Free Will In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet
Romeo and Juliet are two characters in a play written by the playwright Shakespeare. Their traditionally tragic story was masterfully created to be dramatic. The characters themselves did not exist outside of the script and therefore could not determine their own fate. Their lives are predetermined by Shakespeare and their world is a fictitious creation. Time is none-linear and can be manipulated by the writer to foreshadow what will happen to the characters. Because of this, the characters have no free will and their actions are completely directed by a single external force that is unrelated to the world they know within the play.
Shakespeare can manipulate time in a way to make the character’s death more dramatic. Within the prologue, we …show more content…
The meaning of fate is ‘the development of events outside a person's control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power.’ As God is to humans, Shakespeare is to the characters within the book. Their fictitious world is detached from our own and created by another sentient being that is not a part of that world. Romeo and Juliet are not in control of what happens to them and the events of their tragic lives are predestined. The means of their death is alluded to in the statement by Benvolio when he says, "Take thou some new infection to thy eye, And the rank poison of the old will die." Shakespeare places this statement here purposefully because he has full control of the sequence of events and knows Romeo will kill himself with poison, allowing him to shape the present. The linearity of time within a play allows a writer to shape all aspects of the story. Details and circumstances which have a low probability of happening can be incorporated creating a more dramatic story. We see the friar appearing “some minute ere the time of [Juliet’s] awakening” not being able to rescue the two lovers from killing themselves. Timing is manipulated to cause their death, for if Juliet had awoken earlier the events would not have been as tragic.
Romeo and Juliet are victims of external forces so overwhelmingly controlling that they cannot be blamed for their deaths. Their ‘free will’ is rather just decisions predetermined by Shakespeare and only he can change their
Shakespeare can manipulate time in a way to make the character’s death more dramatic. Within the prologue, we …show more content…
The meaning of fate is ‘the development of events outside a person's control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power.’ As God is to humans, Shakespeare is to the characters within the book. Their fictitious world is detached from our own and created by another sentient being that is not a part of that world. Romeo and Juliet are not in control of what happens to them and the events of their tragic lives are predestined. The means of their death is alluded to in the statement by Benvolio when he says, "Take thou some new infection to thy eye, And the rank poison of the old will die." Shakespeare places this statement here purposefully because he has full control of the sequence of events and knows Romeo will kill himself with poison, allowing him to shape the present. The linearity of time within a play allows a writer to shape all aspects of the story. Details and circumstances which have a low probability of happening can be incorporated creating a more dramatic story. We see the friar appearing “some minute ere the time of [Juliet’s] awakening” not being able to rescue the two lovers from killing themselves. Timing is manipulated to cause their death, for if Juliet had awoken earlier the events would not have been as tragic.
Romeo and Juliet are victims of external forces so overwhelmingly controlling that they cannot be blamed for their deaths. Their ‘free will’ is rather just decisions predetermined by Shakespeare and only he can change their