Romeo & Juliet Literary Essay

      One of the most famous plays of all time is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We read this masterpiece in class and we discovered hidden crafts used by William Shakespeare. But Romeo and Juliet was written so long ago that all the crafts used by William Shakespeare are completely up to interpretation. Shakespeare could have hidden messages within his writing and we just haven't found it yet. But Shakespeare does have a lot of clear themes in his play "Romeo & Juliet". And Shakespeare didn't put these themes in his play for no reason. Because many of these themes connect to send messages, like the themes of destiny and death. I think that William Shakespeare put these two connecting themes in Romeo & Juliet for several reasons.
        One reason why William Shakespeare included the themes of destiny and death in Romeo and Juliet is because he wanted to show that we are all destined to die. For example in the prologue Shakespeare tells us the destiny of Romeo and Juliet and that destiny is their death. The prologue said, "A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;" (Prologue.6) And as we go through the entire play, it is always in the back of our minds that these two lovers are destined to die. Another example of this is act 1 scene 4 when Romeo is about to go into the Capulet party and he says "I fear too early, for my mind misgives some consequence yet hang in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date"(1.4.115). Romeo is saying that if he goes inside the party then destiny will make something bad happen to him. And this is exactly what happened, because Romeo died because he was in love with Juliet whom he met at the party. Another example of this is when Romeo killed in act 3 scene 1, and he gets exiled, he still has hope because he believes that destiny plans to bring him and Juliet back together. But as explained in the prologue, destiny caused him to come together in the end, but they end up dying. And when both Romeo and Juliet die, we all knew that this would happen because this was their destiny. And when Romeo says "then I defy you stars" (5.1.24) he is saying that he is going against what he thinks fate meant him to do: live without Juliet. And so Romeo kills himself and meets his real fate, death. And Shakespeare was trying to say that this is the fate of us all.
        Another reason why Shakespeare included the themes of destiny and death in Romeo and Juliet is to show that while we are alive, we should enjoy ourselves, because we will all die eventually. He shows this by first in the beginning, telling us what is going to happen in the end, and then throughout the entire play he shows Romeo and Juliet rushing their lives by meeting, getting married, and ultimately falling in love in just three days. This series of events can be viewed in different ways. Some people can say that if Romeo and Juliet didn't rush their love than they would have been still alive. This could been shown when Friar Lawrence warned them against moving too quickly and he said,"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast"(2.3.10). But, as the reader already knew, these two are already destined to die, so if the two lovers hadn't rushed their love, they may not have had the chance to spend that much time with each other. This may have been Shakespeare's way of showing us that we should live out our lives to the fullest and enjoy ourselves.
        Another reason why Shakespeare included the themes of destiny and death in Romeo and Juliet is to show that one can never know what destiny has in store for them because they can die at any time. William Shakespeare shows this in many ways. An example of this is when Romeo found put Juliet was supposedly dead. He expected his friend Balthazar to tell him that Juliet was all well but instead Balthazar tells him that Juliet is dead. He asks Balthazar " How fairs my Juliet? For nothing can be ill if she be well" (5.1.15-16). This shows that fate certainly did surprise Romeo and Juliet's "death" came at a very unexpected moment.
        As you can see, the themes of destiny and death are not just put in Romeo and Juliet for no reason. By putting these themes in this play, William Shakespeare was able to send several messages to both his audience and whoever stumbles upon his work. And if one can uncover so many messages from just two themes then it is highly possible that William Shakespeare has more messages in his masterpiece Romeo and Juliet that are still waiting to be uncovered.