Romeo and Juliet essay.

The idea of fate is largely explored in the play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’. William Shakespeare uses many different devices to communicate his ideas about fate such as, metaphors, plot events that seem like coincidences, and the prologue. Shakespeare grew up in a society where people believed god controlled their fates. The play reflects this.

The prologue of the play ensures that we know the ending before we even read the beginning of the script. The prologue itself creates this sense of fate by giving the audience the knowledge that Romeo and Juliet will die before the play has even commenced. William Shakespeare has used the quote “Star-crossed lovers; take their life” this is strongly leading back to the fact that Romeo and Juliet have fate and they are going to die. The play is more of a journey towards their death. We know what the ending is going to be, so we are more aware of the guidelines leading to the end. ‘Star-crossed’ meaning ill-fated, this is showing us that Romeo and Juliet not only have a fate, but they also have an ill-fated fate. A bad fate. They are destined to fail or have bad luck. The prologue is used to give the audience information that advances the plot. Shakespeare has used this to tell the audience that the play is set in Verona. We learn of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets and we learn the star-crossed lovers (Romeo and Juliet) come from these two feuding families. Romeo and Juliet came from a heritage of tragic romance leading back to the antiquity times. Most people in Shakespeare’s time which was the Elizabethan era believed in Astrology, the philosophy that a person’s life was partly determined by the stars and the planets.

The ship metaphor has been one of the main metaphors used in the play. Romeo has used this metaphor to express that fate is in control of Romeo’s life, which way he will sail, direct his path and which path he is going to take. Romeo talks about being on a ship on the ocean, with someone else doing the steering. It shows us Shakespeare’s belief of something other than himself, is controlling his fate. Shakespeare has used the quote “He that hath the steerage of my course, direct my sail” Steerage meaning: directing, responsibility for steering. Elizabethans believed that God set out an order for everything in the universe. This was well known as the Great Chain of Being. On earth, God created a social order for everybody and chose where you belonged. In other words, the King or Queen was in charge because God had put them there and they were only answerable to god. This meant that disobeying the monarch was a sin, which was clearly handy for keeping people in their place. Shakespeare has also used this quote “O, I am fortunes fool!” This quote was delivered by Romeo after his abrupt killing of Tybalt, this quote highlights Romeo’s guilt since he regards himself as a cruel victim of fate. It is important that by associating himself to an ignorant individual who has been deceived and who commits a crime in a moment of unblinking passion. This Metaphor implies that Romeo’s conviction in the fact that sometimes fate deceives us in inconceivable ways.

There have been a large variety of plot events that seem like coincidences in the play Romeo and Juliet. The definition of a coincidence is something that happens without a plan or an occurrence of events that happen. An example of this is when Friar John replies that he was unable to deliver the letter because he was shut up in quarantine, as a result of the plague. This shows as a coincidence because of the concurrence that the two families are at war, and Romeo did not get the letter. Another reason why this is a coincidence is that, in the end, they have to die. The plague happened because it had to in order for Romeo to not get the letter. The quote used in the play was “Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, and hither shall he come, and he an I will watch the waking, and that very night shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua.” Shakespeare is explaining Friar’s plan; Juliet will take the poison, leading her to a night of deep sleep. Everyone will think she is dead and take her away, therefore leaving her in the bottom of a tomb. Romeo will come to watch the awakening with Friar and the two of them (Romeo and Juliet) will then run away to Mantua together and live happily ever after. This, as we know never happened as of the letter not getting to Romeo. Fate is strongly shown here because we know they’re going to die, the plague is something that had to happen in order to cause the two deaths. During the Elizabethan Era, the belief was in acts of god. Elizabethans believed that god sent out an order for everything in the universe, this is shown in the form of fate.

In conclusion, William Shakespeare has explored the overall idea of fate using many different devices to communicate his ideas, such as; The prologue, metaphors and plot events that seem like coincidences.
From the play, I have gathered that Shakespeare lived in a society of people who believed and relied a lot on god along with fate. Shakespeare has indicated this throughout the play in many different ways. Elizabethan Era strongly believed in superstition, destiny, fate, and the wheel of fortune. They believed in God being in control of you. It was believed that one’s fate was determined by the stars and god had already planned your destiny beforehand. Overall Shakespeare has used solid information to support the belief of fate, being destiny.
By Aneka Rossiter