Theme5


 * [[image:Baz-RJaqua.jpg width="300" height="170"]] __[[image:star.jpg width="277" height="170"]]

THEMES IN 'ROMEO AND JULIET':__**


 * __Fate__**

The idea of fate is a major theme which runs throughout ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Shakespeare questions the role fate plays in peoples lives and whether freewill exists at all. In the Shakspearian world many people were extremely superstitious and looked to astrology for guidence. They still held beliefs that gods such as "Lady Fortune" ruled over humanity and controlled their lives on whims. Lady Fortune would supposedly spin her wheel (the "wheel of fortune") to decide the course of a mans life.

This idea is portrayed largely through the relationship between the plays main characters of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. In the prologue the couple are referred to by the chorus or narrator as “star-crossed lovers”. This implies that right from the beginning their lives are ruled by fate. Romeo also states on his way to the Capulet feast before he has even met Juliet, “my mind misgives, some consequence yet hanging in the stars”.

Later in the play when Romeo kills Tybalt he refers to himself as "fortunes fool". This reinforces the idea that his actions are contolled by fate. Romeo is banished for this action and later finds out that Juliet has killed herself rather than marry Paris. The audience is given the impression that fate is trying to prevent the couple from being together. On hearing the news of Juliet's 'death', Romeo states that he will "defy" the stars or fate to be with her. He then plans out how he will kill himself to be with Juliet, even if it is in death.

This idea that fate is ultimately responsible for all our lives and that Romeo and Juliets tragic love was predestined, is again reinforced when Friar Lawrence finds the lovers bodies and says “ A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents”.
 * "star-crossed lovers"
 * "My mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars"
 * "I am fortunes fool"
 * "I defy you stars"
 * "A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents"


 * __The destruction that is caused when passion overrides reason.__**

Another theme that Shakespeare deals with in Romeo and Juliet is the idea of the destruction that is caused when passion overrides reason. Passion can make people react in ways they usually would not had they been thinking clearly and rationally. This is largely exemplified in the relationship between Romeo and Juliet.

So powerful is their love that it subjugates reason and common sense. It causes them to take rash and dangerous risks. For example, Romeo sneaks into the Capulet mansion to see Juliet even though he knows that if found he will certainly be killed and Juliet defies her parents and marries Romeo, despite their wish that she marry Paris. Even the thought that he may be separated from Juliet causes Romeo to attempt to kill himself. Juliet’s passion for Romeo leads her to drink a sleeping potion in order to escape marriage to another man and threaten suicide if the Friar does not help her in her plan.

In the end their overpowering feelings ultimately cause them to take their own lives so that they can always be together. Likewise so powerful is the passionate hatred of Tybalt for the Montagues that it results in both his own death and that of Mercutio.


 * "With loves light wings did I o'er perch these walls"
 * "If they find thee here they will kill thee"
 * “I long to die…O bid me leap, rather than marry Paris"
 * Oh happy dagger...this is thy sheath"
 * "Peace. I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee"


 * __Destruction caused by Hate__**

The idea of the destructive power of hate is also shown in the death of the two lovers at the end of the play. Hatred in the play resulted in a number of deaths for example Tybalt, Mercutio, Paris and Lady Montague. But none of these were so tragic as that of Romeo and Juliet, who were guilty only of “loving the enemy”. Prince Escalus states at the end of the play that “all are punished” as a result of the Montague and Capulets hatred. He lost a 'kinsman' as Paris was realated to him and both families lost a child. The two families pledge to end the feud and errect golden statues in memory of their children. These statues however are poor subistutes for the lives of Romeo and Juliet who died as a result of the families hatred for each other.

This theme is especially important as it is an issue which still plagues modern society. A recent example of the destructive nature of hate can be seen in the ongoing conflict between America and Islamic terrorists. The bombing of the twin towers is but one instance where many innocents were killed.
 * "Peace. I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee"
 * "My only love sprung from my only hate"
 * "A plague on both your houses"
 * "See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love. All are punished"


 * __TECHNIQUES WHICH SHOW THEME:__**
 * Contrast (between characters and also how they change)
 * Links between the beginning and ending scenes
 * Dialogue