Destiny in "Romeo and Juliet"

Destiny or fate is a controversially talked about subject that has arised for many years. ‘Destiny is referred to as a predetermined course of events.’ Many people, especially in Shakespearean times, believe that God has a life plan for every individual. A sense of destiny in its oldest human sense is the soldier’s fatalistic image of the ‘bullet that has your name on it’ or the moment when ‘your number comes up’ or a romance that was ‘meant to be.’ Many Greek legends and tales teach the futility or trying to outmanoeuvre an inexorable fate that has been correctly predicted. Today we have people that can ‘predict out future’ whether we nowadays still have the belief in the stars and the ability to read them is another controversial matter. Elizabethan astrology fascinated many prominent Elizabethans. The subject is mentioned in every single one of Shakespeare’s plays. At the time the play Romeo and Juliet was published Robert Burton was the astrologer of the era. In Shakespeare’s plays astrology was often critical to the plots when the actions and events surrounding characters are said to be ‘favoured’ or ‘hindered’ by the stars. In the tempest the main character is said to be based on John Dee, who was a famous astrologer and scholar in the Elizabethan era. Destiny is the idea of necessity ‘everything in the world is conditioned and takes place according to necessity.’ ‘Fatalism is based on the assumption that everything in the world and in peoples lives is predetermined by natural or super natural forces, that God set everything out.’ Destiny also mans ‘dragged by force.’ If Romeo would have stayed in his, not gone to the Capulet’s party, left the party when Capulet saw him would all this of happened? That is the idea of destiny...

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...’s and the rest of Romeo and Juliet’s friend and family all have some effect on the predetermined Destiny of Romeo and Juliet.

Without Destiny and fate the story would not make sense, no one can have so much bad luck. Many people say to themselves if that wouldn’t have happened that that wouldn’t have happened this idea never ends.

I think the story of Romeo and Juliet was based on fate and destiny as I have said no one can be that unlucky, everything that happened must have happened for a reason all of which added to their tragic fate. Every little thing contributed to the ending. I think it was down to fate and destiny it was not a coincidence. There are many ways that this could have been stopped if it wasn’t meant to happen. ‘ For never was a story of more woe Than this of her Juliet and her Romeo.’(5.3.309)