Romeo And Juliet Fate Analysis

In the game Xenoblade Chronicles, the final boss famously says “The future doesn’t belong to you,” but if that is true, who does it belong to? The answer is fate which is the predetermined map of your life as opposed to destiny which is a future you choose for yourself. Sadly, death is the fate that Romeo and Juliet had to suffer in their book when they fell in love. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a play about two young lovers in the town of Verona, Italy that fall in love which leads to their eventual death. During the time period, fate was heavily believed to exist as well as your traits being held in the stars as well. Romeo and Juliet were well aware of fate’s existence and could feel death creeping up on them in the near future

Fate and destiny have the purpose of adding a greater depth to the story, characters, and audience’s emotion; its role is to function as a hanging ceiling over the play that could fall down at any second; and it affects the characters by altering their way of thinking into a more pessimistic manner that makes them act carelessly. The purpose of fate and destiny is to allow for a more complex structure in many of the play’s aspects. At the beginning of the story, fate was mentioned by the narrator in the prologue which helped to create a sense of anxiety in the audience. The narrator began, “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life” (Prologue, 5-6). The use of the words “star-crossed” makes it known that these two (Romeo and Juliet) are fated to be together by a belief that the stars have decided it.. Along with that, the fact that the entire story is being given to you before any of it begins shows that fate is indeed imminent. Fate has helped to already map out every character’s life and actions. This also is very

Once again during the Capulet’s ball after Romeo kissed Juliet, Juliet went to the Nurse and asked for which house Romeo belonged to. “My grave is like to be my wedding bed” (1.5.149). Juliet says this right after she learns that Romeo belong to her opposing house, the Montagues. The premonition of fate again creates a negative tendency of thinking in Juliet’s mind. To her, much like Romeo, all is already decided and there is no hope in her love not resulting in her death. This also adds to the role of fate acting as a ceiling and the audience getting a reminder that they could die at any moment. At the very end of the play when fate has begun to run its course and Romeo has killed himself, Juliet and Friar stand inside the Capulet Tomb where that unfortunate event took place. The Friar began to explain, “A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents” (5.3.158-159). At this point, fate is introduced as its own character in a way. The Friar is not seeing fate as just a concept that it exists but rather a “greater power.” In this sense, he believes that fate just screwed them over and the whole situation was out of his hands because all of this was predestined. Fate as a catalyst alters the thinking of the characters and makes them act