Tuesday 24 March 2009

Romeo and Juliet Essay Plan - Fate

Another 'Romeo and Juliet' essay. This is answers a theme question from a higher exam paper. Is there a mystical force at work in the play? Or does the tragedy just come from bad luck?

Question -

Choose a play in which a main theme is made clear early in the action. Show how the dramatist introduces the theme and discuss how successfully he or she goes on to develop it.

Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tale about a ‘love at first sight’ which leads to tragedy; its impact comes from the two lovers escaping their violent world through the power of love, yet from the start of the play, there are hints that fate is against them. During the Renaissance, beliefs in supernatural powers affecting human events were commonplace and this is explored by various references in the play.

The prologue introduces the idea that ‘two star-crossed lovers take their life’, This suggests the events of the play have already been ‘written in the stars’. This theme is continued in Act I Scene V, where Romeo attends the Capulets masked ball to take his mind off his unrequited love for Rosaline. There he sees the daughter of his families sworn enemy, and the two fall in love at first sight. However, both are unaware of this fact at the time and come to learn it later on in the night: ‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ The repetition of ‘Romeo’ shows Juliets anguish, and her disbelief at the minute chances of Romeo being from her family’s worst enemies.

Perhaps the most evident development in the theme of fate comes in the turning point of the play, and key scene Act III Scene I. In this scene, Romeo tries to break up a fight between Mercutio and Tybalt, but tragically his mistake helps Tybalt slay Mercutio. Romeo then avenges Mercutio, after stating that ‘fiery eyed fury be my conduct now’. Romeo believes that this outcome was already predetermined by fate: ‘O, I am fortune’s fool.’ This shows that Romeo believes that fate was set to follow its course, and that he was simply fulfilling his fate. By having these unlikely “misadventured piteous overthrows” Shakespeare is able to manipulate and strictly enforce the theme of fate, which he picks up on again later in Act V.

Yes this also shows that Romeo is perhaps reluctant to take full responsibility for his actions. He shows naiveté in assuming that Tybalt will leave him in peace; the fact he has just married Tybalt’s cousin seems to blind his reason. This is a tension throughout the play – the references to fate suggest that supernatural forces are at work, yet the tragedy comes about because of human passions.

After Romeo’s exile, the Friar and Juliet form a plan to get him back in, but it seems once again that fate has intervened, against the hapless lovers: ‘A greater power than we can contradict/Hath thwarted our intents.’ The Friar believes there was nothing that anyone could do, and that fate was always going to run its course for better or for worse.

Upon hearing the news, Romeo decides to return from exile to be with Juliet in death. He tries to defy fate, exclaiming: ‘I defy you, stars!’ Once again, the idea of his fate already being written in the stars is included, and it also shows that Romeo is eager not to let fate prevail. However, Shakespeare's inclusion of this helps bring an effective conclusion to the theme of fate; in Romeo trying to defy his fate, he is in fact tragically fulfilling it. It emphasizes that Romeo’s rash impulsiveness is as much the agent of this tragedy as any mystical force.

And thus, Shakespeare effectively introduces and develops the theme of fate. By using a prologue to introduce the theme, and putting the emphasis on the theme of fate in the turning point, Shakespeare develops the theme in what I deem to be a successful and entertaining way.

My comment -

The theme of fate in 'Romeo and Juliet' is slightly harder to discuss than the theme of love and hate, or society. Although the playwright tells the audience that the stars have determined that the lovers will die a tragic death, and Romeo tells the audience that he is 'fortune's fool', in fact the whole play could have easily turned out differently if Romeo and Juliet had made better decisions. You can contrast this with 'MacBeth', where the whole play is built around a prophecy and all the action leads up to his defeat.

Personally, I think the two lovers were acting impulsively because they were surrounded by violence and early death. This explains Juliet's last monologue before taking the sleeping draught in act 4, scene 3. She thinks about all her relatives in the family mausoleum, including that of her young cousin, Tybalt. To her, living in Verona and being a Capulet means death; so, her only option is to fake her death in the hope that she can escape with her new husband.

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