Fate In Shakespeare's 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.

In Romeo and Juliet, adversity plays a large role in keeping the two star-crossed lovers apart, and after a short taboo romance, it is evident that their story ends in tragedy. The feud between their two families, both fate and destiny, encouragement from non-family members, and the deaths of the young couple, ultimately make this love story a tragedy.

Seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth; So that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd.’What makes a story so compelling?(5.3.10-12) In Shakespeare's tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet, the author makes fated occurrences to introduce the next event. In the story, many are fated occurrences that is not impacted by the decision of the characters but, happens naturally. Further, exploring these events will tells us how fate changes outcome.

If the Titanic did not bump into the iceberg, a tragedy could have been avoided. Why did Hitler get elected? Maybe then the holocaust could have been avoided. If a plane flight was cancelled on 9/11, we might have avoided the deaths of thousands. Why did Romeo meet Juliet in the first place? Could Tybalt and Mercutio's deaths been avoided? Last but not least, why did Juliet wake up in time to see dying Romeo? What exactly ties all events together? Fate.

Fate is the destiny of someone and what is destined to happen to them and cannot be altered. In this story fate holds most of the blame for what happens. One example of fate is said in the prologue. It caused the love of Romeo and Juliet “Death-mark’d love…”. (DBQ: Project, 2013) What this means is the fate of Romeo and Juliet's love is destined to not work out, and that their love for one another is fatal. Another example of this is also stated in the prologue. It says “A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life…”. (DBQ: Project, 2013) What this means is Romeo and Juliets stars are not aligned which means there love is destined to not work out.

From the beginning, Shakespeare uses fate as a motif and foreshadows that their love is doomed. Romeo and Juliet have so many things working against them that it can only be fate driving them apart. “Thou art wedded to calamity.” Romeo works against fate in an un-winnable battle “I defy you, stars!” Despite all the efforts of the Friar to help Romeo and Juliet be together, fate always conquers all.

Fate is a concept many people believe is set right when you are born. In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet he talks a lot about the concept of fate. My essay is about how significant events have no effect on a person’s fate. In the prologue it states this “ A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life,” (Prologue, Line 6). That is now telling us no matter what happens in their lives, they will die to end the fued between the Montagues and the Capulets.

Most of Shakespeare's plays are conceived around a foundation in either tragedy or comedy, this polarity of themes allowing him to experiment with the full range of human emotions. Typically, an integral part of a Shakespearean tragedy is love, which is frustrated by a breakdown in order, or the character of the hero, due to some human limitation. The play Romeo and Juliet has all these typical characteristics. However, the resultant conclusion of events for the characters in this tragedy is adversely affected by the hands of fate, and not solely the product of human limitations. Fate in fact has a decisive role in the events of the play; it is a series of rapid coincidental events, which lead to the final tragedy.

In the book “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare after the problem between the servants in the first act. Fate comes in when Montague said to Benvolio that stated that they really didn’t care on what happen to their children's lives, but however when it came to money and marriage they cared a lot more so this was applied to Romeo and Juliet's fate because the feud between their families and some of the reason for their children's deaths(Act 1). Just like in perspective 2 it gives a good example that can be related to Romeo and Juliet because they were fated with an illness to death and Romeo and Juliet were fated with love and then death.

Looking up into the sky on a clear night, you should be able to see thousands of dazzling stars shining against the midnight blue. You might be in awe, amazed, or simply at peace, but have you ever thought about how these little beauties might take away your breath in more than one way? “Thank your lucky stars!” you might have heard someone say. This simple expression meant more than everything to the characters in Romeo and Juliet, for they believed their fate was truly written in the stars.

Could it have been fate? Or could it have been the fault of Romeo and Juliet themselves? In the romantic play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, two star-crossed lover fall in love. However it is not that simple. They go through many challenging obstacles and face many choices eventually leading to both of their ultimate deaths. Now, back to the question, was it fate, or was it their own fault? The fate seem to outweigh the human stupidity factors factors by many. But, I believe it all depends on what the reader believes. What I’m saying is that no matter what someone thinks, human error will always be the cause. What people call fate is merely a coincidence of events and timing with a label one it “Fate”. Overall there are three main examples from the play that show us how human error, coincidence, and misconception was at hand, not fate.

By reserving Romeo’s love for none other than Juliet, fate played a significant role in setting the plot for these star-crossed lovers. For example, after Romeo is rejected by his “true love” Rosaline, who “...Hath forsworn to love...” (Shakespeare I.I.218), he too declares himself single. In a sense, this supports the idea Romeo was destined to