The Role of Fate in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet

The Role of Fate in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Theres no real consensus among Shakespearean scholars about the role of fate in Romeo and Juliet. Were the star-crossd lovers doomed from the start, their sad futures determined before they even met? Or are the events of this famed play a matter of bad luck and missed chances? Lets take a look at the role of fate and destiny in the story of the two teenagers from Verona whose feuding families cant keep them apart.  Ã‚   The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliets story begins in the streets of Verona. Members of two feuding families, the Montagues and Capulets, are in the midst of a brawl. When the fight is over, two young men of the Montague family (Romeo and Benvolio) agree to secretly attend a Capulet ball. Meanwhile, young Juliet of the Capulet family is also planning to attend the same ball. Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball and instantly fall in love. Each is horrified to learn that their love is forbidden, but they nevertheless secretly marry. A few days later, in another street brawl, a Capulet kills Romeos dear friend Mercutio, and Romeo, enraged, in turn, kills the Capulet. Romeo flees and is banned from Verona. Meanwhile, however, friends help him and Juliet to spend their wedding night together. After Romeo leaves the next morning, Juliet is counseled to drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest, Romeo will rescue her from the crypt and they will live together in another city. Juliet drinks the potion, but because Romeo doesnt learn of the plot, he believes she is really dead. Seeing her dead, he kills himself. Juliet wakes, sees Romeo dead, and kills herself. The Theme of Fate in Romeo and Juliet The story of Romeo and Juliet asks the question are our lives and destinies preordained? While it is possible to see the play as a series of coincidences, bad luck, and bad decisions, most scholars see the story as an unfolding of events predetermined by fate.   In the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare allow the audience to be party to his characters’ destiny. We learn early on what is going to happen to the title characters: â€Å"a pair of star-crossd lovers take their life.† Throughout the story, the words of the play encourage the audience to think about fate and to what extent our actions and outcomes are preordained.Before the Capulets party, in Act 1, Scene 3, Romeo is already feeling that fate is planning his doom. He wonders if he should attend the party, as my mind misgives/Some consequence yet hanging in the stars.  Ã‚  When Mercutio shouts â€Å"a plague on both your houses† in Act 3, Scene 1, hes foreshadowing whats to come for the title couple. This bloody scene in which characters are killed gives us a glimpse of whats to come, marking the beginning of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic downfall.Later, when Mercutio dies, Romeo himself foreshadows the outcome: This days black fate on more days doth depend/This but begins the woe, others must end. The others upon whom fate later falls, of course, are Romeo and Juliet. In Act 5, when he hears of Juliets death, Romeo swears he will defy fate: Is it even so? Then I defy you, stars! Later, in Juliets tomb, as he plans his own death, Romeo says: O, here/Will I set up my everlasting rest,/And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars/From this world-wearied flesh. This brave defiance of fate is especially heartbreaking because Romeos suicide is the event that actually leads to Juliets death. The idea of fate permeates many of the events and speeches in the play. Romeo and Juliet see omens throughout the play, continually reminding the audience that the outcome will not be a happy one. Their deaths are a catalyst for change in Verona: The dueling families are united in their grief and create a political shift in the city. Perhaps Romeo and Juliet were  fated to love  and die for the greater good of Verona. Were Romeo and Juliet Victims of Circumstance? A modern reader, examining the play through the lens of happenstance and coincidence, may feel that Romeo and Juliets fates were not wholly predetermined, but rather a series of unfortunate and unlucky events. Here are just a few of the coincidental or unlucky events that force the story into its apparently preordained track: Romeo and Benvolio happen to meet and talk about love on the very day of the Capulets ball. Had they had the conversation the following day, Romeo would not have met Juliet.Friar Lawrences messenger to Romeo, who would have explained the plan by which Juliet was to pretend death, is detained. As a result, Romeo doesnt get the message.Juliet wakes just moments after Romeos suicide. Had Romeo arrived just a few moments later, all would have been well. It is certainly possible to describe the events of Romeo and Juliet as a series of unfortunate events and coincidences, but that was almost certainly not Shakespeares intent. By understanding the theme of fate and exploring the question of free will, modern readers still find the play challenging and intriguing.

