A glooming peace this morning with it brings,
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head.
Go hence to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of… (5.3.304–309)
Let’s play literature trivia. Can you finish the quote? It’s the final words from one of the most well-known stories in Western literature. Think DiCaprio and Danes…
…
“…Juliet and her Romeo.”
I recently decided to become re-acquainted with some of Shakespeare’s works. The more you read literature, the more you realize how Shakespeare’s fingerprints are everywhere in modern storytelling. So, I dug into what is known as the most accessible of Shakespeare’s major works. I’m going to attempt to reach back a decade and put on my English Lit student hat to relate this story to some of my recent thoughts about life and God. Warning: my literature nerd side is coming out to play.
And, I suppose, a spoiler warning for a play that’s…423 years old and you all read in high school.
First, more trivia, can you name the character who says the above final words? (I want to hear in the comments if you got it right). Romeo and Juliet has many famous characters but the last words of the play come from a relatively minor character: Prince Escalus.
There is a theme throughout Romeo and Juliet of characters making decisions (usually bad) based on strong emotions. Even the “wise” father figure to Romeo, Friar Lawrence, makes disastrous decisions based on his affection for the title characters (“Young kids who met yesterday from mortal enemy families? Sure, I’ll marry you, what could go wrong??”). Prince Escalus is the one voice of reason throughout the play who seems to know what’s going on — and he shows it again in that final quote.
At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare spoils the ending:
“A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life…” (Prologue.1.6)
Though it may be annoying for those hoping for a suspenseful plot, Shakespeare is doing something important. Because of this prologue, no matter what the characters do throughout the play, the ending is already written for them. They are subject to “fate”. Stars are, and were especially in Shakespeare’s day, a symbol for destiny (and Shakespeare was using them as a symbol — I don’t think he literally thought the stars determined events). Things are “written in the stars”. Romeo and Juliet will be caught in the crossfire of the pitiless, fate-determining stars.
The prologue also tells the reader about the feud between the Capulets and Montagues:
“Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny…” (Prologue.1–3)
“And the continuance of their parents’ rage —
Which but their children’s end, naught could remove…” (Prologue.10–11)
This is why the “stars” have planned for the death of Romeo and Juliet. It’s the only way this “ancient grudge” could end.
It’s also important that Shakespeare omits the reason why this grudge began in the first place. It just has always been.
At the end of the prologue, Shakespeare says:
“What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.” (Prologue.14)
So, Shakespeare lays out the main source of dramatic tension: the feud between the Capulets and Montagues. And he lays out the ending of the story. There are many details missing, but the one of the biggest questions the reader will be looking to have answered in the “toil” of the play is, “what is the background of this feud? Something dramatic must have happened for it to lead to all this tragedy.”
But Shakespeare never answers this. The action that started the chain of events that led to Romeo and Juliet’s death is not known to the reader, and it may not even be known to the characters in the play. There is no greater meaning to any of this. The Capulets and Montagues are in a meaningless squabble that leads to their children’s unnecessary deaths.
About three years ago, my wife Julia died after a couple-year journey with ovarian cancer. This part of the Romeo and Juliet story made me think about what it was that started all the pain that I, and others close to Julia, have experienced over the last number of years. It was a gene mutation. A cell didn’t divide properly. That’s it. That’s the whole explanation.
I’ve also wondered about how cancer came about in the first place. You often hear about how cancer has arisen because of something about our modern lifestyles. This isn’t true. It may be true that our lifestyles can increase the risk of cancer, but it isn’t the reason for cancer. From what we can tell, cancer has been around forever. The reason that cancer has become more prevalent is that we’ve cured most other illnesses (mostly through vaccinations, by the way), so we now live long enough to die of cancer. (For more on the history of cancer and cancer treatments, see my discussion of The Emperor of All Maladies.)
Whether ancient grudge or ancient disease, often the source of our greatest pain is something seemingly random and without explanation — we feel caught in the crossfire of the stars.
There are too many references to fate and fortune in Romeo and Juliet to recount, but these were definitely themes Shakespeare was confronting throughout his play. Even Juliet’s famous “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” line is actually about fate and fortune. “Wherefore” does not mean “Where?”, it means “Why?” Juliet is saying, of all the people I could have fallen in love with, and of all the names that my lover could have, why does it have to be Romeo Montague?
Then we come to the final words of the play which I stated at the beginning of the post. The key words in that quote for me are:
“Some shall be punish’d, some are pardoned.” (5.3.307)
That speaks very true for me. Some people get through life without major trouble or hardship (though we all have some hardship along the way). If that’s you, that’s great! Consider yourself blessed and live your life to the fullest — don’t feel guilty.
Others get punished severely by life. I have been “punished”, but there are others who have been punished far more than I have. Some of this punishment can be easily chalked up to human decisions. However, much of it can’t. Often, life is just unfair, as it was to Romeo and Juliet.
To wrap up, I want to touch on where God fits in with all of this. You may be asking, don’t Christians have to believe that God plans all things for good, even seemingly tragic events?
No, I don’t think we have to believe God plans tragic events, or even “uses” them, for his “greater purpose”. I used to believe that, but I don’t anymore.
So, where is God in these tragic events? That is a much bigger question than I have time for here. But, suffice to say, I firmly believe He is there, working to pull everyone and everything toward His love and goodness. I believe He influences events on earth through persuasion, and not through coercion because He is primarily loving and relational.
Before you jump to say this view is heretical or it makes God seem weak, please think about that. Ask yourself if you have a wide enough view of what makes God powerful or not. Think about the damage done by telling someone that God is using the death of their spouse for His “perfect plan”. And ask yourself if this view of God, implicated in every death and tragedy, is actually the one revealed in Jesus and through Scripture, or if it’s coming from somewhere else.
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