...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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...In the book Romeo and Juliet is a couple who falls in love at first sight not knowing that they will never be together. The book describes many obstacles that came between the young couple relationship. The flaws that were identified in the book were chance/fate, pride and being to impatience that what eventually lead to the tragic death of the couple so in love. Although, all three flaws play a significant role in the book. Chance/fate is the ultimate reason for such a tragic ending to a young couple who was meant to be together. The most important flaw that led to the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet was chance/fate. Romeo reads the invitation to a masquerade ball where he is hoping that the love of life Rosaline will be there. Romeo...
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...Fate is defined as a force, principle or power that predetermines events, it is the inevitable events that are destined by this force. Fate is behind almost all of the conflicts in Romeo and Juliet, from the moment they met until they die together tragedy. Romeo and Juliet's fates were formed from the moment of their births. The Capulet ‘s and Montague’s hatred of each other is what pushed Romeo and Juliet together. The families were mortal enemies and Romeo and Juliet were never supposed to meet. Their relationship was doomed from the start. It was Fate that draws them together and it is fate that they are enemies. One example of how fate plays a part in the destinies of Romeo and Juliet is when Romeo goes to find Rosaline at the Capulet’s party. Instead he meets Juliet who was there to meet Paris. It was their first meeting and the immediate love for each other that strengthens the conflict between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s. Romeo and Juliet both believed that the stars controlled their fate and their actions weren’t always their own. Romeo, for example, 1.4.115-120, he says, "Some consequence yet hanging in the stars...by some vile forfeit of untimely death. But he that hath the steerage over my course Direct my sail." What he’s saying to his friends is that he had a dream that he will die young because of something in the stars, something that will happen to cause his death. Romeo finishes by saying "...he that hath steerage over my course.....
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...English I 06 March 2017 Fate Versus Decisions Do you feel fate controls you? In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, two children of rival families fall in love and commit suicide due to their corrupt lives. The question is how was the play controlled? One argument is that fate controls the play, while another is that the characters’ stupid decisions did so. While there is an argument that the decisions control the play, it is more conceivable that you cannot control your fate and fate is the responsible party in the play’s control. It is conceivable that our retarded decisions control our lives, for in Act 3, Scene 1, Tybalt’s decision to duel with Mercutio led to Romeo slaying him. There is merit in the belief...
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...ROMEO & JULIET Prologue (ACT 1) As a prologue to the play, the Chorus enters. In a fourteen-line sonnet, the Chorus describes two noble households (called “houses”) in the city of Verona. The houses hold an “ancient grudge” (Prologue.2) against each other that remains a source of violent and bloody conflict. The Chorus states that from these two houses, two “star-crossed” (Prologue.6) lovers will appear. These lovers will mend the quarrel between their families by dying. The story of these two lovers, and of the terrible strife between their families, will be the topic of this play. ANALYSIS This opening speech by the Chorus serves as an introduction to Romeo and Juliet. We are provided with information about where the play takes place, and given some background information about its principal characters. The obvious function of the Prologue as introduction to the Verona of Romeo and Juliet can obscure its deeper, more important function. The Prologue does not merely set the scene of Romeo and Juliet, it tells the audience exactly what is going to happen in the play. The Prologue refers to an ill-fated couple with its use of the word “star-crossed,” which means, literally, against the stars. Stars were thought to control people’s destinies. But the Prologue itself creates this sense of fate by providing the audience with the knowledge that Romeo and Juliet will die even before the play has begun. The audience therefore watches the play with the expectation that it must...
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...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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...Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, there are two feuding families. One of the families is The Capulet’s, with their daughter Juliet, and the other family is Montague's, their son being Romeo. Juliet and Romeo fall deeply in love, get married, and end up dying all in the course of five days. Fate, accident, and free will influence the outcome of the play, and maybe the course of the play could have been changed it if wasn’t for these things. Timing was a key part in the Romeo and Juliet play. Without timing, Romeo and Juliet would not have been dead at the end. Romeo fed from Verona on Tuesday, after with sleeping with Juliet that night. Juliet lets her father, Lord Capulet knows that she...
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...Examine how Shakespeare presents the treatment of Juliet by Romeo, her Parents and Society in general. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare presents the treatment of Juliet by Romeo, her Parents, and Society in general through the interactions and conversations between Juliet and the other characters. Shakespeare uses the interactions between not only Juliet and the other characters but the interactions between the other characters themselves as well. Many of the ways the Juliet is treated stay the same between characters because there is an overall patriarchal feel to the play which reflects on the authority of men at the time but her treatment does differ slightly with different characters and their importance to her. One of ways the Shakespeare presents the treatment of Juliet is through the prologue. All though the prologue is not a character is gives us an idea of how Shakespeare and ‘fate’ treat Juliet. Part of the function of the prologue is to introduce the play and the key themes and ideas. The prologue tells us that ‘a pair of star crossed lovers take their life’ telling us that Romeo and Juliet were born to die. From the beginning Juliet has been destined to die, she has no control and neither to the other characters. This is an example of how fate is controlling the whole play. Another way that Shakespeare presents the treatment of Juliet is through her parents. Juliet’s Father and Mother both treat Juliet differently but there are similarities in the way they treat...
