of Romeo and Juliet. When Juliet heard news of her arranged marriage she soon fled to a trusted friend, Friar Lawrence, for a tactic to get out of the soon to be marriage. The Friar quickly brewed up a vial that had the capability to make one appear dead while they were still alive. In addition to making the vial the Friar also sent word to Romeo that in two days he need to return to Verona to be there when Juliet woke up from her sleep like coma. As fate would have it Romeo received word that Juliet had past on, but not that it was only a medically induced coma. Immediately after hearing the horrible news of his wife's death Romeo few back to the tomb of Juliet's body with a bottle of lethal poison. When he arrived Paris was at Juliet's tomb, nevertheless Paris blames Romeo for the death of Juliet's death. Meaning that Romeo broke her heart when he killed her cousin Tybalt. They were soon consumed in a fight, but in the end Romeo kills Paris. Romeo was consumed with grief and drinks poison that puts him to rest. Soon Juliet woke up to discover the dead bodies of Paris and Romeo, the sight of the bodies caused her to stab herself in the

    Read More

  • Who Is To Blame For Romeo And Juliet's Death

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    They are then married by Friar Lawrence. On that same morning Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, Romeo the retaliates by killing Tybalt which gets him banished from Verona. Then Juliet's parents arrange a marriage for

    Read More

  • Who is to Blame for Romeo and Juliet’s Death?

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Then he said to his wife that, “O’ Thursday, tell her, she shall be married to this noble earl.” This led to Juliet drinking the potion to pretend death on the day of her marriage and Romeo’s servant Balthasar got the message of Juliet’s death before he got a letter from Friar Lawrence about her pretend death. This led to Juliet’s death, followed by Romeo’s death.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Dishonesty in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...re her fake dead body is kept, and drinks the poison he brought with him, hastily, without giving it a second thought, assuming that Juliet was dead and that he might not be able to live without her. However, Juliet wakes up at the moment when Romeo falls dead on her lap and she exclaims, “Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end” (5.3.167), signifying the untimely death of Romeo that occurred due to his unnecessary haste.

    Read More

  • Romeo and Juliet: Fate or Bad choices?

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...te pilot, now at once run on / The dashing rocks thy seasick, weary bark. / Here’s to my love! / O true apothecary, / Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” Romeo says that its miserable be alive while his love is dying. He takes the poison just to die, thinking Juliet’s also dead. This was the poorest choice he has ever made because if he had waited a little longer, then he would have seen that Juliet is alive. Romeo’s impulse got the best of him.

    Read More

  • Examining the Characters and their Weaknesses in Romeo and Juliet

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    After killing Mercutio, Tybalt’s inflated confidence and rising aggression leads him to fight his new, unknown cousin, Romeo. Consequently, Tybalt plants his own seed of fate with his aggression. Due to self-defense, Romeo kills Tybalt and then gets banished for his actions by the Prince. This marks the beginning of the end for Romeo and Juliet’s love. It presents the biggest challenge for the star-crossed lovers because it is their separation, and due to the strong love they are too young to handle, they self-destruct, both committing suicide.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Forgiveness Analysis

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    With all the conflict arising between Juliet’s family, Friar Lawrence creates a plan that unfortunately does not succeed. His plan for Juliet is to tell her father she will marry Paris, then go to bed with no one, not even the nurse. After, she will drink a potion to make her seem dead for forty two hours and then have a messenger tell Romeo about it. He will have her put in a vault to wait for Friar to bring her out so she and Romeo can elope. The plan was perfect until tragedy occurs, Benvolio sees Juliet dead and immediately tells Romeo about it.

    Read More

  • The Themes of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    552 Words  | 2 Pages

    poison she wakes up and Romeo dies and due to Juliet's love to him she

    Read More

  • Comparing Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in Love

    1781 Words  | 4 Pages

    When the friar hears of this, he devises a plan so that the two lovers can be together. The major climax of the play comes when the friar gives Juliet a potion that will make it seem as though she has died, when in fact she is alive the whole time. While in Mantua, Romeo mistakenly hears that Juliet has actually died and he goes to lay by her side. Just as he takes a vile poison and dies, Juliet awakens to find her love lying dead at her side. She cannot fathom living in a world without Romeo, so she takes his sword and ends her own life.

    Read More

  • Is Suicide the Solution?

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    After the wedding, Romeo runs into Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, who hates him. They engage in a duel, and Romeo kills Tybalt. He fled the scene of the crime. Later, he discovers from Friar Lawrence that rather than executing him for murder, the Prince of Verona has declared that he be banished forever. Instead of being relieved and grateful, Romeo laments his fate and claims that he would rather be dead than be separated from his dear Juliet.

    Read More

More about Over Reacting and Fate in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juilet

Open Document