Romeos knowledge of fate steering his life caused him to try and defy and go against it however this reinforced it causing the tragic out come.
The choices of fate were crucial to the development of the plays outcome, for instance Romeos banishment and Paris’ engagement to Juliet.
A modern audience being presented with the idea of fate would have found it hard to believe in it this is because modern society is much quicker to blame individuals or certain groups of people compared with an Elizabethan audience which would have accepted the idea without many problems. Both a modern and an Elizabethan audience would, despite the knowledge of the plays outcome, be interested in the whole play and keep watching, Shakespeare uses the audiences knowledge as a dramatic device.
Ambition plays a part in the development of Romeo and Juliet’s death. The ambition of Friar Lawrence is an example. He believed that by marrying the households together the feud would stop. “in one respect ill thy assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households rancour too pure love” he is saying that the only reason he is marrying the two is to end the hostilities between the two households, but instead it caused fighting. The Friars decision to marry Romeo and Juliet was well meaning but indicates his naivety. The Friar was so ambitious that he convinced Juliet to agree to her fake death, he wanted to reverse nature to heal the feud.
The Friar was always looking to do good but usually his plans didn’t work out. His quick and naïve decision making causes the play to make many unexpected turns, usually for the worse. The unexpected turn of events kept the audience captivated in the play as they thought they knew what was going to happen but as the play progresses they realise things are not all as they seem. Shakespeare uses this to build tension and dramatise scenes.
Romeo and Juliet rebel against their parents and the feud between them by marring one another. There are a lot of examples of adolescent rebellion in the play.
Juliet rebels against her father by not marrying Paris and by doing so she also rebels against the patriarchal society she lives in. In this scene Juliet swears that she will “will not marry yet” and that when she does it “shall be Romeo” she not only challenges her parents orders but reveals her independence.
Romeo and Juliet both disobey their parents with their association with each other. Juliet not only disobeys her parents but also urges Romeo to rebel against his identity “deny thy father and refuse thy name”. Juliet is attempting to persuade Romeo to forget about his family name and his need to follow codes of honour so they can be together. However this would be hard for Romeo to do as the Elizabethan society he was apart of would have put a lot of pressure on him to follow the codes of honour and respect his families wishes not to associate with their enemy; the Capulets.
This adolescent rebellion causes Romeo and Juliet to be secretive and hasty with their decisions which leads to them marrying so quickly which leads to many other events which ultimately results in their death.
The conflict and rivalry force Romeo and Juliet to keep their relationship a secret.
The conflict and rivalry is a big part of the play and leads to violence and death. The prologue shows the audience exactly how the conflict and rivalry between the families will play big part in the play. “the fearful passage of their death marked love and the continuance of their parents rage, which but their children end, naught could remove, is now the two hours traffic of our stage”. This shows that the play relates to the progress of Romeo and Juliet's love and the families on going feud.
The violence is minor at first but intensifies through out the play. The violent action begins gaining pace soon after Romeo and Juliet's marriage. Tybalt murders Mercutio, Romeo is enraged by Mercutio's death and challenges Tybalt saying “Mercutio's soul is but a little way above our heads, staying for there to keep him company, either thou or I or both must go with him” Romeo killed Tybalt and is banished leading to the misunderstanding of Juliet's fake death.
The violence in the play is mainly due to people believing people men should live up to the codes of honour that existed in Elizabethan society. This is shown in the play as a majority of the deaths that occur are committed by characters who feel the social pressure of codes of honour. For example Tybalt says “now by the stock and honour of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin”. He believes that he has the right to kill someone in revenge and that he is not in the wrong as he is being loyal. Tybalts death is another example. Romeo kills Tybalt as a result of Mercutio's death. This event then leads to Romeos banishment which ends in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
The patriarchal society that Romeo and Juliet live in has a big influence in the way they behave and live their lives. The patriarchal society also plays a part in the tragedy.
Juliet's father was brought up in a male dominant society so brought Juliet in this same way. If their society was different then Juliet wouldn’t have felt as if she was betraying her father and wouldn’t have to keep her marriage a secret.
This way in which Elizabethan society worked put Juliet in a very vulnerable position and caused her father to put her in a difficult situation, when Juliet refused to marry Paris her father wasn’t happy “hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch! I tell the what: get thee to church a Thursday or never more look me in the face. Speak not reply not, do not answer me”. He was set on controlling her life, and thinks he does throughout the play. An Elizabethan audience would have thought that Juliet's actions were terribly wrong and her fathers as right and fair. This is because their society was very male dominant.
The patriarchal society means that the majority of authoritative figures were men. Romeo and Juliet are alternatively compelled by their parents and authority to make a series of destructive choices and their only choice, their only freedom is death.
The prince uses his authority to do what he feels is best for Verona however these choices do not help Romeo or Juliet. For example the Prince banishes Romeo believing it will help the tense situation between the Montague and Capulets, however the audience know this is not the out come, as the banishment leads to the confusion of Juliet's fake death. The prince is responsible for Romeos banishment he does this as an act of mercy, but when Romeo and Juliet are dead he largely blames the two families.
Shakespeare uses the Princes authority to dramatise the play. He does this by limiting the amount of authority that the Prince uses. The audience knows that the prince has power that he isn’t using, he could perhaps stop Romeo and Juliet's suicides by using his power to put an end to the feud.
Shakespeare uses the literacy technique of foreshadowing, where there is a use of symbols to show what will happen in the future. Everyone can figure out what is going to happen to Romeo and Juliet. The prologue states that the “star crossed lovers take their life” as the play progresses there are many subtle clues that confirms that Romeo and Juliet will eventually die. Although the audience is aware of the outcome of the play they are still interested this is because Shakespeare includes very action packed scenes, for example when Mercutio is killed. This scene is the first instance of tragedy for the young lovers. Romeo is forced to deal with the reality of his marriage. He chooses to avenge a friends death rather than spare Juliet's sorrow. A dying Mercutio sets up the action for the rest of the play “a plague o both your houses”. This reminds the audience of the tragedy that will occur. Tybalts untimely return drives Romeo to kill him. Romeo contrasts his earlier efforts to avoid confrontation increasing the dramatic tension in the scene.
Shakespeare successfully dramatises the play, presenting the audience with a number of ideas on who or what is to blame for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. I believe that all of the factors I have written about play a part in the out come of the play, but I think Shakespeare’s aim was to get his Elizabethan audience to put the events down to fate.
