Conscious Decisions Puppeteering One’s Fate
The choices one makes out of their own free will, ultimately determines their fate. In Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet, the theme of conscious choices, deciding one’s destiny is expressed through the tragic outcome that occurs due to Romeo and Juliet’s poor decision making. Romeo and Juliet’s weaknesses provoked them to make flawed choices out of their own free will, deciding what path their lives would take; ending in a deadly situation for both of them.
Shakespeare begins the play, by introducing subtle implications about the play 's tragedy being fate. In the prologue, Shakespeare gives the audience the climax of the play before it even begins. This is evident when he says; “From forth the fatal …show more content…
Romeo’s irrational behaviour causes him to easily fall in love with Juliet after finding out the girl he loved before, Rosaline, had taken the vow of chastity. He rushes things with Juliet; the very first night they meet, he confesses his love for her, decides to get married, and plans their wedding. Juliet realizes how preposterous Romeo was being when they first met, and indicates it to him when she says; “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden / Too like the lightning which doth cease to be” (2.2.125-126). The decision to get married when first meeting is extremely irrational considering that both families of the adolescents are in a feud; additionally, the two of them do not know each other well enough at the time to even be aware of the circumstance. Furthermore, Juliet’s parents set forth for her to marry Paris because they believe she is grieving Tybalt’s death and want to give her a healthy distraction. Juliet’s defiance plays a role when she fakes her death in order to avoid marrying Paris. She goes to Friar Laurence for guidance, and he elucidates a plan when telling her; “Now, when the bridegroom comes to get you out of bed on Thursday morning, you’ll seem dead. Meanwhile, I’ll send Romeo word of our plan. He’ll come here, and we’ll keep a watch for when you wake up. That night, Romeo will take you away to Mantua.” (4.1.104-111). Juliet chooses to commit pseudocide because she chose to betray her parents and marry a Montague; because of her decision, she now has to cover up the consequences of it in order to avoid bringing shame upon her family. Her decision to commit pseudocide also brings forth new risks to her situation, because there is no way to officially ensure that Romeo will receive a message indicating that she is not dead. Each conscious choice taken by Romeo and Juliet throughout the play, led to another series of consequences;
The choices one makes out of their own free will, ultimately determines their fate. In Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet, the theme of conscious choices, deciding one’s destiny is expressed through the tragic outcome that occurs due to Romeo and Juliet’s poor decision making. Romeo and Juliet’s weaknesses provoked them to make flawed choices out of their own free will, deciding what path their lives would take; ending in a deadly situation for both of them.
Shakespeare begins the play, by introducing subtle implications about the play 's tragedy being fate. In the prologue, Shakespeare gives the audience the climax of the play before it even begins. This is evident when he says; “From forth the fatal …show more content…
Romeo’s irrational behaviour causes him to easily fall in love with Juliet after finding out the girl he loved before, Rosaline, had taken the vow of chastity. He rushes things with Juliet; the very first night they meet, he confesses his love for her, decides to get married, and plans their wedding. Juliet realizes how preposterous Romeo was being when they first met, and indicates it to him when she says; “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden / Too like the lightning which doth cease to be” (2.2.125-126). The decision to get married when first meeting is extremely irrational considering that both families of the adolescents are in a feud; additionally, the two of them do not know each other well enough at the time to even be aware of the circumstance. Furthermore, Juliet’s parents set forth for her to marry Paris because they believe she is grieving Tybalt’s death and want to give her a healthy distraction. Juliet’s defiance plays a role when she fakes her death in order to avoid marrying Paris. She goes to Friar Laurence for guidance, and he elucidates a plan when telling her; “Now, when the bridegroom comes to get you out of bed on Thursday morning, you’ll seem dead. Meanwhile, I’ll send Romeo word of our plan. He’ll come here, and we’ll keep a watch for when you wake up. That night, Romeo will take you away to Mantua.” (4.1.104-111). Juliet chooses to commit pseudocide because she chose to betray her parents and marry a Montague; because of her decision, she now has to cover up the consequences of it in order to avoid bringing shame upon her family. Her decision to commit pseudocide also brings forth new risks to her situation, because there is no way to officially ensure that Romeo will receive a message indicating that she is not dead. Each conscious choice taken by Romeo and Juliet throughout the play, led to another series of consequences;