Theme 2: Fate/Destiny/Free Will

Question 1

1. Prologue introduces fate (Prologue)

“A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.”

Answer 1

• What: Love doomed by fate

• How:

• Astrological metaphor “star-cross’d” = cosmic interference

• Foreshadowing → audience made complicit in tragedy

• Alliteration “lovers…life” softens tone, masking violence

• Structure → placed before the play begins = fate sealed from start

• Why: Sets fatalistic tone → individual choices powerless against destiny

• Character: Chorus

• Themes: fate, love/relationships, death

Question 2

2. Romeo before Capulet ball (A1S4)

“Some consequence yet hanging in the stars… by some vile forfeit of untimely death.”

Answer 2

• What: Senses something fated will go wrong

• How:

• **Metaphor “hanging in the stars” = external cosmic force

• **Foreshadowing “untimely death” = tragic inevitability

• **Personification “stars” = fate as manipulative entity

• **Mood of foreboding = tension builds before joy

• Why: Suggests fate governs even joyful choices → free will is illusion

• Character: Romeo

• Themes: fate, chance, time, death

Question 3

3. Friar Lawrence sees danger in Romeo’s passion (A2S6)

“These violent delights have violent ends.”

Answer 3

• What: Warns that extreme joy leads to destruction

• How:

• **Epigrammatic phrasing = sounds like moral truth

• **Anaphora “violent” → mirrors escalation

• **Oxymoron “delights” / “ends” = joy and doom entwined

• **Spondaic rhythm disrupts flow → stress + intensity

• Why: Suggests love is fated to collapse due to its excess → tension between passion & destiny

• Character: Friar Laurence

• Themes: fate, love/relationships, impulsiveness

Question 4

4. Romeo after killing Tybalt (A3S1)

“O, I am fortune’s fool!”

Answer 4

• What: Blames fate for his impulsive act

• How:

• **Personification “fortune” = fate as cruel manipulator

• **Alliteration “fortune’s fool” = ridicule + loss of control

• **Exclamative tone = emotional breakdown

• **Ironic: blames fate, yet he chose to fight

• Why: Tension between personal agency and cosmic design

• Character: Romeo

• Themes: fate, death, impulsiveness

Question 5

5. Juliet after hearing Romeo is banished (A3S2)

“O fortune, fortune! All men call thee fickle.”

Answer 5

• What: Rages at fate for stealing Romeo

• How:

• **Apostrophe → addresses fate directly

• **Repetition “fortune” = fixation on injustice

• **Alliterative “fickle” = instability + unreliability of fate

• **Blames external forces rather than choices

• Why: Fate becomes scapegoat for emotional pain → moral complexity

• Character: Juliet

• Themes: fate, individuals vs society, love/relationships

Question 6

6. Friar Lawrence plans the potion (A4S1)

“A thing like death to chide away this shame.”

Answer 6

• What: Invents a fake death to escape Juliet’s forced marriage

• How:

• **Simile “like death” = blurs illusion and destiny

• **Euphemism “chide away” softens deception

• **Ironic → plan to avoid fate accelerates it

• **Moral inversion → lies dressed as salvation

• Why: Tries to outwit fate with manipulation → fate responds with fatal consequences

• Character: Friar Laurence

• Themes: fate, appearance vs reality, time

Question 7

7. Romeo hears of Juliet’s ‘death’ (A5S1)

“Then I defy you, stars!”

Answer 7

• What: Attempts to rebel against fate

• How:

• **Apostrophe → direct challenge to destiny

• **Verb “defy” = dramatic assertion of free will

• **Irony → every action now leads to real death

• **Tragic tone: rebellion deepens destruction

• Why: Suggests illusion of control → fatalism wins

• Character: Romeo

• Themes: fate, free will, death

Question 8

8. Romeo before suicide (A5S3)

“Shake the yoke of inauspicious stars / From this world-wearied flesh.”

Answer 8

• What: Sees suicide as escape from cursed fate

• How:

• **Metaphor “yoke” = fate as burden/slavery

• **Alliteration “world-wearied” = emotional exhaustion

• **Imagery = fate as physical prison

• **Juxtaposes stars’ control with death’s release

• Why: Tragic climax → death seen as only freedom from predestination

• Character: Romeo

• Themes: fate, death, individuals vs society

Question 9

9. Prince reflects on the ending (A5S3)

“Heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.”

Answer 9

• What: Fate uses love to punish hatred

• How:

• **Religious metaphor “heaven” = divine justice

• **Irony: love becomes agent of destruction

• **Lexical contrast “joys” / “kill” = binary opposition

• **Tone = moral finality

• Why: Suggests tragedy is cosmic consequence of human flaws

• Character: Prince

• Themes: fate, love vs hate, death