Introduction

In this essay I am going to be writing about how William Shakespeare explores the ideas of fate in Romeo and Juliet. Firstly what is fate? Fate is the advancement of events impossible for the person to control, the person’s fate is controlled by a supernatural being or God. The .In the essay I am going to tell you where in the play has William Shakespeare used fate. The many ways Shakespeare explores fate in Romeo and Juliet is in the chorus where everything is revealed, in the meeting of Romeo and Juliet, love in first sight? In the characters script and the metaphors they use to describe what will or might happen, also in the way very important information that can change the course of the future and finally how if someone waited for five more seconds his knowledge will be proven wrong. Even though there are many I will tell you a few. As you may have figured out this essay is going to talk a lot about religion

First point-the chorus

The chorus is the character in the beginning that says in fourteen lines, the prologue, what the play is about and what happens at the end. Some of you might think that telling what happens in the whole play at the beginning is a spoiler and that this doesn’t have any thing to do with fate, however when Shakespeare tells his audience what is going to happen it shows that whatever the characters do there is no way for them to change what will happen in the future. God has set a path for them and they will follow the path to where ever it leads them. The chorus speaks of two families both high in power, who has started a feud that has started long ago and the only children from the two families will have been made for each other in the stars will meet and fall in love. Finally it says that the death of the two lovers will stop the feud forever and bring the families together. As we know this is true even though there are some side tracks and a few deaths their destiny was met and the families built golden statues of them together.

Second point-change of R and J meet

Secondly, the chance of Romeo and Juliet falling in love during their first glimpses of each other. Firstly, how did Romeo even get the chance to she her? Well, it all started when the Capulets arranged a feast for all their friends. To send the invitations to the guests they had to send a someone to the guests to inform them, luckily Romeo was on a stroll when the slave came up to him and asked him if he could help him read the names of the guests name. Only fate could have made the slave not able to read and this given the chance for Romeo to party crash this feast and find another women to get over Rosaline, his friends persuaded him to. He took down the information and that evening he was in Capulet’s mansion enjoying himself. Suddenly Romeo and Juliet, who was also in the feast, had look at each other, not knowing who the other one was, and fell in love. Their families just happen to be in a massive feud between each other. After this evening they couldn’t stop thinking about each other and when they met again they found out who the other person was and still didn’t care because it was just a name for them. this has to do with fate because they are sworn enemies in blood yet in heart they are star crossed lovers ready to take their lives away for each other.

metaphors and the things they talk about in their lines

Thirdly, the characters speech is very important, if not the most important, because in Shakespearean plays they lines and metaphors can, if understood clearly, tell what might happen in the future or end. Shakespeare uses many metaphor in his play. This is one.When Capulet’s party is breaking up, Juliet sends the Nurse to find out Romeo’s name. As the Nurse chases after Romeo, Juliet says, “If he be married. / My grave is like to be my wedding bed”. She means that if Romeo is married, she will die unmarried, because she will never marry another, but she is also unknowingly foreshadowing her fate, in which her grave does become her wedding bed. Also, as Friar Laurence and Romeo are waiting for Juliet, so the wedding can be performed, Friar Laurence says that he hopes everything will turn out well. He believes that this marriage could end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. Romeo, on the other hand, has no thought for anything except being joined to Juliet, and he says so: “Do thou but close our hands with holy words, / Then love-devouring death do what he dare; / It is enough I may but call her mine”, at the end their deaths does end the feud. Hopefully, know you can see how important the metaphors in the script is and that by using metaphors in the script it could give a clue of the future.

miss information friar Lawrence’s plan

During Romeo and Juliet a lot of drama needed to be created in order for the audience to be interested in what they were watching. The most dramatic scene was when Friar Lawrence’s plan ,to send Juliet into a deep sleep and when she wakes up she will open her eyes to her love, was not able to reach Romeo who was banished. Friar John was sent to inform Romeo of this plan, however, he was stopped by a contaminated town that told John to go back. The only reason that this could have happened was that God didn’t want Romeo to receive the plan. Unfortunately Romeo’s slave took a different route and told Romeo that Juliet is dead, we know she isn’t really dead but that is what everyone thinks, now including Romeo. This miss leading information made Romeo make a drastic action, to buy poison to kill himself because he doesn’t want to live with out Juliet. He rode to the tomb where Juliet is and talks about Juliet still looking alive but still believes that she is dead. He takes the poison and he dies. Juliet wakes up and is shocked in the position she is in. This shows a lot of fate in work because God could have stopped for there being a contaminated town that would have changed the future.

timing of the play

Finally, the timing of what happens in the play shows a lot of fate because you say wait one more second and the truth will unravel it self yet somehow they don’t wait. One of these is when Friar Lawrence is outside the tomb where Juliet and Romeo are. Romeo is inside the tomb drinking the poison while Juliet is waking up, Romeo is dead and Juliet is crying in the tomb while Friar Lawrence is outside about to enter the tomb. Unfortunately Juliet has stabbed herself in anger and sadness of the death of Romeo. Friar Lawrence enters and sees what he has done. If he entered the tomb about 30 seconds ago he would have been able to stop all this, however God has made him delayed and in time to see what he has done. Also, if Romeo talked for even longer before drinking the poison he would have been able to see Juliet awaken in her tomb. This shows how powerful fate is because is was their destiny to die so that the the families will stop the feud a live peacefully together, looking back at the prologue (wink, wink).

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think William Shakespeare explores the idea of fate very well in Romeo and Juliet. showing how important fate is and it can change the course of the future.

Bruke Workneh