Fate Flashcards
Context and Themes
True or False? The Prince blames fate for the deaths at the end of the play.
False. The Prince blames the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. He says that “heaven” (fate) has killed Romeo and Juliet, but that this was caused by the “hate” between the two families.
Romeo says that when he dies he will “shake the yoke of inauspicious stars”. What does this means?
Romeo means that he will finally escape his bad luck.
Give an example from Act 1 that shows Romeo’s beliefs about fate, and explain what it tells you about these beliefs.
In Act 1, Scene 4, Romeo suggests that his life is in the hands of God — he says “He, the hath the steerage of my course, / Direct my sail!” This shows that he believes that his life is controlled by a higher power and he can’t do anything to change this.
After Romeo kills Tybalt, he says he is “fortune’s fool”. Do you agree that Romeo was unlucky, or do you think he is to blame for what happened in this scene?
Romeo was unlucky that Tybalt spotted him at the party and decided to challenge him to a fight. However, he should accept some blame for what happened, because it was his own fury and desire for revenge that caused him to kill Tybalt.
A 16th-century audience would have known that the play was a tragedy. How does this reinforce the feeling that everything in the play is controlled by fate?
The audience would have known that tragedies often ended with the deaths of lots of the characters. The idea that Romeo and Juliet are doomed to die because of the play’s form emphasises that they have no control and are restricted to following a particular course.
