“If You Had The Chance To Change Your Fate, Would You?”
Self-Determination In Romeo & Juliet and Brave
Both Romeo & Juliet and Brave are just fictional stories, yet they both send a very clear and important message into this world; that people should be able to become whoever they want to become without having to worry about how other people will react to that change. These two stories show how important it is to be unique, because if you choose to do what makes everyone like you, then you are a prisoner in your own life, and that will make you miserable; compared to living your own life, where you can do what you want and enjoy it.
In the book Romeo & Juliet by Shakespeare, Juliet is the daughter of a very powerful, wealthy, and influential man. In the society that she lives in, her parents are going to be choosing who she will be marrying, not her. One night, she meets Romeo, who she falls in love with, even though that it is forbidden for her to have any sexual relations with him, because of how both their families despise each other. Even though Romeo and Juliet shouldn’t be with each other, we see in Act 2 Scene 2, that Juliet starts not caring about what her family thinks of her, and she starts wanting to live her own free life. “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” t2.2.37–39), the fact that in this quote, Juliet is willing to give up her own family name, which is considered a title of honor, respect, and is her representation in society and the caste system, shows that she starts realizing that she’s living her own life. Not long after she says the first quote, Juliet once again expresses how she has no regard for family names and titles, “Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face. O, be some other name Belonging to a man. What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And, for thy name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself.”, which shows how she thinks that her life is much more important than a title, name, or feud between two families, and that the fight between the Montagues and Capulets has nothing to do with her or Romeo, but is only separating them from each other which is why she is willing to give up her family name if she can be with Romeo.
In the movie Brave, by Brenda Chapman, it expresses an important theme and message throughout the story of being yourself no matter what. It sends out a message to all its viewers to be unique, and live how you want to live. Merida wants to be able to do physical activities such as archery, but her parents don’t let her, because she is a princess. Even though she wants to live her own life, strict and unfair rules are forced upon her which gives her less freedom of her own life. “You are a princess! I expect you to act line one!”, this is a quote from Merida’s mother after Merida disobeyed her parents and took part in the archery contest, which goes to show how her life revolves around the caste system that she lives in. She is also asked in marriage by three men, and even though she isn’t interested in any of them, her parents and the system she lives in forces her to follow strict rules, which lessens the control of her own life. At the end of her adventure, after her mom has broken free from the influence of the spell she was under, and is now human again, Merida says to her “You’ve changed!”, after she becomes human again and her mother responds by saying “Oh, darling. We both have.”, which shows how her mother has come to the conclusion that even though her daughter may not be the normal type of princess, she still has to accept her for who she really is.
Through all their differences, Romeo and Juliet and Brave both send a very similar, strong message; for everyone to be unique. During the time period that Romeo and Juliet was set in, a person of such high social status such as Juliet always had people watching her, and was always judged, yet through all this pressure, and her parents’ control on everything she does, she still lived her own life. Some might consider that she did not live a good life because she ended up dying very young, but at least she had control of her own life; but if she ended up marrying Paris, it is possible that she could’ve lived a long, but probably miserable life. Even though she died young, Juliet at least died as a free person. In Brave, Merida starts off by getting in a fight with her parents about what she can and can’t do since she is a princess. When her mother tells her “You are a princess! I expect you to act line one!”, after Merida unexpectedly started participating in the archery tournament without permission and embarrassed her parents. Merida is a princess who wants to be able to do things that are not considered correct for someone like her to do, such as archery. She is also supposed to be married off by her parents to another king or prince, which doesn’t giver her any right for her to choose who she wants to marry, and if she doesn’t like her husband, then she can’t do anything about it. Yet in the end, she stays true to herself which leads her parents and family to understand her for who she is. Both characters face many obstacles, but stay true to themselves throughout their stories and live their own life, without letting anyone else control their lives.
