Fate and Free Will in Romeo and Juliet - 1546 Words

CONSIDER THE ROLE OF FATE AND FREE-WILL IN THE PLAY It might seem at first glance that the role of fate in the play is crucial to its outcome. Certainly many of the characters blame fate/destiny for what happens to them, and the language of the play does at times encourage the audience to view the events as dominated by fate. Romeo for example describes himself as fortunes fool, and the prologue seems to follow his judgement in its pronunciation of the couple as a pair of star crossd lovers. The play is full of ominous lines which take various forms. Firstly, there is the kind of comment by the speaker that all is not well, such as in Act 1, Scene 4 when Romeo and Mercutio discuss Romeos dream in which he has had a premonition that†¦show more content†¦Clearly it isnt either Romeo or Juliets, but its hardly fate either – the feud is created by human rather than supernatural forces. Right from the beginning of the play, when a quarrel between servants develop into a full-blown fight, we see how volatile the situation is , and its hardly comes as a surprise to us therefore that, later on, the quarrels become more violent and lead to the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio. The older generation arent exactly good role models in terms of accepting responsbility for their own actions: old Montague and Capulet blame each other for their petty feud, the Nurse enthusiastically tries to be the orchestrator of Juliets life, and even the well-intentioned Friar comes up with his meddling and grand schemes for unity mainly out of desperation, and which we feel were thus bound to go wrong at some point. It is significant in this respect that, at the end, old Montague and Capulet do finally take on board their own responsibility in having set the tragedy in motion, with even the Prince admitting that he turned a blind eye to (winking at) the discords of the two families – social harmony is restored only when personal responsibility is accepted and that the play ends of this note suggests that it is a central th eme of the play. Much of the plot does hang on some rather implausible coincidences, and these have often been argued to lend substance to the belief thatShow MoreRelatedRomeo and Juliet Fate or Free Will797 Words   |  4 PagesRomeo and Juliet, Fate or Free will? The story of Romeo and Juliet is a tragic tale of love and hate. The story ends in conflict and controversy because of their families and other outside forces in which fate was a factor. 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