Romeo & Juliet

A detailed Summary of Romeo & Juliet

Do you believe in fate? To answer the question, you must first have a correct idea of what fate is. A definition of fate would be the power that is supposed to settle ahead of time how things will happen. Could there be such a power that rules our lives, and if so, why? Romeo and Juliet, the two young lovers in William Shakespeare' s Romeo and Juliet, ended up becoming a large part of what could be called "fate". Fate seemed to control their lives and force them together, becoming a large part of their love, and the ending of their parent's hatred. Fate became the ultimate control power in this play, and plays a large part in modern everyday life, even if we don't recognize it. Maybe we don't recognize it because we choose not to, or don't have faith like we used to, but the fact remains that fate controls what we do throughout all of our lives.

A large part of the beliefs for both Romeo and Juliet involve fate. They believed in the stars, and that their actions weren't always their own. Romeo, for example, 1.4.115-120, he says, "Some consequence yet hanging in the stars...by some vile forfeit of untimely death. But he that hath the steerage over my course Direct my sail." He's basically saying to his friends that he had a dre

am which leads him to believe that he will die young because of something in the stars, something that will happen. He ends with "...he that hath steerage over my course..." which implies that he does not have control over his life if he looks to another power above himself to direct him. He does not feel that he is the one who makes decisions, it is all a higher purpose, a different power. We're all sort of like the puppets below the puppeteer. He's asking for that puppeteer to direct his "sail," or his life, in the right direction.

During this part of the play, after Romeo has killed Paris and himself but before Juliet has done the same, the Friar comes rushing in, trying to persuade Juliet out of the tomb before more arrive. He says to Juliet 5.3.159, "A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents." It can be interpreted that he is talking of fate, telling Juliet that a power beyond their control has spoiled their plans. This power must be fate. They couldn't contradict it, how would you? How do you beat the power that spins out lives and creates our futures in the same manner that it is has created our past and present. You can't. Their story, as sad as it may be, was meant to happen. The good and the bad are a balance that even fate must recognize and accept.

I heard a quote from a movie that is coming out in awhile that struck me and stuck with me. It goes, "...fate can only take you so far, the rest is up to you." Fate got Romeo and Juliet together, and it set everything up, but in the end, I do believe we have some say in how we turn out. Fate can make things happen, such as the case in Romeo and Juliet, but it was also the love between them, the deep emotions that ran through their hearts mixed with the scorn and hatred driven in by their parents. Their actions may have been predestined, but they were their own. They may not have realized the consequence of their love, but even if they did, they didn't care. Things happen because of fate, and actions happen because of things. It's a never ending circle of power and feeling, destiny and actions. Each depends on the other, yet each has the power to affect everything on it's own. Fate needs the action of it's "puppet" just like the puppet needs the puppeteer. One can't exist without the other. People's hearts will run freely, and fate simply will lead them, but the rest is up to them to achieve, even if fate is guiding them, the power to stop fate lies simply in a strong gesture where the "puppet" has the power to become the "puppeteer."

Some common words found in the essay are:
Romeo Juliet, Juliet Friar, Capulet Montague, , Juliet Juliet's, romeo juliet, hath steerage course, believe fate, steerage course, love love, lives romeo, power direct, untimely death, don't recognize, hath steerage, sometimes bad,

Approximate Word count = 1782
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English