In my first blog I mentioned that choice was one factor that brought Romeo and Juliet together. I had said that Romeo chose to go to the spectacle taking place at the Capulet house with his friends where he later met Juliet. However, after today’s discussion in class I’ve been left wondering if Romeo or even Gan had a choice in their situation.
Choice is something that we all believe we have, but how much do we really have and how much is predetermined for us?
In class Veronica brought up the Queen Mab speech that Mercutio delivers to Romeo. This speech is about dreams and how Queen Mab comes “Over men’s noses as they lie asleep.” (Romeo and Juliet. 1.4. 58.) Her powers include riding over those who are in love and she causes them to dream of love. Yet, these are not pleasant dreams, she plagues them with visions. And Romeo has been plagued by his love for Rosaline which amounted to nothing. In the movie version we saw that during this speech Romeo took some drugs which put him in an altered state of mind. During this scene his ability to make decisions for himself are basically taken away. This is where the question of choice takes place. Does he really choose to go to the Capulets? Or is his choice taken away by his intoxication?
Choice is also questioned in “Bloodchild.” The sterile eggs have been given to Gan since his birth. These eggs have drugged him to provide youth, vigor, and they help take away pain which is something that Gan will need as he later becomes a host. As a newborn Gan had no say in what he ate so he had no choice but to take the eggs and as he grew older he became addicted to them that he continued to take them. A question I pose is as he got older did he really have the choice on whether or not to take the egg? One way to look at this is that he has grown and can make decisions for himself or so we believe. The truth is that the Terrans really don’t have much choice in their situation because they inhibited a new land and an agreement was made generations ago that they would provide hosts to the Tlic. If this has been the tradition for generations then does Gan really have a choice in the matter of what happens to him? Especially since T’Gatoi wanted to watch her future host go through every stage of development and it just so happened that Gan was born at that time.