Fate Flashcards
Chance versus Choice/ The powers of love and fate behind the tragedy
“a pair of star-crossed lovers”
romeo and Juliet are PRESENTED as the innocent victims of fate. They were simply a pair of lovers who were ill-fated.
Servant who cannot read seemingly by CHANCE meets Romeo and Benvolio to read the guest list for the Capulet party for him
This is a TYPICAL PLOT DEVICE to allow Romeo attend the Capulet feast and meet Juliet- Plot drivers placed by Shakespeare mirror the hand of fate in the story of the lovers
Because they know the lovers are “star-crossed” also, the audience realise that seemingly random occurrences like this in the play are orchestrated by fate.
“My mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date”
Romeo says this as he and his friends decide to crash the capulet party- His words have an OMINOUS AND FOREBODING TONE to hint at the tragedy to come.
The use of stars ECHOES language in the prologue of fate and creates FORESHADOWING that this event will spur Romeo closer to his death.(that fate is coming into action)
Romeo and Juliet’s visions and premonitions?
Shakespeare makes the lovers voice out their feelings that bad things are going to happen AS A DEVICE alongside the revelation of the lovers’ fate in the prologue at the start of the play. He is showing that although in the play, the audience know fate’s agenda, Romeo and Juliet don’t and so this serves to portray the callous NATURE OF FATE which causes the tragedy unknowingly to Romeo and Juliet.
Re-occuring motif of death personified as Juliet’s bridegroom?
Shakespeare CREATES this re- occurring idea to show that Juliet’s destiny is already written and that Fate like a ruling power has already arranged a marriage for her with death which she cannot avoid.
“If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed”
PERSONIFICATION of death as Juliet’s bridegroom- Foreshadowing her pre-destined marriage to death
“prodigious birth of love it is to me that i must love a loathed enemy”
Part of Juliet’s outburst after discovering Romeo is a Montague- The modal verb “must” suggests that she is in the hands of her desires and love and must suffer with what fate has dealt to her which is sweet and sour- “love” and “loathed”
“prodigious” meaning?
Abnormal or unnatural- Juliet’s love is monstrous as it is a hybrid of love and hate
The prologue to Act 2 states that Juliet will “steal love’s sweet bait from fearful hooks”
FORESHADOWING of the dangers of the “prodigious “ love that Romeo and Juliet have for each other.
PRESENTING JULIET AS AN INNOCENT VICTIM OF THE FORCES OF FATE AND LOVE- She fell for the bait of love on fate’s hooks which led her to her tragic fated death
“Passion lends them power, time means to meet, temp’ring extremities with extreme sweet”
Final RHYMING COUPLET of the prologue to Act 2- Creates an ominous TONE and shows the reader that fate has lent Romeo and Juliet time to meet and passion to “temper” its real tragic agenda for them- PRESENTING fate as a master planner that has blinded the lovers using the “bait” of love to where it is leading them
“a pair…
…of star-crossed lovers”
“My mind misgives…
…some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date”
“If he be…
…married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed”
“prodigious birth…
…of love it is to me that i must love a loathed enemy”
“steal love’s…
…sweet bait from fearful hooks”
“Passion lends…
…them power, time means to meet, temp’ring extremities with extreme sweet”
“Bait”?
A bait is something that looks good to entice one into danger
Constant foreshadowing in the play?
TIES to the theme of fate. Foreshadowing creates a sense that the lover’s death will and must happen(is predetermined).- Fate is controlling everything
“O I am fortune’s fool”
Romeo’s outcry upon slaying Tybalt- He PERSONIFIES fate and METAPHORICALLY compares himself to the plaything or fester of fate.
AND SO?- Shakespeare is showing that fate does not favour Romeo and Juliet at all and ,in a way, they are merely entertainment for it as they run inevitably to a destined death.
The AUDIENCE also feel a sense of dread as this climactic point of the play is laced with words of fate which has already been highlighted as controlling the entire tragedy
“O I am…
… fortune’s fool”
“Brief sounds determine my weal or woe”
This is Juliet’s statement while asking the nurse for a yes or no answer as to whether Romeo is the person who has been slain or not in Act 3- Can be LINKED to how small actions (like the mere and short words yes or no) and almost random actions orchestrated by fate determine whether the lovers have weal or woe
“Brief sounds…
… determine my weal or woe”
Friar Lawrence is unable to send the letter about his plan via Friar Lawrence due to a seemingly random mischance where Friar John is held up by “searchers “
Shakespeare makes the hand of fate more evident in the play as the lovers’ deaths draw nearer.- He uses a hinderance which none of the characters nor the audience could have ever anticipated to show that Fate is in total control
“O mischief, thou art swift to enter the hearts of desperate men”
Romeo’s words as he remembers an apothecary who can grant him poison upon his decision to kill himself after hearing of Juliet’s death- SHOWS how those overwhelmed by negative emotions are quick to make bad ideas
ALSO shows how other abstract forces and feelings have collaborated with fate to bring about its agenda
“O mischief,…
thou art swift to enter the hearts of desperate men”
Final two lines in the play are a rhyming couplet?
Creates a sense of FINALITY as fate’s agenda has been carried out and there is no further discussion- Fate is SUPREME- What it wants is what happened
