Fate And Freewill In Romeo And Juliet

Fate was the fundamental factor that led to the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. It is present throughout the entire play, setting the scene for the tragic events to take place. Two scenarios which show that fate played an imperative role in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths are when Romeo read the ball invite which was addressed to someone else and when Friar John had to stop while delivering Friar Lawrence’s message resulting in Balthasar reaching Romeo first. The first scenario is seen in the text where a servant of the Capulet family

The first bad decision Romeo makes is choosing to go to the Capulet party, and the fact that he’s a Montague does not deter him and his friends from going. At first it seems as though Benvolio is forcing Romeo

The concept of fate has touched many lives throughout the centuries, and over time it, along with its counterpart free will, has [been?] transcended into the form of literature. Its influence is evident in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, particularly in how Pip, and his object of affection, Estella, are repeatedly subjected to preordained events. Furthermore, free will, or the ability to determine our own destiny, also holds sway over the characters in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, specifically Romeo and Juliet themselves. Free will has a greater influence on the characters in Romeo and Juliet than fate, while in Great Expectations, it proves to be the opposite, with fate having more heavily impacted Pip, and his associates.

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.

Although the play “Romeo and Juliet” is lauded as one which excellently portrays unconquerable love, the most prominent theme of the play is not that of unconquerable love but rather of the death and tragedy that stems out from Romeo and Juliet disobeying fate for their own desires. This theme of relationship between fate and free will is present throughout the play and even emphasized through the use of literary elements. One such example of this theme being emphasized through the use of literary elements is the prologue. The prologue of the play employs the literary elements of alliteration, rhyme and foreshadowing to convey the theme of the relationship between fate and freewill, claiming that attempting to defy fate will leads to misfortune.

To summarize the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet’s party, decides to marry her, and goes to Friar Laurence for help. Shortly after their marriage, Romeo gets in a fight and kills Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, resulting in Romeo’s exile. After Tybalt’s death, Juliet’s parents arrange her marriage with Count Paris. Juliet initially refuse but after going to the friar for help and creating a plan to fake her death, she agrees to get married. Her decision makes her father very happy and he changes the wedding date, ruining Juliet’s plan. To improvise, Juliet takes the poison a day earlier than she had planned. Taking the poison early eliminates the time needed to inform Romeo of the plan. This means that when Romeo hears of Juliet’s death, he believes she is actually dead and decides to kill himself at her tomb. Shortly after Romeo’s suicide, Juliet wakes up. The play ends with Juliet killing herself with a dagger after seeing Romeo’s corpse and the two families discovering their remains. Whether the outcome of Shakespeare’s play was a result of fate or free will is much debated but, imagine the ending of the play if Romeo, Juliet or Friar Laurence made a different decision and it is likely the result would not be a tragedy. This is why even though fate brought the protagonists together, the outcome of the play was a result of free will.

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

Fate is the belief that a greater power has planned out your life. Freewill means that humans have control of their life. Fate says that you are not responsible for your actions and anything that happens to you is by chance. Freewill is the ability to choose courses of action, and there is a logical reason for everything. Humans have control of their destiny and what they do is their responsibilities. Do we humans have control of our lives destiny or are humans controlled by outside forces meaning they are not responsible for their actions?

”Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds”. This quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt explains that events that happen are not entirely dictated by fate, rather by how people behave. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, flawed characteristics are easily seen as the cause of the death of the characters Romeo and Juliet. Some people may claim that their deaths were merely an act of fate however, Romeo and Juliet had control over their actions and could have prevented their deaths. The death of Romeo and Juliet was dictated by the foibles of characters throughout the play, not fate because they intentionally kept their marriage a secret, they made drastic decisions, and they accepted the help of the