Global Investments- Portfolio Building Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Investments- Portfolio Building - Essay Example Modern Portfolio Theory developed by Nobel Prize winner Professor Harry Markowitz demonstrates how the risk-adjusted returns of a portfolio can be improved by diversification of investments across assets with varied correlations. This paper takes this theory philosophy, and it will be the foundation in which portfolios will be constructed (Riley, 21-38). Considering that investment management involves much of art as science, qualitative considerations will play a critical role in this portfolio development (Reilly, 47). Precise distinctions among asset classes is subjective, therefore no clear distinctions exists. Returns and correlations are difficult to forecast, though historical data may provide a guide, which will be modified to incorporate structural changes and compensate for anomalous periods. Taking into account the prevailing market conditions, this paper makes the below judgment on market returns and their associated risks. Mixing the above assets will produce a real return of 11.5%, with an expected growth of 6.3% annually, and a standard deviation (risk) of 10.2%. Available resources for current operations will utter the purchase power of assets, and this pushes this impacts investment policy. The above mix of assets is defined by their differences expected in their response to economic conditions, among them price inflation, interests rates and economic growth. Over the past few decades, most of the University’s endowment funds invested highly on US marketable securities, and were there core factors in their investments. Taking into account the prevailing economic times, this paper finds that it will be wiser to commit some of it assets to developed markets outside the United State with a percentage of 6.5% and a standard deviation of 14.3%. These markets are given preference taking into account the globalization of trade, where these markets operate

Good for Society vs. Individual Freedom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Good for Society vs. Individual Freedom - Essay Example The main health-care problem that the government is obliged to tackle is a proliferation of diseases (namely pandemics and viruses). In contrast with traditional viruses such as smallpox and poliomyelitis, new viruses of fearful scope have now appeared. HIV/AIDS and avian influenza are the main threats to safety and existence of mankind. The threat can be explained by the fact that the alterations of mutation, resentment, and recombination, viruses could have evolved their own genetic structure. According to statistical results, 448,871 people living with AIDS in America. Annually, 17,047 cases of Hepatitis A are notified by the Health Department; and about 3.9 million people in the United States live with Hepatitis C (National Center of Health Statistics 2009). The agencies responsible for tacking relevant issues pertaining to safety are the US Department of Health and the Human Services and Immunology and Virology Agencies. These agencies are responsible for control over the proliferation of diseases and preventive measures against these diseases. Vaccination is the medical strategy for stimulating the immune system to protect against a specific disease agent prior to exposure. Provoking an immune response before a natural viral infection occurs acts to "blueprint" immunologic memory so that cells involved in making the potential antiviral immune response are primed and held alert. When confronted with the full strength infectious virus, these primed cells react quickly and with greater intensity than unprimed cells, thus enhancing the host's ability to successfully combat and control the infection. The recent appearance of the hemorrhagic fever viruses and HIV provide current challenges to a new generation of microbial hunters. Smallpox, poliomyelitis, measles virus, and yellow fever likewise challenged medical researchers in the past (Willis and Adelowo 1997).  

