Preview

Essay On Free Will In Romeo And Juliet

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1004 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Free Will In Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare is considered to be one of the best plays in history. The two household, Montague and Capulet has been in a long feud with each other in the city of Verona. Romeo, a Montague and Juliet, a Capulet are two lovers who meets at a party and faces obstacles to be with each other despite the history of their family. At the end, the lovers chooses to kill themselves for each other’s deaths. Fate is to blame the lovers’ deaths because fates power is uncontrollable and already determined while the characters trip over the obstacles.

First, fate is uncontrollable because the superstitious feeling Romeo had before attending the Capulet’s dance and when Juliet’s mother tells Juliet to marry Paris..
…show more content…
Romeo sees Tybalt, a Capulet and Mercutio in a fight, but when Romeo tries to stop the fight, Tybalt kills Mercutio. This fires Romeo to kill Tybalt because of Tybalt’s actions; “O, I am a fortune’s fool!” (3.1.142). He exclaims that he is not responsible of Tybalt’s death, but simply fate has determined his actions. Romeo is manipulated by fate because his morals are covered by his anger and also feels that his fortune is atrocious since he might be put to death by the order of the town from killing Tybalt. Adding on , Friar Lawrence blames fate at the end how the actions determined the death’s of the lovers. Romeo speaks, “is it e’en so? - Then I deny you, stars!-” (5.1.25). After hearing Juliet is dead from Balthasar, he blames on the stars, the place where the power is determined. Some may say Friar Lawrence gave Juliet a vial that makes Juliet in sleep condition for 42 hours so she would not have to marry Paris; “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilling liquor drink thou off”(4.1.95-95). However, it was Juliet’s decision to drink the potion in the vial so she would avoid to marry Paris. Overall, fate determined the actions Romeo took, and the Friar Lawrence blaming fate after knowing the lover's’

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Throughout the play Romeo made many personal choices that led his life to end as it did. The first choice he made was to go to a part he was not invited to. “ But he that hath the steerage of my course! Direct my sail”(pg.200). Romeo is persuaded to go to a party he didn’t want to go to because he knew he wasn’t invited. Romeo could have stayed home and not went to the party but he made the choice to follow is friends in. The main choice that ended Romeo’s life was when he bought a potion to kill himself. “Come, cordial and not poison, go with me to juliet’s gravel; for there must i use thee”. Romeo is told Juliet is dead and decides to by a poison to kill himself . This choice is what ended Romeo’s life, fate had no such say in his life ending.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fate is partially to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because the Friar’s plan was ruined due to unpreventable circumstances. In the very first lines of the play the prologue establishes that Romeo and Juliet’s love opposed fate. They are called, “star-cross’d lovers” (Doc A) who possess a, “death-mark’d love” (Doc A). This indicates that their love went against the stars and their relationship was doomed from the start. Even before Romeo was banished, Romeo and Juliet were marked for death. Then, the Friar's plan was disrupted by an unstoppable force, fate. Friar Lawrence tells Juliet when she awakes, “A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents” (Doc E). Fate had intervened and caused the lovers' downfall. No…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues leads to envy and many secrets. Romeo and Juliet see each other in secrecy without the families knowing of their relationship. The discrimination between the houses, and the lack of hope between the fake lovers caused confusion between Romeo and Juliet. The decisions to commit suicide by Romeo and Juliet were fueled by anger, lust, and haste.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “These violent delights have violent ends,/ And their triumph die, like fire and powder./ Which as they kiss consume”(II, ⅵ, 9-11). “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is a romantic love story about two people from families that have a long time hatred for eachother. The main Characters are Romeo from the Montague family and Juliet from the Capulet family. Their first encounter was at a masquerade ball and they instantly fell in love at first sight. They quickly got married, then soon after, their relationship started to go downhill after some unfortunate events, which ultimately led to the death of both Romeo and Juliet. There were many factors that caused the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet including Friar Lawrence, Romeo, and Romeo and…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet are victims of free will because their decisions lead to their ultimate death. Several times throughout the play either Romeo or Juliet’s decisions leads them farther and farther apart. Firstly, after Capulet’s ball, Tybalt fights Murcutio and Romeo decides to intervene in the fight. This leads to Tybalt stabbing Murcutio and Romeo taking revenge by killing Tybalt. After this incident, the Prince declares “Let Romeo hence in haste, / Else when he is found, that hour is his last” (3.1.204-205). This incident turns the plot of the whole story because it tears Romeo and Juliet’s dreams apart. On the other hand, after hours of grieving for Romeo, Juliet asks the Friar to clean up her…

