...In the play of “Romeo and Juliet”, William Shakespeare shows that fate is like an inescapable quicksand, the harder one tries to defy fate, the faster it occurs. From the very beginning of the play, the audience is aware of the tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet. The prologue states, “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life... The fearful passage of their death-marked love.”(Prologue.6-9) This tells the audience that Romeo and Juliet’s love is against the stars or fate, and thus their love is doomed for death. Throughout the play, the audience witnesses Romeo and Juliet's attempt to escape this fate, but it only brings them closer towards it. In addition, following Romeo and Juliet’s marriage, kills Tybalt in revenge for Mercutio’s death....
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...Romeo and Juliet In the play, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, two star-crossed lovers take their lives. In the city of Verona, two prideful families break into mutiny. Romeo and Juliet meet through many chances which helps their forbidden love to bloom which sadly end in dead. Fate is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because the Montagues and Capulets hate each other, and a plague strikes Verona when the Friar sends a letter to Romeo. Fate is the cause of these star-crossed lover’s deaths, because the Montague and Capulet households despise each other. The prologue states, “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes/A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life” (Prologue. 5-6). If fate had not turned the Montagues and the Capulets into foes, then Romeo and Juliet’s love would have been allowed. By the fateful chance that the Montagues and Capulets are adversaries, Romeo and Juliet’s illicit love creates conflict for both houses, which ends up digging the young inamoratos graves.This is why fate is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death, but this is not the only reason to blame fate. Another reason why fate is to blame...
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...eternal and universal. William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is one such text that uses the play form to address the impact of emotions overruling people’s thoughts and decisions. Shakespeare, demonstrating how their love is destroyed by the irrational hatred created by society, explores the impetuous and romantic love of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare examines the complexity of love and the inevitability of fate through the ingenious use of literary and dramatic techniques. Love is a convoluted emotion that sparks intense feelings of passion. The understanding of the emotion, its causes and consequences is timelessly relevant. The obsessive nature of love is...
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...How Does Fate Play A Part In Romeo and Juliet'? Romeo and Juliet' was written during a period when Shakespeare had found the strength of his writing, it is believed that it was written around 1595 and he would have been about 26 years old when he wrote it. The play is a widely known tragedy concerning the fate of two young "star-cross'd lovers". It is one of the most famous of Shakespeare's plays and one of his earliest theatrical triumphs. In Romeo and Juliet', fate plays an extremely powerful role throughout the story. Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed lovers," as the prologue at the start of the play indicated, they had fate against them. In that time, people were very wary of what the stars said. If two people's stars were crossed in the sky, they would never remain together. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet did not live happily ever after, as they both died at the end of the play. The prologue also shows fate was against Romeo and Juliet through the negative language and the foregrounds of their deaths: "The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove" This insight into the plot provides the audience with the anticipation of the finale and causes them to think negatively throughout the play. It also allows Shakespeare to make use of dramatic irony, as the audience knows something that the characters do not. This increases dramatic tension for the audience, which in turn...
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...Romeo and Juliet Argumentative Essay Have you ever been in love? In William Shakespeare's tragic play Romeo and Juliet a pair of star crossed lovers chose their fate. Romeo and Juliet could have changed their outcome of life. They could have changed their path by making at least three different choices. These choices are one Romeo could have spoken to Juliet's father, Two Romeo didn't need to kill Tybalt, Three Romeo shouldn't have gone to the Capulet's party in the first place. One choice Romeo could have made differently is, Romeo could have spoken to Juliet's father and asked for his blessing to marry Juliet. If Romeo had made this choice it could have changed the outcome of their fate. The reason it could have changed the outcome...
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...swoon as they read Romeo and Juliet for the first time. The girls wish for a boy like Romeo to spot them in a crowded room and instantly fall in love, and even though they would never admit it, young men probably wish for the same. Even the students who scoff at Romeo’s flowery language and the dramatic irony secretly wish for the kind of overwhelming passion Romeo and Juliet share. However, the same students tend to overlook the warning Shakespeare has within the first page of the play. In the prologue, Shakespeare writes that Romeo and Juliet tells the tale of two families with such an intense hatred toward each other that it takes a child from each of the families committing suicide for the...