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...characters. The Friar's role as the friend and advisor to Romeo and Juliet highlights the conflict between parents and their children within the play. The centrality of the Friar's role suggests a notable failure of parental love. Romeo and Juliet can't tell their parents of their love because of the quarrel between the two families. In their isolation, Romeo and Juliet turn to the Friar who can offer neutral advice. At first, the Friar can't believe how quickly Romeo has abandoned Rosaline and fallen in love with Juliet, so he reminds Romeo of the suddenness of his decisions. The Friar uses the formal language of rhyme and proverbs to stress the need for caution to Romeo. However, he agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet in the hope that their marriage will heal the rift between the Montagues and the Capulets. His decision to marry the lovers is well-meaning but indicates that he has been naive in his assessment of the feud and hasn't reflected on the implications of Romeo and Juliet's clandestine marriage. The conflict between youth and old age also manifests itself in the Friar's relationship with Romeo and Juliet. When Friar Laurence tries to soothe Romeo's grief at the news of his banishment with rational argument, Romeo quickly responds that if the Friar were young and in love, he wouldn't accept such advice any better. The Friar's knowledge of plants — especially their dual qualities to heal and hurt — play an important role in the action that follows. His attempts...
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...Shakespeare’s tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet, focuses on the deaths of the two teens, Romeo and Juliet. Poor mentorship grouped with fate and the anatomy of the teenage brain are most responsible for the deaths of the young lovers, demonstrating that when teenagers make poor decisions, it is not entirely their own faults. The first factor affecting the two deaths is poor mentorship. The main adult in who supported the love of Romeo and Juliet’s throughout the story was Friar Lawrence. The reason the Friar was a poor mentor for the teens is because he did not take a stand against the two kids, even though he knew they were making a wrong decision. The Friar gives advice to Romeo by saying, “These violent delights have violent...
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...Assignment 1 Romeo and Juliet Contents: Page 1 – Contents page Page 2 – Essay: Romeo and Juliet Page 4 – Bibliography Essay: Romeo and Juliet In this essay I will look at and analyse lines 1 to 30 spoken by Friar Lawrence in Act 2 Scene 3 of the play Romeo and Juliet and prove the importance of these lines towards the plot and how it acts as a premonition of the tragedy to come. I believe these lines prove to be of great importance as they lead the audience to the tragedy that is to come. These lines give the audience an idea of the events that may come to pass as the words spoken act as a premonition of the course of tragic events to come. In lines one to four of this scene, Friar Lawrence begins by describing the beauty of the sunrise, which in turn contrasts with how Romeo and Juliet had viewed the sunrise in the preceding scene. The couple see the sunrise as a sign that their night together is over and that they must now say good bye, however the friar sees the sunrise optimistically, although we know that light is not always equated with good in the play, just as night is not always linked with evil, bad or other negative connotations. Therefore light could symbolise the dark tragedy that is looming ahead of them, as opposed to something good. The friar’s optimistic view of the sunrise as something good and positive is indicative of his naivety, which proves to be of great importance in the course of the play. These four opening lines of the scene direct the audience...
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...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 five-part structure of a tragedy, Shakespeare employs his characteristic...
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...It is safe to say most people have at least heard of or have a brief understanding of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. If not, the story follows two young lovers who- through a series of unfortunate events- end up separated This ends with the infamous climax of Juliet faking her death, Romeo not faking his own death, and Juliet actually killing herself. While one could argue that the fates of Romeo and Juliet could be caused by either their own decisions or luck, I have substantial evidence that the former is more responsible. In order to have a higher understanding of the plot, there are a few things to know. There are two houses feuding in the land of Verona called Capulet and Montague. Romeo, the son of the Montagues, goes to a party to...
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...To put Romeo and Juliet into perspective, you will need to know a bit about William Shakespeare, the origins of the story, and its influence today. Shakespeare William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. His father sold gloves and became an important person in the town. William, one of eight children, was the eldest son, and probably educated at the local grammar school. He married when he was only 18 and his wife, Anne Hathaway, was eight years older than him. They had two girls and a boy (who died aged 11). Nobody knows how Shakespeare began to write, or when he entered the theatre. But we know he became a leading member of the theatre troupe known as 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men'. The company proved very popular, and later, when King James I granted it the right to perform at his court, became known as 'The King's Men'. Shakespeare wrote more than 30 plays for 'The King's Men', making it the most important theatre company in the country. He often wrote parts for particular actors, too. He was very successful and wealthy in his time, and his work has remained very popular ever since Romeo and Juliet in Popular Culture The basic story, of two young lovers from opposing families in Italy, had been popular for hundreds of years before Shakespeare wrote the play. However, there is no evidence Romeo or Juliet ever actually existed. We think Shakespeare based the play on a poem he had read. What makes Romeo and Juliet special is how Shakespeare tells the story...
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...the play to find as many light and dark images as you can. In each case, identify the context; who is speaking? When and where? What kind of effects do these images have? Light and dark imagery: Act 1 scene 1- scene 4 Montague says: Away from light steals home my heavy son Shut up his windows, locks fair daylight out And makes himself an artificial night He talks about Romeo as he is depressed and locked himself in a room. Capulet says: At my poor house look to behold this night Earth treading stars that make heaven light He means there will be a lot of beautiful ladies at the party and their beauties will light up the night sky. Romeo says: Give me a torch: I am not for this ambling Being but heavy, I will bear the light Romeo said this to Benvolio at Capulet party. He doesn’t want to wear a mask because he is in the bad mood, heavy and he will stand still and carry the light. Romeo says: But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun Romeo said this to Juliet. He is saying that her beauty is like the sun. Shining beauty, pure, shiny. Romeo says: Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she Romeo said this to Juliet at the balcony. He is saying that he does not want the sun to arise because that means he will have to go home and there are chances that he will see Juliet again. Act 1 scene 5 Romeo says: ...
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