Passage Three

Romeo and Juliet was probably written in 1595, when Shakespeare was a young successful playwright. He had already written comedies and history plays, but had not yet developed his shill in tragedy.

The power of fate is strong to Shakespeare’s play. Chance and evil eventually join to bring tragedy. Chance involves Romeo in a murder, chance prevents a message from reaching Romeo in time, chance brings about a deadly meeting in a cemetery.

Many Elizabethans were followers of astrology(星相术) and believed that the stars could control events. Thus, Romeo and Juliet art referred to as” star-crossed lovers” whose stars doomed(命中注定)them to disaster.

Elizabethans also had a concept of fate in the person of Dame Fortune (命运女神). By spinning her wheel, she could raise the state of a beggar or a lower that of a king. One of the fascinations of Shakespeare is the way in which he put these ideas into the play.

One of the most difficult things to decide about this play is the question of responsibility. Did irresistible fate bring tragedy to Romeo and Juliet, or were they themselves to blame？ The fact that this question is not resolved by the author also helps to make Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet a fascinating work.

44. According to Para.1, Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet ____.

A when he succeeded in comedy and history plays

B after he had developed his skill in tragedy

C before he wrote comedies and history plays

D when he was no longer young

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