Fate In Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet
In William Shakespeare’s well-received play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, two star-crossed lovers unite resulting in a fatal ending. Juliet, coming from the house of the Capulets, was only a young girl who was promised to a lord in two summers if she liked him back. This was a strict agreement with the family because it would have given them the power of the town because of his lordship. But when Juliet met Romeo, she became infatuated with him which triggered her immaturity to interfere with many of the decisions that she made, leading her onto a tragically-ending path. Juliet’s beauty and passion lead to her death because of her unwise and hasty decision making; fate and freewill influence her outcome by showing her the path of death and her taking it.
Fate had an effect on Juliet’s outcome when the servant was given the guest list to invite them formally and ironically could not read. He then asked the young Romeo to read for him and he requested: "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. Rest you merry!" (I.ii.81-84) Romeo was destined to attend the party because had the servant been able to read, they would not have asked Romeo to read the list and Romeo would not have been invited. Coincidentally, Juliet came out of her room and met the suitors who were present …show more content…
at the ball on that night, which led to her meeting Romeo and later falling madly in love. Which is also leading to the event of her finding out that he is of the Montague house and Juliet being a Capulet cautiously stated, "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.139-142) If Juliet’s destiny had not introduced her to Romeo, she would not have ever made the decisions that she did and she would not have died in the name of love.
In addition to fate, freewill also leads to Juliet's death. When Juliet finds out she is marrying count Paris sooner than expected, instead of having two years she has two days, she is anxiety-stricken and makes an impulsive decision to talk to Friar Lawrence. She runs to Friar and questions, “Tell me not, Friar, that thou hear’st of this, unless thou tell me how I may prevent it.” (IV.i.51-52) Juliet tried to tell her father that she did not want to marry Friar when she first found out but he would not listen and then he forcefully started making the wedding arrangements. Thus, Juliet rushed into her freewill decision of taking the sleeping potion when she knew Romeo wouldn't know of any of this so it could end any possible way. She believed that when she woke up she would have missed the wedding and everything would have been okay, even though her father very clearly wanted the marriage to happen.
Freewill continues to influence her outcome throughout the play, namely when she decides to kill herself to be with her love Romeo. When awakening to find Romeo dead, she doesn’t know how to deal with what has happened, although we see her waking up Romeo assumes she is dead and kills himself to "be with her" when all along she was really just unconscious. When Juliet decides to kill herself she states, “Oh, look! Methinks I see my cousin’s ghost. Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body. Upon a rapier’s point. Stay, Tybalt, stay! Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to thee." (IV.iii.56-59) When Juliet made this decision it led to her outcome of death. Another continuation of fate that leads to Juliet's death is Romeo walking in and seeing her sleeping. For she had no idea or control over his actions because she was asleep. But also, when he committed suicide as she could not have talked him out of it.
Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is the story of young lovers, belonging to feuding families, who were brought together by fate, but stayed together by freewill.
In between the clashes of the Montagues and Capulets and the death of several minor characters, Juliet’s outcome stands before all. When fate brings her and Romeo together, she becomes reckless and falls in love with the idea of being in love concluding in a tragic ending. The aforementioned instances signify that the death of Juliet was due to the unwise path that her fate had set out for and that she had followed using her freedom of
choice.
Fate had an effect on Juliet’s outcome when the servant was given the guest list to invite them formally and ironically could not read. He then asked the young Romeo to read for him and he requested: "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. Rest you merry!" (I.ii.81-84) Romeo was destined to attend the party because had the servant been able to read, they would not have asked Romeo to read the list and Romeo would not have been invited. Coincidentally, Juliet came out of her room and met the suitors who were present …show more content…
at the ball on that night, which led to her meeting Romeo and later falling madly in love. Which is also leading to the event of her finding out that he is of the Montague house and Juliet being a Capulet cautiously stated, "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.139-142) If Juliet’s destiny had not introduced her to Romeo, she would not have ever made the decisions that she did and she would not have died in the name of love.
In addition to fate, freewill also leads to Juliet's death. When Juliet finds out she is marrying count Paris sooner than expected, instead of having two years she has two days, she is anxiety-stricken and makes an impulsive decision to talk to Friar Lawrence. She runs to Friar and questions, “Tell me not, Friar, that thou hear’st of this, unless thou tell me how I may prevent it.” (IV.i.51-52) Juliet tried to tell her father that she did not want to marry Friar when she first found out but he would not listen and then he forcefully started making the wedding arrangements. Thus, Juliet rushed into her freewill decision of taking the sleeping potion when she knew Romeo wouldn't know of any of this so it could end any possible way. She believed that when she woke up she would have missed the wedding and everything would have been okay, even though her father very clearly wanted the marriage to happen.
Freewill continues to influence her outcome throughout the play, namely when she decides to kill herself to be with her love Romeo. When awakening to find Romeo dead, she doesn’t know how to deal with what has happened, although we see her waking up Romeo assumes she is dead and kills himself to "be with her" when all along she was really just unconscious. When Juliet decides to kill herself she states, “Oh, look! Methinks I see my cousin’s ghost. Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body. Upon a rapier’s point. Stay, Tybalt, stay! Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to thee." (IV.iii.56-59) When Juliet made this decision it led to her outcome of death. Another continuation of fate that leads to Juliet's death is Romeo walking in and seeing her sleeping. For she had no idea or control over his actions because she was asleep. But also, when he committed suicide as she could not have talked him out of it.
Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is the story of young lovers, belonging to feuding families, who were brought together by fate, but stayed together by freewill.
In between the clashes of the Montagues and Capulets and the death of several minor characters, Juliet’s outcome stands before all. When fate brings her and Romeo together, she becomes reckless and falls in love with the idea of being in love concluding in a tragic ending. The aforementioned instances signify that the death of Juliet was due to the unwise path that her fate had set out for and that she had followed using her freedom of
choice.