The meeting between the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, was predestined, as a series of coincidental events took place for the meeting to occur. For example, when Romeo and Benvolio walk into the Capulet servingman, the servingman mentions "My master is the great rich Capulet, and, if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine" (I. ii. 86-88). It is by fate that Romeo and Benvolio run into the Capulet serving man and discover the party. It is not just a simple accident that the serving man tells the two cousins about the party at which Romeo is destined, yet unaware, that he will meet his love. This was a predetermined meeting for both Romeo and Juliet, which if had not occurred, they would be alive. Furthermore, before Romeo attends the Capulet party, he says, "Some consequence yet hanging in the stars

Fate vs. Free will. What is the balance between the two? In the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo screams up to the heavens, “O, I am fortune's fool!”, suggesting that he didn’t have control of his future. Romeo got stuck in the moment and made the decision to steer his fate down a never ending hill. "But He, that hath the steerage of my course, / Direct my sail!" Romeo makes the decision to attend something which leads to something much bigger than he could hold. He evan feels inside him that something doesn't freel in place, but he forges on ahead waiting for the problems to show themselves from their disguises. These 2 quotes show the balance between fate and freewill. But where is the line drawn between them? What was shakespeare so focused on by fate and free will? How did this play out in the play?

Romeo and Juliet Final Project In Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, there are many instances—adverse occurrences—where the reader does not know whether to blame fate, or the decisions made by Romeo and Juliet. The themes of fate and destiny are important factors in the deaths of the two characters, because most conflicts in this play result from fate and sheer bad luck. In the end however, Romeo and Juliet’s deaths are both due to the impulsive decisions they make, and the fact that the stars are not on their side. The play features a scene where Romeo allows his anger to overcome him, when Tybalt kills Mercutio. Due to Mercutio’s death, Romeo feels that Tybalt should have to pay when he says, “That late thou gavest me, for Mercutio’s soul is but a little way above our heads, staying for thine to keep him company.

Some believe that fate controls your life and what happens in it, others think that your decisions affect the outcome of your life. In the Shakespearian play “Romeo and Juliet”, two star crossed lovers from feuding families fall in love. Due to the actions they both take to pursue their love, they both end up dead along with other people. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet were not caused by fate but their own poor decisions.

For example, the first time they met, they then found out they were meant to be enemies. Then as the play goes on we see many more examples. The most prominent one is the events that followed after the Romeo was banished. Juliet is misunderstood by her father who then thinks the way to cure her tears is to get her married to Paris. When it comes to bad luck apparently Romeo's banishment isn't enough cruelty because Juliet is off to be married to Paris. She is to be wed on Thursday, after panicking Juliet finally receives a clever plan from the Friar but fate gets in the way. Capulet out of happiness brings the wedding date up one day and made it wednesday instead. As capulet moves the wedding to Wednesday instead. In the following quote capulet says: “Send for the County. Go tell him of this. I’ll have this knot knit up tomorrow morning.” (IV.ii.23-24). This shows that when Juliet thought she could control her destiny fate puts in it’s famous cruel turn. Later as Romeo doesn't receive the letter including the plan he thinks his love is truly dead. You can see how fate has got in the way of the letters arrival. In the end, when Romeo sees dead Juliet he says “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.94-96). It is almost as if fate is mocking him senseless on how he could've have gotten that he wanted but it just was not destined for either of them. Another point is when Juliet clearly recognizes that this whole plan is up to fate, Right before she takes the vile Juliet questions whether things will go as planned which proves how there is really no free will in her hands. She says “ How if, when I am laid into the tomb, I wake before the time that Romeo come to redeem me? There’s a fearful point!” (IV.iii.31-33) this shows how Juliet is

Fate and free will are two contradictory theories, one either has control over their lives and the decisions that take place in them or they’re simply following out the plan of a divine being. Romeo and Juliet, a Shakespeare play, brings light to idea people have no grasp on the outcome of their lives despite any decisions they may make. From the very beginning the love affair of the Montague boy and Capulet girl reveals that the outcomes of one’s life is preset. The monologue blatantly out states, “A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents’ strife” (Shakespeare 1). Before the audience is able to even witness Romeo and Juliet fall in love they are told that