The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

Once in our lifetimes we all go through a tragedy, but who is responsible? In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, several characters are responsible for the deaths in the play. The characters; the Capulets, Friar Laurence, and Tybalt are the ones most responsible.

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

The theme of fate and fortune in Romeo and Juliet is shown by the line ‘A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life’. The word, ‘star-cross’d’ portray that the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, will meet because the stars are aligned for them. This shows that fate is a concept in Shakespeare's play. Fortune was a big part of the Elizabethan world and was believed to be the main controlling force in life. From zodiac signs to the wheel of Fortune, Elizabethan’s believed in fate and the

SAMPSON A dog of that house shall move me to stand. I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague’s.

The ideology that everything in the universe has a specific place and rank in order of their hierarchy importance created by God is known as the concept of The Great Chain of Being. The order of this concept consisted levels according to highest rank to the lowest accordingly: God, angels, humanity, animals, vegetation life, leading all the way down to crud. Within each category, more specific classification existed, placing these subcategories in a specific order. This concept was believed to be a way to keep the universe in order. As this was believed during Elizabethan times, William Shakespeare also believed in the Great Chain of Being, as many of his plays are prominently based on this concept. Some of his plays include characters that accept their place on the Chain, but others are not so complacent. By examining three different characters from Shakespeare’s tragedies, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and The Tragedy of King Lear, it is obvious to readers who is content with their place on the Chain and which characters have a difficult time accepting their place. Romeo and Juliet do not obey their parents’ orders, therefore suffer harsh consequences towards the end of the play. Macbeth is another Shakespearean character that violates the Chain, due to the committing of several murders, in order to gain the throne. In stark contrast, Cordelia, is content with her place on the Chain as she does not want anything greater in life, unlike her

Romeo and Juliet who were “star cross’d lovers “, meaning that the two were chosen by fate to be together. Even though they were chosen by the stars, Shakespeare says that they were “death mark’d”, implying that the only way to preserve their love was in the afterlife. Many tragedies that occurred were intended to happen, for instance, when Tybalt was killed by Romeo. Shakespeare creates the character Tybalt to refer to him as “Fortunes fool”, thus meaning he is merely just a puppet being toyed by fate. But before anyone was massacred, fate already had arranged Romeo and Juliet’s marriage to go downhill when Lord Capulet decided for Juliet to marry Paris.

In the play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, William Shakespeare explores the idea of fate, through the characters experiences. The play was taken place during the Elizabethan Era where the social norms were completely different to those today and the idea of fate was well and truly believed by the society. Shakespeare incorporates this concept of fate in different ways, he makes references to celestial bodies, employs premonitions and orchestrates events where Romeo and Juliet have no prior knowledge off. He introduces the two young lovers as ‘star-crossed’, which means their relationship is destined to end in tragedy and this is supported by events that occur in the play. Specific events

Fate is something that Romeo and Juliet can not escape in the play no matter how hard they try.When talking about Fate in the story the stars are referenced by the characters to explain coincidences that may happen to them . Shakespeare makes the fate of the star-cross’d lovers story clear from the very beginning by stating in the prologue of Act I “The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love”. (DBQ:Project, 2013) When both characters discover the others death, even if it is at different times they both decide to blame Fate. Romeo references the stars once again because he did not want to believe that a higher power/Fate would take Juliet away from him. Juliet looks to Friar Lawrence to know Romeo is dead and he tells Juliet “A greater power than we can contradict”. (DBQ:Project, 2013) He led Juliet to believe that Fate was also to blame for her husband Romeo’s death. Fate was not one of the characters that caused as much harm as the other two, but was the most blameable character for others in the play.

Young lovers defy their families’ long-established vendetta and jeopardize all they have to continue their relationship. The violent commotion between the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, finally bring peace to their feuding families, with their own death. Like with many suicide cases, there are challenges and decisions being made that lead up to this decision. Often times, we question who contributed to the suicide. Regardless, others argue that Romeo and Juliet should be held accountable for their ultimate decision. Then again, there is no definite reason to assign fault to Romeo and Juliet. Not only are their brains not fully developed, but pressures from outside forces caused such stress within the relationship.

True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice. This is the dominant theme in Shakespeare 's The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, a play is about two rival noble families from Verona, the Capulets and Montagues. Indeed, the two families have such an ongoing hatred for each other that they are constantly feuding violently without end. Having had enough, Prince Escalus, the Prince of Verona, one day decrees the penalty of death to be upon the person who disrupts the peace again. It is against this vicious backdrop that Shakespeare by contrast, accentuates love in Romeo and Juliet. Three different types of love are depicted: the infatuation of Romeo, the son and heir of Montague, with a woman named Rosaline; the arranged love between Juliet, the daughter of Capulet, and Paris, a kinsman of Prince Escalus, whom Juliet’s parents have chosen to be her suitor; and ultimately, the true love between Romeo and Juliet, whose families are each other’s worst and greatest enemies.

For many, opportunities often arise that lead people to take the necessary actions in order to take control of the world around them. But without even realizing it, people are often forced into these situations through the actions of others, hinting the presence of fate. In the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the two constantly make hurried decisions as they are pushed into situations that are out of their control from a greater power other than their own. Shakespeare clearly portrays Romeo and Juliet as “star-crossed” lovers because while they often do make their own decisions, it is the actions and choices of others that inevitably lead them to their own fate.

In the story Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the “star-crossed” lovers took their life in an unfortunate series of events. Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence were all involved with the death of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo was impetuous and did not try to find the cause of Juliet’s “death”. Friar Lawrence was also unknowing of the future, but still gave an extremely important message, one that would define life and death, into the someone else’s hands. Certain actions, such as finding out about the Capulet party was fate. Although many events were caused by the lovers’ immaturity and impulsiveness, fate was the major cause for their deaths.

In the very first act of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare clearly states that the play is controlled by fate. In the prologue, it states that "a pair of star-cross 'd lovers take their life" (I. Prologue. 5-6). Shakespeare refers to them as star-crossed lovers because they are doomed due to the position of the planets when they were born. In other words, he is saying that these two lovers will die because of fate and will have no way of preventing it. Later in that act, shortly after meeting Juliet, Romeo says,

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is centered around the tragic story of two “star-cross’d lovers”. A tragedy is a dramatic story that chronicles the downfall or death of a tragic hero. Tragedies usually depict the causes of a tragic hero’s downfall, which are most commonly a tragic choice or a tragic flaw. There is often some sort of greater power at play in tragedies, like fate. A key aspect of tragedies is both fate and free will leading to the downfall of a tragic hero. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet’s immaturity, the feud between the houses Capulet and Montague, and fate cause the deaths of the two young lovers.

Destiny is no matter of chance. It’s a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved,” quoted by William Jennings Bryan. One of the most debated questions in history is whether our lives are ruled by fate or by own choice. William Shakespeare brings this question into play in his production Romeo and Juliet. Although fate does seam to be ruling over every situation, I believe that choice has more to do with this story then it’s really credited to. Even in the opening lines, this play drills into your head the inevitable outcome of the two lover’s deaths. When the chorus uses the phrase Star crossed lovers (I, 1,6) it clearly shows William Shakespeare’s thoughts on what killed Romeo and Juliet. This