Romeo and Juliet - Tragedy in Fate

Romeo and Juliet - Tragedy in Fate

  • Submitted By: CalMc
  • Date Submitted: 12/04/2008 6:06 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 335
  • Page: 2
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Romeo and Juliet
By William Shakespeare

“The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a result of fate”.

‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a story of tragedy, haste and fate. Romeo and Juliet were obvious victims of fate and subject to forces that were out of their control, but critical choices also contributed to their tragedy.
Hatred between the families plays a huge part in the tragedy because it forced them to hide their forbidden love and be secretive. An example of this in the text is “my name dear saint is hateful to myself because its an enemy to thee”. Fate brings them together and they cannot control the conflict around them so they make hasty decisions. Because Romeo and Juliet fall in love and marry so quickly, the hasty decisions they make lead to tragic events. “Wisely and Slow they stumble that run fast”. Choosing to marry in secret means that Romeo does not even tell his best friend, Mercutio. “These violent delights have violent ends.”
Romeo is then faced with either defending the name of his new wife or defending Mercutio. He makes a clear choice by killing Tybalt, which lead to his banishment and a chain of events which ends with the star-crossed lovers deaths.This is an example of a impulsive choice been made rather than fate controlling events.
Therefore it was not just fate that led to the tragedy but the hasty decisions the couple made, such as rushing to marry in secret, the death of Tibalt (which occurred due to this secrecy), the plan of Juliet and the Friar to fake her death resulting in Romeo hastily buying poison. Romeo challenges fate when he says, ‘Will I set up my everlasting rest, or shake the yolk of inauspicious stars’.
Romeo and Juliet believed they were fighting against their fate “O I am Fortune’s fool” “I defy you, stars!” but in the end it was chance and impulsiveness that led to the tragedy of Romeo and his Juliet.

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