Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Before starting to decide to what extent fate was responsible for the
deaths of Romeo and Juliet, I should first decide what is fate?
According to the dictionary, fate is the 'inevitable destiny or
necessity destined term of life; doom.' This basically means, that
fate can be described as a pre-planned sequence of events influencing
ones life. In Romeo and Juliet, it is obviously true to say that fate
was a contributor to the deaths of the young couple, but could it have
been the sole contributor?
From the beginning of the play it is clear that Romeo and Juliet are
doomed to die, They are considered victims of circumstance but the
question is did they have responsibility for their fate? Could things
have been different? Was it a bad series of events, was it a
coincidence that fate was against them, were outside forces against
them, It is not just a coincidence the language used in the prologue
'star-crossed lovers' and 'death-marked love' shows that it was all
meant to happen from the beginning of the play, the words
'star-crossed' refers to an astrological outlook on destiny that was
widely accepted in the period the play was written in, reference to
this so early in the play creates a sense of anticipation for the
audience and from the start they know what is going to be the outcome
of the play but the question left on their minds is 'Why?' and 'How?'
these are answered as the play progresses. There were many outside
forces against them a main one being characters in the play who
intensely manipulated the tragic path of Romeo and Juliet, these
characters being apart from Romeo and Juliet themselves, Mercutio, The
Nurse, Tybalt and The Friar.
Mercutio, being one of Romeos friends, is very influential in the
decisions he makes he was a firm supporter of the Montague household
and it was him who encouraged Romeo to attend the Capulet families
gathering where he met Juliet, if Romeo had not attended he would have
Before starting to decide to what extent fate was responsible for the
deaths of Romeo and Juliet, I should first decide what is fate?
According to the dictionary, fate is the 'inevitable destiny or
necessity destined term of life; doom.' This basically means, that
fate can be described as a pre-planned sequence of events influencing
ones life. In Romeo and Juliet, it is obviously true to say that fate
was a contributor to the deaths of the young couple, but could it have
been the sole contributor?
From the beginning of the play it is clear that Romeo and Juliet are
doomed to die, They are considered victims of circumstance but the
question is did they have responsibility for their fate? Could things
have been different? Was it a bad series of events, was it a
coincidence that fate was against them, were outside forces against
them, It is not just a coincidence the language used in the prologue
'star-crossed lovers' and 'death-marked love' shows that it was all
meant to happen from the beginning of the play, the words
'star-crossed' refers to an astrological outlook on destiny that was
widely accepted in the period the play was written in, reference to
this so early in the play creates a sense of anticipation for the
audience and from the start they know what is going to be the outcome
of the play but the question left on their minds is 'Why?' and 'How?'
these are answered as the play progresses. There were many outside
forces against them a main one being characters in the play who
intensely manipulated the tragic path of Romeo and Juliet, these
characters being apart from Romeo and Juliet themselves, Mercutio, The
Nurse, Tybalt and The Friar.
Mercutio, being one of Romeos friends, is very influential in the
decisions he makes he was a firm supporter of the Montague household
and it was him who encouraged Romeo to attend the Capulet families
gathering where he met Juliet, if Romeo had not attended he would have