VIVA - Romeo & Juliet
VIVA - Romeo & Juliet
VIVA - Romeo & Juliet
Tragedy
“Romeo & Juliet”
Supporting Details 1 :-
Romeo heard of Juliet’s death before he was told that it was being
faked. Romeo rushed to her side to kill himself so he may rest in peace with
Juliet. The drastic choice to kill himself was his own; no one forces him to do
it.
Supporting Details 2 :-
Juliet could have told the people about her marriage to Romeo –
accepted the consequences and then, there would not be a need for the fake
death that had misled Romeo. Better yet, she could have just left Verona
with Romeo when Romeo was leaving Verona the first time, rather than
staying there till things get out of control. Instead, she chose to stay till the
last possible moment and chosen to drink the potion.
Supporting Details 3 :-
1- The biggest sign of fate playing the part would be when the Chorus
uses the phrase “Star-Crossed Lovers” (1, 1, 6) – indicates
Shakespeare’s thoughts on what kills Romeo & Juliet. Indirectly,
suggest to the audience that the two lovers are destined for trouble.
Romeo’s lines after he had killed Tybalt have also suggest the same,
Another example of fate play a part in the whole process of Romeo &
Juliet death would be when Romeo was given the list of party
invitations by the illiterate servant to read, from there, Romeo, who
was (then) still in grief of losing the girl he love (then) Rosaline, swear
that he will attend the party at the Capulet’s to look at Rosaline. ONLY
AT ROSALINE – fate later on come into the play and attracted Romeo to
Juliet, when Romeo himself had said that, there shall be no girl fairer
than Rosaline.
(ACT I, SCENE I)
(ACT I, SCENE V)
Ever since the Greek ancient years, upon its introduction to the people,
plays in the form of entertainment, had become a culture. There were many
types of plays, comedy, love or romance, and tragedy. Among all of the
genres, Tragedy was always the crowd’s favorite genre of play in those
times, even until today. There were many great tragedies invented by
talented and most gifted writers, among the earliest would be the Greek pair
Odysseus and Penelope, Eloise and Abelard in the year 1100 in Paris,
Pyramus and Thisbe that showed to reader such selfless love and make sure
that even in death they were together, Tristan and Isolde that took place
during the reign of King Arthur, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal that took
place in 1612. The modern and more reckoned with tragedies would most
probably be of those from Shakespeare, for example, Antony and Cleopatra,
Othello, Macbeth, and the most famous of all, Romeo and Juliet.
The plays, most often than not, dealt with real issues whether we would like to admit it or
not. The issues usually indeed the reflections on what had been going on within that particular
time. There are many questions that author rose in their masterpieces. Shakespeare through
many of his plays put forward many interesting questions to reader to ponder upon. One of the
most debatable questions of all time would probably be, whether our lives are governed by fate
or by our own personal choices. Shakespeare through Romeo and Juliet, managed to bring about
this question for the reader to be thinking about. In my opinion, although fate seems to
have influenced on what happened to Romeo and Juliet, their choices
contribute more to their fate than fate itself. Although some of the reasons
would suggest to readers that their death are out of their control, fate is not
the biggest nor the sole reason they ended up dying. So, this would be my
position for this paper, the tragic death in Romeo and Juliet by William
Shakespeare is by their personal choice and not fated. Fate is often called
upon, wondered about, and blamed for mishaps. However, where fate is
blamed in the play as the ultimate cause for a mishap, there is always an
underlying action, or combination of them, on the part of human beings that
decides the consequences. Human weakness, the loss of self-control, is
always the direct cause of a bad choice or mishap, and not fate itself.
However, given the background of which this play was written, fate was
looked upon as a great power that abode human’s life, during Shakespeare's time,
most Elizabethans believed in fate and it shows particularly in Romeo and Juliet textual
evidences. To the Elizabethans society, they strongly believe in the rule of fate in one’s life.
This idea is written about in the Bible in Jeremiah 1:5. It says 'Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I
appointed you as a prophet to the nations' This means that God had planned
our lives before we were born.
Other example that would clearly suggest that it was their “stupidity”
in their choices that lead to the tragic death would be when Juliet chose to
keep the news of which she had been the lady of Montague from her
parent’s knowledge. She could have just admitted the fact that she is now
married to Romeo and accepted their punishment which would definitely be
better off than being death. Some would even say that it was their stupid
choice of pursuing each other though they know for fact that the two families
were in feud suggest that they do choose their way and there was no
unfortunate event that took place that put them there. Yet, Shakespeare
doesn't tell about the poor judgments that the two young teenagers used. He tries
to make it seem that they had no choice in the matter. What really plays the
biggest part in their death is not fate but the decisions of the two adolescents. Many
choices contributed to the end of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo's choice to go to the
Capulet party where he met Juliet was one example of their choice. He knows that
his family and Juliet's family hate each other. Still, he goes to their party fully
knowing what might happen. Furthermore, Romeo chose to seek after Juliet and to
continue to see her. He could have just left and not have returned to her house and
gone to her balcony. By making this choice he sets up all the problems that occur
later. Even if the later events happen by chance and it seems as if fate was the
reason that they died, their choices put them in that position. Although, Romeo
pursued Juliet he isn't the only reason that they die. Juliet's choices play a large part
in deciding their end. Romeo woos Juliet but Juliet could have resisted. When he
sends for her to marry him, she can decide not to show up. They also could be
honest and tell their parents. The parents might not like it but at least Romeo and
Juliet wouldn't die. When Juliet chooses to drink the potion and not go with Romeo
and leave Verona she makes a way for chance to come into play. She could have
left and lived with Romeo, but she didn't and therefore suffered for it. Many
elements of chance or fate and choice together decided the outcome of this story of
two star-crossed lovers. Yes, things out of their control helped to kill them but they
made the decision to pursue each other and leave the opening for those things to
happen. So, was it choice or fate? I believe that personal choice is the real nemesis.