The Role of Fate in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juiliet

Decisions and choices- an act of or need for making up one's mind, and the right, power, or opportunity to choose. Fate- a four letter word, a noun defined as the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as being determined by a supernatural power. These are what many can believe as the most powerful forces that shape our future. The playwright, William Shakespeare, wrote a tragedy of two youngsters in love. This tale was filled with drama, mixed-emotions, laughs, heartbreaks, and affection. Written as a tragedy, the play had ended like other Shakespearean tragedies had ended; in death. The death was inevitable because of decisions and choices made fates were shaped and had played a part in the events that blossomed the love of two star-crossed lovers. As an illustration, picture two families at war with each other, a feud that everyone gets caught in the crossfire. For instance, when innocent citizens are tired of watching their supposed ‘peaceful’ streets get disturbed by the feud, and as the prologue states, “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” (Prologue.6) The feud was poison for the city of Verona and its citizens. Besides crummy choices were made, therefore a cursed destiny was created for two naive lovers.

     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.

The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, published in 1597. It is a story about how, “A pair of star-cross’d lovers [Romeo and Juliet] take their lives…/The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love…” (Prologue of Romeo and Juliet, 6-9) as they are forbidden to be together due to a long lasting and ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families. Their deaths are the results of many characters’ actions and fate, and there is not one distinctive person that can be blam¬ed for the young lovers’ deaths. Friar Lawrence is not to blame for these deaths as fate played a major role in their demise, he warned Romeo of his impulsive and unwise decision making, and his intentions were to abolish the ongoing feud between the two families. Further examination will prove that Friar Lawrence is innocent and his intensions were far from the passing of the two lovers.

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 the play, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, is about two “star crossed” lovers who are destined to end in a tragic accident. Fate is the path that leads to the future and cannot be altered no matter the outcome. Set in Shakespearean time, fate was believed to be in control of people’s lives. The fact that Romeo and Juliet would never live a peaceful life, none of the tragedies would have not taken place if they had not met. In the prologue of the play, Shakespeare outlines that “two star’d crossed lovers take their life”. This foreshadowing creates the sense that fate shall claim superiority. The powerful nature of Romeo

In William Shakespeare’s play, “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”, fate plays one of the largest roles in the plot. In order to understand how fate plays a role it is important to examine how the story begins, when Romeo meets Juliet, and when Romeo fights Tybalt after Tybalt kills Mercutio.

Everyone wants to marry the love of their life. Seeking the approval of our family and friends, we all look ahead fondly at the idea of living a long and happy life with our soulmate. Unfortunately, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet this is not the way life played out.

Fate has always been of interest to society, and even today, people continue to question whether someone’s life is destined for a certain fate, or if it is shaped by their own free-will. Such thoughts come into play throughout various acts and scenes of Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s play often strongly suggests that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is built upon fate and free-will. There are many critics who argue fate is what makes up this play in its entirety due to the various fate related ideas evoked throughout it. Although fate does indeed play some roles in the shaping of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, overall, it is free-will that plays a much greater role throughout their tragedy and is ultimately at work in this play.

A timeless topic--fate and free will--still captivates society today. Fortune cookies, physics, and horoscopes all contribute to the obsession people have with this controversial debate over who manipulates life; fate or free will. No one is sure who really pulls the strings, but everyone has an opinion on the matter. Many famous plays center on this topic, and one such play that features characters’ views on fate and free will is Romeo and Juliet. This legendary play, written by William Shakespeare, has been beloved by people for centuries, as they contemplate who is the guiding force in life? The play discusses just this, while depicting the lives of Romeo and Juliet: two desperate teenagers each trapped in their own worlds, seeking love

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.

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.

An individual's destiny is controlled by one thing and that thing is fate. During a lifetime fate plays a role that many people won't recognize. One's destiny is always controlled by fate like in the story of Romeo and Juliet, situations that we face everyday and the way that other cultures see fate. Fate is always playing along.

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, fate is an important and reoccurring theme. It is acknowledged by the main characters Romeo and Juliet, the trusted and knowledgeable Friar, the honourable Prince and the all-knowing Chorus and implied by a series of coincidences, that fate is an unchangeable force which influences their lives. It is first introduced in the Prologue when the Chorus claims that Romeo and Juliet are a pair of “star-cross’d lovers” with a “death mark’d love”. This opens the idea that Romeo and Juliet’s love was doomed from the start.