Fate In Romeo And Juliet

     Fate, for better or worse, interrupts everyone’s daily life, whether he/she chooses to acknowledge it or not. Thinking about fate conjures up different feelings for different people; some people believe strongly in it, some people think of fate as ridiculous, and some do not care one way or the other. However, in many instances, such as in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, far too many coincidences occur to be strictly coincidental. Fate creates a powerful effect throughout the entire play, starting in the prologue, continuing as Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love, and tragically ending in the lovers’ deaths.

Fate is a hidden, but unavoidable force that leads to certain consequences in people’s lives. The theme of fate plays a crucial role in the main characters of the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet share a destiny that dooms them to tragic deaths immediately after the exchange of their zealous love. Despite their resolute attempts to challenge their destiny, the lovers still succumb to the inexorable powers of fate. In the Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, the principle of fate propels the lovers together with infatuation, tears them apart through a bitter demise, yet, ensures peace in Verona for many future generations.

Fate was the fundamental factor that led to the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. It is present throughout the entire play, setting the scene for the tragic events to take place. Two scenarios which show that fate played an imperative role in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths are when Romeo read the ball invite which was addressed to someone else and when Friar John had to stop while delivering Friar Lawrence’s message resulting in Balthasar reaching Romeo first. The first scenario is seen in the text where a servant of the Capulet family

In the book Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, fate plays a large role in moving the plot along. It does this by bringing people together. Fate also plays a role in a couple people’s deaths, including the main characters, Romeo and Juliet.

This foreshadowing becomes true when Juliet kills herself. Shakespeare intended the reader to think that fate was in command when he mentions the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

this pair of lovers are meant to be together and it is written in the

In the play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, William Shakespeare explores the idea of fate, through the characters experiences. The play was taken place during the Elizabethan Era where the social norms were completely different to those today and the idea of fate was well and truly believed by the society. Shakespeare incorporates this concept of fate in different ways, he makes references to celestial bodies, employs premonitions and orchestrates events where Romeo and Juliet have no prior knowledge off. He introduces the two young lovers as ‘star-crossed’, which means their relationship is destined to end in tragedy and this is supported by events that occur in the play. Specific events

Fate is defined as, ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power’. In the time in which ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written, many people were strong believers of fate and it was a common belief in society. William Shakespeare was a famous poet who is recognised for his powerful writing and contribution to the English language. One of William Shakespeare’s highly recognised plays is ‘Romeo and Juliet’ written in the late 1500’s. It is a play about two star-crossed lovers alongside fate who by their death end the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Friar Laurence is not to blame for the tragic events which occurs in the play due to the fact that other

From fate representing Romeo and Juliet's encounter, to their love, and finally representing their untimely death, fate and fortune has been a contributing factor towards all the tragedies in Shakespeare's play, possibly being the main clause. Throughout the play, several references of fate and the stars are mentioned when characters show terrible grief and heart break. For example, mere seconds after Romeo slew Tybalt in a blind fit of rage, he exclaimed, "O, I am fortune's fool." He is saying that he is being controlled and forced to do things not in his control to change, and that he is a victim of circumstance (which in this case is fate). In which, he is. Time and time again it seems that Romeo and Juliet's love is in fact dependent on fate and fortune, since in the Prologue itself mentions that "...their death bury their parents' strife." It seems that even from the beginning, Romeo and Juliet were destined to die. No matter what they tried, and no matter how hard they wanted to stay together, fate always found a way to ruin their plans. Just after they get married, Romeo just so happens to run into Tybalt and Mercutio. Just after the couple consummated, Juliet was to be married to Paris on Thursday. Just after Friar Lawrence made a plan to reunite Romeo and Juliet, the wedding of Juliet and Paris moved one day forward! The letter

At one point Romeo even says, “This doth not so, for she divideth us” (act 3 scene 5 line 20). After they realized it was morning Romeo and Juliet look at each other and Juliet says “ Thou art so low as one dead in the bottom of a tomb” (Act 3 scene 5 lines 55-56). Shakespeare is foreshadowing that next time the two lovers see each other, they will both be dead. Even if they are trying to ignore their fate they are unable to because fate is already had taken its route.

In the very first act of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare clearly states that the play is controlled by fate. In the prologue, it states that "a pair of star-cross 'd lovers take their life" (I. Prologue. 5-6). Shakespeare refers to them as star-crossed lovers because they are doomed due to the position of the planets when they were born. In other words, he is saying that these two lovers will die because of fate and will have no way of preventing it. Later in that act, shortly after meeting Juliet, Romeo says,

First of all, in Act I, Scene II of Romeo and Juliet, when Capulet sends a servant to invite the guests for the party, “Go, sirrah, trudge about/Through fair Verona; find those persons out/Whose names are written there…”. However, the servant could not read and was not able to understand the information written on guest list. Therefore, the servant went on and asked someone for help, which happened to be Romeo Montague, the enemy of the Capulets. In other words, when Romeo met Juliet at the party, it was not fate that brought them together. It was an unexpected error or a coincidence where the

Participants in the action, some of them in parts that are minor and seem insignificant, contribute one by one the indispensable stitches which make the pattern, and contribute them not knowing; that is to say, they act when they do not know the truth of the situation in which they act, this truth being known, however, to us who are spectators." (The Brevity of Friar Laurence, 850) The idea that Fortune dictates the course of mankind dates back to ancient times. Those writers of the medieval world incorporated the goddess Fortune into Christianity and made her God's servant, responsible for adding challenges to our lives so that we would see the importance of giving up our tumultuous earthly lives to God. The most influential treatise on the theme of Fate was The Consolation of Philosophy, written by the scholar Boethius (A.D. 475-525). Written while he awaited execution, it is a dialogue between himself and his guide 'Philosophy', who explores with him the true nature of happiness and fate, and leads him to hope and enlightenment. Here is an excerpt from Book IV:

Another example of foreshadowing the ill-fated death of the two lovers is Romeo’s friend Mercutio. When he gets stabbed by Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, he angrily tells Romeo that fate will not be kind to both the Montagues and the Capulets ‘A plague o’ both your houses! They have made worms’ meat of me.’ (3.1.68-69). Later in the play, Juliet has a vision that she found Romeo dead at the bottom of a tomb, again predicting fate’s plan for the two lovers ‘O God, I have an ill-divining soul / Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low / As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.’ (3.5.53-55). Romeo himself even allows fate to steer him in any direction it wants, even if it means death. Romeo is afraid that going to the masquerade ball will have consequences with his life ending shortly in death, but he goes anyway ‘I fear too early, for my mind misgives / Some consequence yet hanging in the stars…’ (1.4.107-108). These examples explain that the characters foreshadow the death of the lovers and that fate is responsible for these

The belief of the greater power that guides the lives of men known as fate plays a large role in Romeo and Juliet.