Shakespeare’s idea of ‘fate’.
Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers of all time, so it is no wonder that ‘Romeo and Juliet is also one of the most well known plays around the world. In his time, Elizabethan England, everyone thought that their life was planned out before they were born, just like in this play. Shakespeare communicates to us that our lives are written in the stars, that they are meant to be. he does this through the use of the Prologue, metaphors and the dreams that the characters have.
The prologue is at the start of the book. It may not seem like a lot but it is. It has all of what is to come in the play; the plot and what is going to end up happening. It allows
us notice to the great amounts of irony that happen through out the script. It also lets the readers/watchers of the play to have the feeling of someone like a god who knows what is going to inevitably happen. For example, the Prologue states that “A pair of star cross’d lovers take their life,” this instantly tells us what will happen at the end of the play. It crosses in with fate as it shows that the two main characters deaths were written in the stars. Without the Prologue fate would be less evident and the play would be unpredictable. It is better the way it is as it gives us the feeling of dread leading up to Romeo and Juliet’s death.
A metaphor is when you compare one thing to another. William Shakespeare used metaphors a lot in the script. Romeo’s lines had lots of metaphors about him being on a journey set upon by a greater power (God). “He hath the steerage of my course, direct my sail,” this is showing that he isn’t in control of what happens in his life, that God is steering him through what ever happens. Romeo is conscious that he has no control People in this time believed that god controlled their lives. This metaphor reflects what people believed all that time ago. Fate is what Romeo is talking about, he has no control over what is going to happen in his life, that it is all written in the stars. The other metaphors he used were much the same as fate was so entangled in the peoples lives of Elizabethan England. There were many unusual theories in their times like the ones about dreams.
Humans used to, and some still do, think that what you dream shows you what the future holds. This is relevant in Romeo and Juliet as both of those characters have dreams about seeing themselves/each other dead. Romeo, towards the start of the play has a bad dream about Juliet coming and finding him dead, but then kisses him and he comes back to life “I dream’t my lady came and found me dead”.
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