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...stimulating destiny. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, there are a few members that show fate’s hand in play. Of those individuals, Mercutio is shown to be the most prominent. With Mercutio persuading Romeo at the Capulet party, having divine right, and an influential death, he has most impacted the theme of fate in Romeo and Juliet. The first way that Mercutio is the representative of fate is seen where he pushed Romeo to attend the Capulet soiree. During the beginning of the play, Mercutio and Romeo are walking towards the Capulet masque. While they are walking, Romeo starts to doubt if he should go at all. Mercutio counters this by saying...
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...How does Fate play a role in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Change Slide: What is fate? Fate is the idea that the future is already planned even if people do not know what is going to happen to them. I’m going to talk about Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare's, one of the greatest love stories of all time. This story has been known to be timeless even though it was written around 1595. This play is a story of forbidden love that is resolved in two tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet, who come from feuding families. Their ignorance of defy and falling in love is not accepted by their families. For the five short days they share love, many events take place. All of the events surround characters from both the Montague and Capulet families. The powers and affects of love and hate are also very evident between the two families throughout the play. In the end, Romeo and Juliet's love finds a tragic way to overcome the hate between their families. The story mainly revolves around Juliet while she grows up and falls in love, only to have fate keep her from complete happiness. Change Slide: Juliet is the beautiful, courageous young daughter of Capulet, a rich man in Verona. Shakespeare made her character a mere thirteen years old, but she acts very mature compared to her age. She appears to be practical, honest, and loyal to herself and her family. The play is about how she discovers and loses love. She appears to have thought very little about love and marriage...
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...The sky is like an hourglass, time is the sand in it, while night is when most of the sand is in the bottom half, and day is when most the sand is in the upper half. Time flies by as the sand slowly slips from the upper half into the bottom half, changing day into night. In William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, the two houses, the Montagues and the Capulets hate each other. Romeo, a Montague, falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet, often at night, Romeo sneaks into the Capulet garden to talk to Juliet. Fate divides them apart many ways, the Prince of Verona banishes Romeo, and Juliet drinks a potion as part of a plan. But miscommunication happens and Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, thus commits suicide by drinking poison. Juliet wakes...
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...This story of star-crossed lovers is one of William Shakespeare’s tenderest dramas. Shakespeare is sympathetic toward Romeo and Juliet, and in attributing their tragedy to fate, rather than to a flaw in their characters, he raises them to heights near perfection, as well as running the risk of creating pathos, not tragedy. They are both sincere, kind, brave, loyal, virtuous, and desperately in love, and their tragedy is greater because of their innocence. The feud between the lovers’ families represents the fate that Romeo and Juliet are powerless to overcome. The lines capture in poetry the youthful and simple passion that characterizes the play. One of the most popular plays of all time, Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare’s second tragedy (after Titus Andronicus of 1594, a failure). Consequently, the play shows the sometimes artificial lyricism of early comedies such as Love’s Labour’s Lost 1594-1595, . 1598) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (. 1595-1596, . 1600), while its character development predicts the direction of the playwright’s artistic maturity. In Shakespeare’s usual fashion, he based his story on sources that were well known in his day: Masuccio Salernitano’s Novellino (1475), William Painter’s The Palace of Pleasure (1566-1567), and, especially, Arthur Brooke’s poetic The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Shakespeare reduces the time of the action from the months it takes in Brooke’s work to a few compact days. In addition to following the conventional...
