Fate In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Fate is a power beyond anyone’s control. In the Bible, Jeremiah 29:11 tells, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This shows that their fate was already determined before they were born, so the lover’s death was unavoidable. In William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Julie, fate and the two lovers’ volatile passions that makes them inseparable reveals that their love has no ending, but one of tragedy. Fate is one reason why their love will be a tragedy. Fate plays a big role in Shakespeare’s story, and is mentioned many times throughout. The prologue reflects on fate, what’s to come of the lovers, and how their story will end. In the prologue, Shakespeare writes, “The son of one enemy and daughter of the other, victims of unfavorable fate, commit suicide. Their unfortunate pitiful deaths” (Prologue.5-10). This proves that nothing good will happen because both the families’ children end up dying at the end.

Juliet predicts her own death by saying, “Go ask his name: if he be married. My grave is like to be my wedding bed” (I.V.140). This was said early in the story when Juliet wanted to find more about this handsome boy who turned out to be Romeo. This already shows that fate is already involved and cannot be stopped. Romeo is able to predict his own fate also. He says, “This day’s black fate casts a shadow on the future. This is only the beginning of the sorrow to come” (III.I115-120). This shows he knows that his ending won’t be good, after killing Tybalt. No matter how hard the lovers try to fix their ending, fate wins. They are unable to avoid their horrible tragedy, because fate is a stronger thing than the two of them