Chosen vs. Romeo and Juliet

566 Words3 Pages
In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and The Chosen by Chaim Potok, both of the protagonists had problems with their parents. Both went against their parent’s wishes. In The Chosen, Danny Saunders went against his father and became a psychologist. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet married each other against their parents’ wishes. However, the two outcomes were totally different. The Chosen had a happy ending. On the other hand, Romeo and Juliet ended in a tragedy. These two very different endings were caused by different time periods, fate, and the amount of support received by the protagonists. During the Renaissance, women did not have much of a say in anything, such as whom they married. Lord Capulet tried to incorporate Juliet’s thoughts on who she married, but his mind was set on Count Paris and would not have been easily swayed by Juliet anyway. If Juliet was able to pick a groom of her choice, it would have been Romeo and she would not have been forced to marry Romeo furtively. But during the 1950’s in America, Danny had many choices on how he could spend his life. This enabled him to explore in the library and affirm that he wanted to become a psychologist. Also, this allowed him to go to the library and read secular books. Danny could choose to go against his father’s will openly, even if he was secretive about it at first. In Romeo and Juliet, Fate seemed to play a huge role in bringing forth the tragedy of their deaths. Fate made Capulet’s servant illiterate and he had to ask Romeo to read the invitations. Also, fate played a role in quarantining Friar John’s house so he could not deliver Friar Lawrence’s letter. Without receiving the Friar’s letter and hearing about Juliet’s “death”, Romeo goes and kills himself with the poor apothecary’s poison. Then, only a second or two passes until Juliet wakes up and kills herself. In The Chosen, fate
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