Tesco Brand and Culture Essay Example for Free

Tesco Brand and Culture Essay Corporate culture is one of the main determinants of success or failure in a business development practice, because it largely determines how flexible, accepting of change and innovative a company tends to be. Fairfield-Sonn (2001: 36) provided a four-layer model of corporate culture that included cultural artifacts, cultural history, core ideology and core values that helps to quantify and describe the corporate culture of an organization. Thus, Tesco’s corporate culture can be determined from its corporate responsibility statements, which describe its core values and core ideologies as well as some aspects of cultural artifacts. Tesco’s stated core priorities include: Ensuring community, corporate responsibility and sustainability are at the heart of our business. Being a good neighbor and being responsible, fair and honest. Considering our social, economic and environmental impact as we make our decisions. Tesco, 2010) These values have had a significant impact on the way in which Tesco does business, as well as its financial performance. For example, its expansion into California was designed to be not only profitable, but also socially responsible. As in the United Kingdom, American inner cities have a food supply problem wherein there are few large supermarkets and the smaller supermarkets do not have an adequate supply of fresh foods, including fruits, vegetables and proteins (Wankel Stoner 2007: 223). Because supermarkets are reluctant to build in the inner cities and many residents do not have transportation outside the area, inner city residents do not enjoy an appropriate diet, and suffer health consequences as a result (Wankel Stoner 2007: 224). Tesco’s corporate culture priorities allowed the company to consider opening stores in areas where native supermarkets were reluctant to go, and to provide services to the area that the local providers either couldn’t or didn’t consider. Thus, they opened stores in underserved regions, not only allowing them to express their core ideals, but also providing an opportunity to enter an almost untapped market. Although native retailers have scrambled to enter the markets in which Tesco is now providing services in the United States, Tesco will continue to have the advantage in terms of the markets it has already entered; it also has a corporate culture that encourages the expansion and ervice of these areas. Another area in which the company’s business development practices have both impacted and been impacted by the corporate culture is the introduction of lines of natural, organic and free-range foods to its stores beginning in the 1990s, and continuing into its development of the Nature’s Choice sustainable production lines over the past few years (Tesco, 2010). These lines, which include organic fruits, vegetables, meats and other proteins, dairy products, free-range eggs and other responsibly produced goods, has increased its importance in recent years to the company’s bottom line due to growing awareness of environmental factors by customers. The provision of lifestyle ranges like those above is one of the core strategies of the Core UK strategic business unit (Tesco 2010), as it provides the opportunity to reach the greatest number of customers, particularly those who believe that the way in which food was produced is as important as the food itself. However, this provision is also mandated by the company’s corporate culture’s core ideals, particularly those of environmental responsibility and awareness. These ideals entered the corporate culture in the mid-1990s, at about the same time as the first environmentally aware lifestyle product range (that of free-range eggs) was introduced (Tesco 2010). Whether the shift in corporate culture inspired the change in development strategy or whether the shift in development strategy inspired the shift in corporate culture truly is a chicken and egg question!

