Romeo and Juliet and Cal differ in the protagonists’ opinions of life and Fate. In Romeo and Juliet we hear many times the mention of Fate. At the beginning of the play Romeo and Juliet are addressed to the audience by the Chorus as “star- crossed lovers”. They seem constantly aware of this, when Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, he cries out “Then I defy you, stars,” completing the idea that the love between Romeo and Juliet is on opposition to destiny’s plan. During the Renaissance the idea of the Wheel of Fortune and Lady Fortune was popular. They believed that lady fortune spins a wheel that has everybody on it, one minute you could be at the top and have good fortune or you could be at the bottom and have bad fortune. Romeo also says after he kills Tybalt “O I am fortune’s fool!” showing many people believed that they could do nothing about their Fate at that time.
Cal is very different, the characters are a lot more modern and familiar to our generation. For example, Cal gets caught up in the IRA by Crilly and Skeffington and is unable to get out once he is part of it. He doesn’t blame the stars as Romeo does in Romeo and Juliet, he accepts it as bad luck symptomatic of Ireland’s social situation. In Cal the mood is generally sombre, unlike scenes in Romeo and Juliet like the Ball scene, which shows us the excitement of Italian aristocratic life. The characters in Cal have a different lifestyle and culture to Romeo and Juliet. For example, most of the characters in Cal are badly off and struggle to earn a living, very different to the characters of the families in Romeo and Juliet who are very wealthy and high status.
The development of love in Cal and Romeo and Juliet is very different, love develops very hastily in Romeo and Juliet with the two lovers falling in love the night before they get married. Cal is based on realism. Cal and Marcella’s relationship is dragged on through a long period of time, showing the characters to be less decisive towards their emotions. Cal is in love with Marcella, but she only gradually returns his affection and is much more hesitant about her feelings. In contrast, the lovers fall in love at first sight in Romeo and Juliet. Their decision to get married, despite the fact they are part of two different rival families, shows their powerful love. They speak only fourteen lines to each other before they first kiss. These lines representing a sonnet, the idealised form of love.
However, Romeo and Juliet and Cal do share the similarity of the relationship with the young and old generation. In both instances in which “love is doomed to failure”, the characters are unable to consult their parents for advice. Juliet is forced into a marriage against her wishes and Romeo turns to Friar Lawrence during his troubles. Cal has a distant relationship with his father and lacks the affection he received from his dead mother. The suggestion is that the older generation are unable to provide solid emotional support. Juliet is able to confide in her nurse, but she and Friar Lawrence even let the two down at the play’s conclusion, showing the older generation to have a lack of understanding true love.
Shakespeare uses dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows a lot more than the characters do and this makes the play more exciting. This is most clearly exemplified in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, which occur in a sequence of compounding action. Juliet drinks a potion that makes her appear dead. Romeo then drinks a potion that actually kills him. Juliet stabs herself through the heart with a dagger. The audience is powerless to stop these tragic actions, suggesting a love that is doomed to fail.
The amount of unhappiness and sadness in both Romeo and Juliet and Cal, makes it debatable on whom to blame. In Romeo and Juliet we could blame the parents of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence, Nurse, Prince Escalus and Tybalt. The blame has to be split between these people but I think most of the blame should go to the parents of both families for their lack of understanding and carrying a ridiculous rivalry on and not making any effort at all to make peace. The irony is that the lovers suicide finally ends their families feud. Friar Lawrence’s words, “These violent delights have violent ends” are appropriate. In Cal we can blame Crilly and Skeffington for forcing Cal into the IRA and for not letting him quit so easily. The main similarity between Romeo and Juliet and Cal is that they both display love across a barrier, which finally ends in tragedy and doomed love.