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...University Tandag City, Surigao del Sur In Partial Fulfilment Of the requirement for the Degree Bachelor of Arts in Filipino JACKIELYN P. ALMEDILLA ROCHELLE I. CASSANO Literary Theme : Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Analysis written by Jordan Ward Submitted By : RUBYLYN E. BALDOVINO BA- Filipino 2 Submitted To : SOL VERTUDAZO The Downfall of Romeo and Juliet In the Play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, he writes about two young adults who have fallen madly in love, Romeo and Juliet. They are from two very different families who are bitter rivals, the Capulets and the Montagues. In the play, it shows and depicts the problems that arise when they fall in love, and how their impatience in important events leads to the downfall of their marriage in the end. Romeo and Juliet are to blame for all the misfortune experienced in this book, due to the impatience and stubbornness of each; Shakespeare created this to show how important patience is during crucial events. Because of their impatience, their marriage is torn apart, and both end up dead as the play comes to a close. Romeo and Juliet sealed their own fate, and are the only ones to blame for all the misfortune they experienced during the play. The first major problem Romeo and Juliet create for themselves is rushing their marriage, and trying to keep it a secret. If they had waited even a couple of more days and talked to their families about it, they might have had better success...
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...far do you think Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as victims of fate? “Romeo and Juliet” is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1597, when people believed that their lives were controlled by fate, like a force or spirit that decides the course a person’s life should take. They believed in magic, horoscopes and that the Sun, Moon and stars could change their destiny. In this play Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as victims of fate in many different ways. At the prologue of the play the chorus describes Romeo and Juliet as "star-crossed lovers". This suggests that they fight against (or cross) their fate, which is written in the stars. It means that they are in love but fate is against them, their families have been arguing for years, so they have grown up hating each other, however Rome and Juliet are inseparable. Secondly, the Capulets and Montagues are at odds with each other. After the prologue, members of each house, as well as their servants break into a sword fight, crossing swords with each other. Sampson says "Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow." (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 60). The feuding between the two families motivates Sampson to challenge the Capulets. Another example of how the two houses despise each other is what Romeo and his friends have to do to get into the Capulet feast. So they will not be recognized, Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio wear comic masks to hide their faces. Romeo and his friends would never have known...
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...‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragic love story written by William Shakespeare about two young star crossed lovers who live in Verona, Italy in the Middle Ages. One of the most important issues that these young loves come across quite often is that of choice. The real question is whether the characters have the ability to choose what they do or is it fate that decides it for them. The chorus introduces in the opening prologue that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed” and “death-marked”, and by stating this, Shakespeare gives us the climax of the play right away. In Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, it is not fate, but desperate and impulsive actions that bring about the downfall and the unfortunate ending of both Romeo and Juliet. In the Victorian Era, fate was known as the continuance of events that are out of human control, and determined by a supernatural power. By no means was the demise of Romeo and Juliet out their control. It happened because of the choices they themselves make....
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...OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO AND JULIET By ARTHEA J.S. REED, PH.D. S E R I E S W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., E D I T O R S : UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is an excellent introduction to Shakespearean drama; teenagers can relate to its plot, characters, and themes. The play’s action is easily understood, the character’s motives are clear, and many of the themes are as current today as they were in Shakespeare’s time. Therefore, it can be read on a variety of levels, allowing all students to enjoy it. Less able readers can experience the swash-buckling action and investigate the themes of parent-child conflict, sexuality, friendship, and suicide. Because of the play’s accessibility to teenagers, able readers can view the play from a more literary perspective, examining the themes of hostility ad its effect on the innocent, the use of deception and its consequences, and the effects of faulty decision making. They can study how the characters function within the drama and how Shakespeare uses language to develop plot, characters, and themes. The most able students can develop skills involved in literary criticism by delving into the play’s comic and tragic elements and its classically tragic themes: the role of fate and fortune...
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...one of William Shakespeare’s plays entitled, Romeo and Juliet demonstrated the impact hatred has on the people it surrounds. Romeo and Juliet is a play set in Verona, Italy in which two people, infatuated with each other, venture to extreme lengths to complete their desires in opposition to the venom held between their families, conclusively leading to their demise. This feeling of detest blinds entities from morality and influences them to commit regrettable mistakes, much present in modern society through...
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