Theme of fate in Romeo & Juliet - GCSE coursework

In William Shakespeare's tragic play Romeo and Juliet, there are four quotes about fate and choice. The characters in the play choose their own fate, it happens because of their choices or actions. First, in the beginning of the play Romeo and Juliet are referred to as 'a pair of star-crossed lovers' (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue). Second, Romeo explains to Mercutio how he has a dream that if he goes to the Montague party he will die, but Romeo chooses to go to the party anyway. Third, Romeo kills Tybalt right after his marriage to Juliet. Fourth, Romeo decides to commit suicide because he hears of Juliet's death.

     Fate, for better or worse, interrupts everyone’s daily life, whether he/she chooses to acknowledge it or not. Thinking about fate conjures up different feelings for different people; some people believe strongly in it, some people think of fate as ridiculous, and some do not care one way or the other. However, in many instances, such as in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, far too many coincidences occur to be strictly coincidental. Fate creates a powerful effect throughout the entire play, starting in the prologue, continuing as Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love, and tragically ending in the lovers’ deaths.

Fate is a hidden, but unavoidable force that leads to certain consequences in people’s lives. The theme of fate plays a crucial role in the main characters of the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet share a destiny that dooms them to tragic deaths immediately after the exchange of their zealous love. Despite their resolute attempts to challenge their destiny, the lovers still succumb to the inexorable powers of fate. In the Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, the principle of fate propels the lovers together with infatuation, tears them apart through a bitter demise, yet, ensures peace in Verona for many future generations.

The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, published in 1597. It is a story about how, “A pair of star-cross’d lovers [Romeo and Juliet] take their lives…/The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love…” (Prologue of Romeo and Juliet, 6-9) as they are forbidden to be together due to a long lasting and ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families. Their deaths are the results of many characters’ actions and fate, and there is not one distinctive person that can be blam¬ed for the young lovers’ deaths. Friar Lawrence is not to blame for these deaths as fate played a major role in their demise, he warned Romeo of his impulsive and unwise decision making, and his intentions were to abolish the ongoing feud between the two families. Further examination will prove that Friar Lawrence is innocent and his intensions were far from the passing of the two lovers.

In the book Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, fate plays a large role in moving the plot along. It does this by bringing people together. Fate also plays a role in a couple people’s deaths, including the main characters, Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet is a classic love story written by William Shakespeare, in the Elizabethan era of English history. The work tells of the fatal attraction between Romeo and Juliet, how they met and why, their falling in love and their ultimate sacrifice for each other’s love, their actual lives. Fate has complete control, is a theme that is riddled throughout the text written by Shakespeare. It is essentially pointing out the view that everything we do or will, is at the mercy of fate, and whatever we do to counteract it, fate still holds the final judgement over our lives. This theme is also prevalent in cinematic codes written into both the visual representations of the Shakespearean love story by Franco Zefirelli and Baz Luhrmann. Two

In the play, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, is about two “star crossed” lovers who are destined to end in a tragic accident. Fate is the path that leads to the future and cannot be altered no matter the outcome. Set in Shakespearean time, fate was believed to be in control of people’s lives. The fact that Romeo and Juliet would never live a peaceful life, none of the tragedies would have not taken place if they had not met. In the prologue of the play, Shakespeare outlines that “two star’d crossed lovers take their life”. This foreshadowing creates the sense that fate shall claim superiority. The powerful nature of Romeo

Fate was foreshadowed to be an antagonist in the play Romeo and Juliet; even before the play started; it was foreshadowed in the prologue that the “star-crossed lovers” were “death-marked”. Fate impedes the union of a happy marriage between Romeo and Juliet by throwing many barricades in their way. One such barrier is their lineage; because Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, they are enemies by blood. Nevertheless, they

In William Shakespeare’s play, “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”, fate plays one of the largest roles in the plot. In order to understand how fate plays a role it is important to examine how the story begins, when Romeo meets Juliet, and when Romeo fights Tybalt after Tybalt kills Mercutio.

One of the most memorable lines from the film is Romeo’s “Oh I am fortune’s fool,” which is repeated three times after he kills Tybalt. That scene is also very powerful with Romeo kneeling before the large statue of Jesus, covered in blood and rain falling all around him. This makes Romeo appear to be very weak and defenceless. This idea is enforced by Luhrmann’s camera angle. He chose to make a very high camera angle, looking down on Romeo, making him seem even smaller. This gives us the idea that Romeo is being controlled by an above force that has already decided his future. Another example of how Luhrmann develops fate is by having Romeo comment on how alive Juliet gazes before looking away while she moves slightly. When he looks at her again she is still but then he stares up at the ceiling and says his final few words. During his speech Juliet opens her eyes. Just as Romeo swallows the poison Juliet touches his face. When Romeo first sees Juliet after breaking into her tomb in the play, he comments on alive she appears but she is still asleep and does not wake until shortly after his death. After seeing her soul-mate dead, Juliet kills herself. This really emphasises Shakespeare’s idea of fate because Luhrmann shows us that no matter how close Romeo and Juliet were to spending their lives together, they were never going to because fate was never on their

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 has always been of interest to society, and even today, people continue to question whether someone’s life is destined for a certain fate, or if it is shaped by their own free-will. Such thoughts come into play throughout various acts and scenes of Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s play often strongly suggests that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is built upon fate and free-will. There are many critics who argue fate is what makes up this play in its entirety due to the various fate related ideas evoked throughout it. Although fate does indeed play some roles in the shaping of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, overall, it is free-will that plays a much greater role throughout their tragedy and is ultimately at work in this play.

Fate is defined as, ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power’. In the time in which ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written, many people were strong believers of fate and it was a common belief in society. William Shakespeare was a famous poet who is recognised for his powerful writing and contribution to the English language. One of William Shakespeare’s highly recognised plays is ‘Romeo and Juliet’ written in the late 1500’s. It is a play about two star-crossed lovers alongside fate who by their death end the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Friar Laurence is not to blame for the tragic events which occurs in the play due to the fact that other

Many people don 't believe that fate even exists. These people feel that one controls his or her own future. But in the case of the play, Romeo and Juliet written by Willian Shakespeare, this is not true. Romeo and Juliet is a story about two "star-crossed lovers" who ultimately die due to their fate. Since the moment they first time they met, things began in motion. These two lovers could not have done anything to change their course of fate, thus, why the story of Romeo and Juliet is a story controlled by fate, rather than a tragedy.

Most of Shakespeare's plays are conceived around a foundation in either tragedy or comedy, this polarity of themes allowing him to experiment with the full range of human emotions. Typically, an integral part of a Shakespearean tragedy is love, which is frustrated by a breakdown in order, or the character of the hero, due to some human limitation. The play Romeo and Juliet has all these typical characteristics. However, the resultant conclusion of events for the characters in this tragedy is adversely affected by the hands of fate, and not solely the product of human limitations. Fate in fact has a decisive role in the events of the play; it is a series of rapid coincidental events, which lead to the final tragedy.