Fate In R&j Flashcards
Death as fated
- elizabethans we’re popular béliers of the divine presence and how a wheel of fortune and the fate was predecided by the gods above, therefore we see the characters tragic struggles as hopeless against the celestial being of fate and their death presented as inevitable through the divine- death is not an isolated event but an element intrinsically fated in the fabrics of life, heightening the sadness of the inevitable demise
- in the prologue we have an initial glimpse at the inevitable and fated aspect of death as the lovers are described as ‘star crossed’ here it’s clear their destinies and their meeting are predetermined by celestial forces rather than a choices desicion- reminding the audience of our helplessness at the hands of a greater infleunce
- when romeo hears of julliet we can see the recurring motif of the celestial imagery that the characters, like the elizabethans, understood their life was determined by. The great tragedy of his loss of julliet leads romeo to claim to ‘defy you stars’ a direct address to the determining dated powers, and his rage and upset leads him to rebel against the fabrics of time as he is aware that hee fated and indeed his own is predetermined, sailors used the stars to direct their journey. This also suggests a sense of hubris- something in Greek mythology followed by the idea of destruction and implies that romeo is foolish and destined for tragedy if he feels he has power to shape the divine
- Romeo is very aware that life is not his own, indeed at different importwnt parts of the play which steer him towards his tragic death he directly addresses the divine for guidance as he beleivs they are steering him- firstly he calls for “fury be my conduct now” which asks for anger and masculinity to aid him in his friends death, and late at his own suicide he personfies death and asks it to “direct my sail” whcih gives the imagery of him being a sailor at sea whom has no control over the water in which he steers
- death is caused by the tragic fate
- ‘FEARFUL PASSAGE OF DEATH MARKED LOVE’ the idea that the love is marked means that it has been stained or tarnished by the divine, it had already had its course predetermined. the idea of a passage implies a one way inescapable pathway
- earth has swallowed all my hopes
Free will as lacking through foreshadowing
- literary devise that hints at the tragic fate throughout ridding the viewer of any aspect of hope and reminding them of the incoming and inevitable deaths. We understand that fate plays a key role in the autonomy of the characters through their unwilling prolapsus and foreshadowing of the events prior to them happening
- the play begins with an act of foreshadowing in the prologue; ridding the viewers of any sense of hopefulness for the tragedy as it claims the “star crossed lovers take their life” here it shows celestial imagery and tells the reader how the two are entwined in tragedy before spoiling the end
- in mercutiosndeath we have an act of foreshadowing as he asks for “a plauge on both your houses” here he is unwillingly preidcting the fate of the two and indeed the turmoil it will give their houses and the destruction of his death which is a consequence again of the vioence withon Verona
- both romeo and Juliet have direct foreshadows to their deaths under the disguise of the divine in their dreams, with Juliet seeing him “in the bottom of a tomb” and Romeos dream begins positive but then takes a darker turn as we realise he does not regain life pnce she kisses him, both of these remind the audience of the inevitability of their fates
- the friar, trh religious source of morality and wisdom in the play, states that their “vioent delights have vioent ends” and their love “like fire and powder” will die, “whcih as their kiss, consume” here he uses repetition to contradict one another as he warns that the volatility of such a passionate affair may end in tragedy as a reckless and violent delight cannot end well, he uses a simple to liken this to a volatile and yet beautiful object in fire which is equally destructive as it is wonderous- the imagery of fire consuming it’s surroundings encapsulates the paradoxical relations of love and death- here he again tells the lovers that their actions have consequences which play into the reminder of tragedy but also the arguemrnt tnat actions ahve consequences and free will is present?. ‘Stumble if they run fast’ again predicts their fate
- my grave is like to be my wedding bed- throughout the two characters have premonitions of their deaths being present and soon which shows the fated nature of them. Uncanny imagery
Julliet and fate
-Juliet is faced by the challenge of arbitrary fate: she is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague, she has been arranged to marry Paris, and she is a woman who has very little freedom to make her own choices in life. Yet, Shakespeare has given Juliet agency within the play which allows her to confront and overcome these obstacles to be with her one true
love, Romeo.
- She understands that Romeo is, “my only love spring from my only hate.” She encourages him to “deny thy father and refuse thy name” showing how she rejects their circumstance.
- Juliet ignites the plot to avoid marrying Paris and instead
persuades Friar Lawrence to help her marry Romeo. These acts show her as a strong woman who refuses to be confined by the boundaries of gender rules.
Ultimately, hersuicide can be interpreted as a defiant act against fate and the society she inhabits. She makes an active choice to establish arguably a form of freedom from a fate that has destroyed her life- she takes charge of her own life. Juliet’s self-autonomous nature is antithetical to fate, which is the set of conditions she is placed within. She acts upon her own will, sends clear commands like “send me word” and “swear not” and commits a cardinal act of suicide perhaps not because she had to but because she freed herself. She actively strives against the contraints of society and acts upon her own autonomy:
- “o happy dagger” is hee final lines, the oxymoron here shows her unique approach to suicide and the fact that it is repetition shows her certainty and acceptance that death is the final act in her free willed autonomous strive against fate and the separation between her and romro