    • 243 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The first reason why fate was who to blame was because the servant that was suppose handout the invitations to the party but he couldn’t read so Romeo just so happen to be by him. The servant asked Romeo to read it for him so by…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare's, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are a young couple with rivaling families that fall in love also known as the star-crossed lovers. They go through many challenges in their relationship but in the end, it leads those challenges to their deaths. They both express irresponsibility through their impulsive and rash actions that contribute to their deaths but there are a couple of characters throughout the play that helps lead Romeo and Juliet to their deaths. In the end, there are many characters to take fault for both Romeo and Juliet's Death. In William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet's death are to blame by Friar Laurence, The Rivalling families, and Tybalt Capulet.…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Modern day society promotes individualism and self-responsibility. Yet somehow, fate exists as an intrinsic part of many people’s lives. This paradox in mindset shows how logical reasoning, common sense, and science bow down for the supernatural force that guides one through life, fate, for better or worse. Such is seen clearly in the dialogue and actions of the characters in Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare. Taking place in 14th century Verona, Romeo and Juliet describes the tragedy that ensues when two feuding families’ children fall in love, but fate ensures both of their suicides. The villainous acts of fate prove that fate makes one helpless against decisions in life, belief in fate becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When being interviewed Brazilian, novelist and lyricist, Paulo Coelho claimed, “I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfil our destiny, but our fate is sealed”. In today's society, many people are conflicted on whether events in one’s lives are driven by one's choices or are simply meant to be. Coelho believes that both free will and fate play a role in one’s life, he says that one has the power to make certain choices, but in the end it all comes down to fate. The concept of fate versus free will can be seen in the fictional pieces, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, “Pyramus…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This play is a tale of two lovers, tied together by death due to ancient family hostility. Throughout the play, this couple, madly in love, made every effort to see each other. The love-struck pair secretly wed and planned to escape Verona together. Despite their families’ many quarrels, true love prevailed; they died in each other’s embraces and the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets came to an end. In Romeo and Juliet, a sweetly painful drama, Shakespeare uses metaphors, oxymorons, and foreshadowing to convey powerful emotions.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fate uses the actions and choices of other characters to contribute to the reasons of Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths. A main reason why Romeo and Juliet meet their fate is that in the beginning of the book Rosalind rejects Romeo. After Benvolio sees Romeo moping and learns that Capulet is hosting apart Benvolio says, “at this …feast of Capulet’s…Compare face with some that I shall show, and I will make thee think thy swan a crow,”(I,iii,89-94). Since Rosaline turned Romeo down he is now free to go to the party with Benvolio to meet Juliet. Also Benvolio is doing this to try and cheer Romeo up, so if Rosaline accepted Romeo’s advances Romeo would not need cheering up and would not have met Juliet at the party. Another…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story based in Verona in the 1500s. A feud between the Montagues and Capulets has waged on for generations and generations. There is only one child from both these houses; Romeo is the only child from the Montagues and Juliet is the only child from the Capulets. Ironically, Romeo and Juliet fall in love and, due to fear of their family’s hatred for each other, get married in secret. Their secret, forbidden love ends when Romeo and Juliet commit suicide. Romeo is the protagonist, heir to Montague and tragic hero in this play. He is a passionate and impulsive character that makes him perfect for his part.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Friar Lawrence tells Friar John to send Romeo a letter so that he is aware of Juliet’s fake death. Romeo is ought to visit Juliet and wake her up. However, since the letter is not sent, Romeo actually considers Juliet’s death to be true. In the text it states, “And hire those horses. I’ll be with thee straight. Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight” (Shakespeare 213). This quote indicates that Romeo’s death is arriving and that he will kill himself. Romeo desires to go back to Verona to lie with his dear Juliet. Romeo even purchases a sleeping poison from an apothecary (drug seller). Romeo is fated to believe that Juliet is actually dead and Juliet is ought to wake up and find Romeo dead. By the end of the play, Juliet actually does wake up to find both Paris and Romeo dead. Juliet kisses Romeo to see if he is actually dead, resulting in no reaction from the lifeless and breathless Romeo. Juliet takes a dagger and stabs herself to be with Romeo. The misconception and failure of delivering the letter to Romeo are the final steps that lead to both Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. It is neither Friar Lawrence nor Friar John’s fault for not being able to deliver to letter to Romeo. While trying to send the letter to Romeo, Friar John is shut up in a quarantined house due to an outbreak of plague. Friar John is not to blame for being unable to deliver the letter to Romeo in…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oh, Romeo

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the drama, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, a series of misfortunate events occur within less than a week, resulting in the deaths of the two protagonists, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet; thus, they “buried their parents’ strife.” In the play, many, if not all, of the characters played an ultimate role in the tragedy. Romeo and Juliet's unfortunate deaths can be considered the fault of Tybalt, Lord Capulet, and the "star crossed lovers" themselves.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fate means an event that will inevitably happen in the future. Romeo and Juliet's relationship was not in the hands of the stars but in their own hands. One reason why Romeo and Juliet's relationship was not predestined was when Romeo decided to go to uninvited to the Capulet Ball. Another justification that illustrated Romeo and Juliet's independent action was when they decided to keep their marriage a secret. Finally, the third example of their action was when Romeo killed Tybalt. These actions show why Romeo and Juliet did in fact cause their own death.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays