Romeo And Juliet: Themes Of Love And Death Essay Sample

📌Category: Plays, Romeo and Juliet
📌Words: 987
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 18 June 2022

Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous plays in history. But has anyone thought about how the characters get into the situation where “a pair of starcrossed lovers take their life” (Shakespeare 377). What led them to do what they did? Was it personal choice or was it destiny? While some may argue that personal choice affected the characters, destiny was the real choice because of the love and death that it caused in Romeo and Juliet.

Some might say that destiny affected the characters for the love that it caused. Romeo and Juliet were not destined to be together at first. They were both in enemy families that absolutely despised each other's existence. But how did they end up in this situation of meeting each other? Somehow Romeo got invited to a Capulet party where he ended up meeting Juliet. He only went because his crush Rosaline was going, not for Juliet. Juliet didn’t even know that she was going to meet Romeo either. This was not a personal choice for them to be together, it was destiny. Even though Romeo did decide to go to the party, he wasn't expecting to meet his new-found soulmate. After the party, Juliet goes out to her balcony to have a talk with herself. And it just so happens that Romeo is wandering around that part of the house at the same time! If Romeo was never there, they would have never thought of marrying each other. If they never would have married each other, they would have never been Romeo and Juliet, “a pair of star crossed lovers.” Some may believe that personal choice started this love, but they would be wrong. It was not Romeo’s choice to be invited to the party. If he was never invited to the party, he would have never met Juliet. This whole “love” would have never even happened if Romeo was not invited to that party. Another reason is when Juliet was forced to marry Paris. Juliet was “destined” to marry Paris. This whole Juliet x Paris relationship happened, not out of Juliet’s own decision, but her parents. Juliet even said in the beginning of the play that marrying “is an honor that I dream not of” (Shakespeare 388). She did not wish to be married to Paris and even talked about not liking him. Why did she even marry him then, if she didn’t even like him? She married him just to make amends with her parents. The love in Romeo and Juliet was caused by destiny, not personal choice.

Destiny affected the characters because of the fights that it caused. In Act 3 Scene 1, Romeo is forced to fight Tybalt. This was not his personal choice to fight him, he didn’t even want this. It was forced upon him and he ended up getting in trouble for it. After Romeo had killed Tybalt, he was banished from Verona. Romeo had killed Tybalt because Tybalt had killed Mercutio. Even if this was his personal choice, this whole fight would have never happened if Romeo was not forced to fight. This also caused conflict in the Capulet family by making Juliet marry Paris and causing the main problem in Romeo and Juliet, them both dying. Destiny also caused the fight between Juliet and her parents. Juliet was angry at being forced to marry Paris, and like in good teenager fashion, she yelled back at her parents. For obvious reasons of course. She was already married to Romeo and didn’t even like Paris. This made Lady Capulet mad and she says the foreshadowing line of, “I would the fool married to your grave” (Shakespeare 443). This made Juliet's death almost destined to happen. But some may believe that the fights were caused by personal choice. “Juliet chose to not marry Paris and this is how the fight happened.” No, marrying Paris was forced upon her and she had already married Romeo, making an obvious reason to say no. Personal choice was not the reason for the fights, it was destiny.

The death that happened in Romeo and Juliet was caused by destiny. Many times in Romeo and Juliet it mentioned them dying at the end. Even at the start of the play it tells the audience that they are both going to die. When Mercutio was talking to Romeo about dreams, he foreshadowed his death. “By some vile forfeit of untimely death. Be he that hath the steerage of my course” (Shakespeare 391). It was almost like it was destined for Romeo to die, but what about Juliet? When Juliet was fighting with her parents about marrying Paris, Juliet’s mom says that she wishes that she was dead. This is a very foreshadowing line that comes from Lady Capulet. Almost like it was meant to happen some time later in the play. Some might mention that Juliet’s death was caused by personal choice. Juliet was forced to marry Paris and basically ranted to Friar that she would rather die than marry Paris (Shakespeare 453). Friar, who is a potion maker, comes up with the great idea of giving her a sleeping potion to appear like she is dead. Juliet sees this as a way to not marry Paris and instead live with Romeo in Mantua. She agrees to Friar’s plan, which is a personal choice. Another act of personal choice that Juliet takes is when she drinks the potion. She could have agreed to the plan and not drink the potion, but she fully agreed with both parts. She drank the potion to make her appear dead. When her family wakes up in the morning, they think that she is dead. But she is not. This is all just part of Friar’s plan. But what isn’t part of Friar’s plan is that Romeo dies too. This was destiny that caused Romeo’s death. If it wasn’t for Juliet, Romeo would have never died.  

Destiny caused the love and death in Romeo and Juliet, even though some may believe that it was a personal choice. Romeo and Juliet would have never gotten married if it wasn’t for destiny, and they also wouldn’t have both died either. Some people may assume that the reason was personal choice because of the love and death that it caused, but they would be wrong. Destiny is what caused Romeo and Juliet.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.