Role Of Fate In Romeo And Juliet

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Recommended: Tragedy Of Macbeth :Fate Versus Free Will

Samreet Atwal
Mrs. Ying
English H 9 Per. 3
20 March 2014
Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Romeo and Juliet - Role of Fate
Given that humans are influenced by both fate and freewill, which one is more influential? In many myths and legends especially, the hero is born to perform a certain task where one example that comes to mind is the Greek mythology of Kronos and his son Zeus. Kronos was foretold that his son would overthrow him and to prevent that from occurring, he swallowed all his children except for Zeus, but Zeus managed to survive and returned to free his other siblings and successfully overthrew his father anyway. In contrast, the events that can happen are also changed by free will, with a character’s decision especially with Caesar. Caesar refused to listen to the Senate and marked his defiance by crossing the Rubicon with a legion, leaving his province and illegally entering Roman territory under arms. It resulted in gaining absolute power and his demise. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, two lovers come from two feuding families. They end up to take their lives, ending their family’s animosity towards each other. This decision was the cause of not free will but fate. Even though Romeo and Juliet use free will to make some decisions, they were victims of fate because the forces they were faced with was beyond their power.
Romeo and Juliet were mentioned as star-crossed lovers which signifies that fate is involved. Throughout the story they mentioned having visions of each other’s death’s foreshadowing their inevitable tragedy that is ...

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...d hate. / If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace” (1.1 82-90). This feud causes nothing but more problems. Now the ruler of the fair city is angry at the two families. If Romeo and Julie were to be seen together, it would start another fight, leading to their father’s deaths. Fate is nothing but condemning the lovers to their deaths. Their families hate each other, the prince threatens to kill their fathers, and are in love with each other further adding to their despair. Especially with the hostility between the two families, Romeo and Juliet are destined to the immolation created by their forbidden love causing their deaths.
One family member in particular, Tybalt, exerts such a loathing for Romeo which fate once again dams the lovers. Tybalt throughout the play, demonstrates his angry, resentful, and stubborn nature.

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