Macbeth vs. Romeo – Compare and Contrast Essay

Words: 1219
Pages: 5

Some people say that a person’s fate is pre-determined. That nothing they do in life is by accident and everything that one does has been decided by a higher power. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare explores the theme of fate by allowing the audience to be party to his characters’ destiny. In the opening lines of the play the audience is told what is going to happen to the lovers, “a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” Throughout the story, the audience is put in an omnipotent, god-like position from the start encouraging them to think about fate and to what extent our actions are free. In Macbeth, the idea of one character becoming both victim and villain is introduced. Macbeth falls prey to others' deception, and is supplanted
Both characters are so determined that they are willing to do anything to achieve their goals. Although Romeo and Macbeth share many similarities in terms of their ambition, there are many differences, too. For example, Romeo is determined to marry Juliet, but not to the point where he is willing to kill anyone in his way, he goes through it in a calm way. Whereas Macbeth, who killed anyone who was of danger and worried him.
Fate plays a large role in Shakespeare's Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. In Macbeth, not only do the weird sisters use it to wreak havoc among the Scottish nobility, but many people throughout the play try to tempt fate. Macbeth does it, as does Lady Macbeth. Then, later in the play, even Malcolm, Macduff and the other revolutionaries try to alter fate. Fate can be many things to many different people. To those who believe that fate is an all-encompassing aspect of God, fate is merely an excuse for one's deeds. In Romeo and Juliet, Fate is the dominant theme throughout the play. Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers, shared the unfortunate fate that they were from feuding families. The two of them were a perfect match, and were completely in love with each other, and the odds that one was a Montague and one was a Capulet are incredibly slim. They both showed their grief when they learned that the other was from the opposite family. “O dear account! My