Warnings in Shakespeares Sonnet 95 Essay -- Sonnet essays

Warnings in Shakespeare's Sonnet 95      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare is the master of subtle humor and sexual puns.   In his "Sonnet 95," a poem to a blond young man, both are seen while pointing out a couple of realities about sexual sin.   He speaks directly to a young man whose physical beauty compensates for his lack of sexual morality.  Ã‚      Shakespeare would like for this young man to realize that his handsomeness is the sole aspect of his person that prevents absolute disapproval of his behavior in other people, and he also wants him to be aware of the ultimate consequences of his actions.   Through a clever use of diction, imagery, and meter in a typical Shakespearian format, Shakespeare warns his young friend of the risks involved with the overindulgence of sexual activity.    In the first quatrain, Shakespeare presents the young man to the readers by contrasting his beauty and his character.   He tells the young man that he renders "shame" (1) "sweet and lovely" (1).   That is, he is much too handsome to be overshadowed by his questionable conduct.   His "shame" may not be a dominant trait, but it does sneak around behind the scenes "like a canker" (2).   A canker is a nasty internal ulceration, or growth; it is a flaw that cannot be seen in an otherwise beautiful object, such as a "fragrant rose" (2).   This flaw in the young man, sexual vice, may "spot" (3), or taint his image later on in his life, as he is still "budding" (3); he is still young, and there is plenty of time for his reputation to be completely damaged by his sexual impropriety.   This young man is indeed beautiful and he is lucky to have such "swee... ...re slyly and jovially slips in the idea that if the young man is careless, he will spend his allowance of energy before his time comes; that is to say, he will become sexually impotent.   This image is brilliantly conjured up with the picture of a dull knife that will cut no more after years of its owner using it as a hatchet.   The simple lightness of his joke is expressed through the simple evenness of the iambic pentameter throughout the couplet, and its straightforwardness adds to the wryness of the humor.    Works Cited Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 95." The Norton Anthology of English Literature.   Eds. M. H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. Seventh ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000. 1:1041-42.    Works Consulted Oxford English Dictionary. Eds. James A. H. Murray, et. al.   Oxford, 1961. Warnings in Shakespeare's Sonnet 95 Essay -- Sonnet essays Warnings in Shakespeare's Sonnet 95      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare is the master of subtle humor and sexual puns.   In his "Sonnet 95," a poem to a blond young man, both are seen while pointing out a couple of realities about sexual sin.   He speaks directly to a young man whose physical beauty compensates for his lack of sexual morality.  Ã‚      Shakespeare would like for this young man to realize that his handsomeness is the sole aspect of his person that prevents absolute disapproval of his behavior in other people, and he also wants him to be aware of the ultimate consequences of his actions.   Through a clever use of diction, imagery, and meter in a typical Shakespearian format, Shakespeare warns his young friend of the risks involved with the overindulgence of sexual activity.    In the first quatrain, Shakespeare presents the young man to the readers by contrasting his beauty and his character.   He tells the young man that he renders "shame" (1) "sweet and lovely" (1).   That is, he is much too handsome to be overshadowed by his questionable conduct.   His "shame" may not be a dominant trait, but it does sneak around behind the scenes "like a canker" (2).   A canker is a nasty internal ulceration, or growth; it is a flaw that cannot be seen in an otherwise beautiful object, such as a "fragrant rose" (2).   This flaw in the young man, sexual vice, may "spot" (3), or taint his image later on in his life, as he is still "budding" (3); he is still young, and there is plenty of time for his reputation to be completely damaged by his sexual impropriety.   This young man is indeed beautiful and he is lucky to have such "swee... ...re slyly and jovially slips in the idea that if the young man is careless, he will spend his allowance of energy before his time comes; that is to say, he will become sexually impotent.   This image is brilliantly conjured up with the picture of a dull knife that will cut no more after years of its owner using it as a hatchet.   The simple lightness of his joke is expressed through the simple evenness of the iambic pentameter throughout the couplet, and its straightforwardness adds to the wryness of the humor.    Works Cited Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 95." The Norton Anthology of English Literature.   Eds. M. H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. Seventh ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000. 1:1041-42.    Works Consulted Oxford English Dictionary. Eds. James A. H. Murray, et. al.   Oxford, 1961.

Bosom Friend

About my bosom friend Jenia Frankly speaking, I chose Jenia, because she is my bosom friend. Moreover, we were studying at the same school, but to tell the truth, we know each other since we were preschoolers. But Jenia became my best friend only in the 10 th form. Jenia is a slim, pleasant – looking girl of about 17. Jenia is tall; she has a strong attractive body. Jenia is always elegant; her clothes are the latest fashion. Her features are very delicate she has sand shoulder – length hair and green eyes.Her eyelashes are long and thick. Her face is oval and she has a straight nose. Jenia has got a puffy and well-cut lips and she always has a sunny smile. To cut a long story short, Jenia is very beautiful girl. But I think, inner beauty is more important than physical one. Jenia is very tactful, generous, kind-hearted, but she isn’t shy at all – she is a chatterbox and know – all. She is always ready to help her friends. She used to help me at the math lessons.Math is her favorite subject, but I am, on the contrary, hate this subject. Jenia has in a habbit of helping her parents. Jenia is a person I associate with hobby. Hobby is what a person likes to do in his spare time. Hobbies differ like tastes. Jenia and I like handmade. We are interested in felting. Moreover, we have already done several funny animals, such as red cat, lion, rabbit, penguin , panda and etc. These toys we presented to our relatives and friends. I addition, Jenia goes in for sports and she is fond of tourism.Unusual as for girl, but she was in hikes several times, exactly 11. They were different categories of difficulty, it depends of place and distance. I think, it’s exciting hobby, and next spring I’ m going to join her. Jenia always tries to do her best to help somebody when he or she has some problems. What I like in her is that she always keeps her word and never boats. There is a proverb: a friend in need is a friend indeed. And I c ould say, these words are about my friend as Jenia, because she is a true one.

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