William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

It is almost certain that Shakespeare saw fate and love as the main

themes in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. There is proof from many of his other

plays such as ‘Mac Beth’ and ‘Julius Caesar’ which both include fate

as a strong theme.

Plays which were written as far back as the Greek and Elizabethan days

often included fate or love, as the people were very superstitious and

aware of the ‘stars’. A definition of fate would be the power that is

supposed to settle ahead of time how things will happen. The blindness

of young love is another large theme in the play. Shakespeare shows

this through the love Romeo and Juliet share.

In Romeo and Juliet, fate was not the only cause of the deaths of the

young couple; it could also have been brought about by the mistakes of

themselves and the other characters in the play. The Prologue at the

beginning of the play suggests it was mainly fate that was to blame

and the audience gets a sense that the love between Romeo and Juliet

is doomed.

“A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.”

Death lingers in the prologue, implying that something bad lies ahead

for the young couple.

“The fearful passage of their death mark’d love.”

The prologue proposes that tragic accidents will happen to take away

their parents hatred for one another and that fate is partly to blame

for the causes of these accidents.

“Whose misadventures piteous overthrows doth with their death bury

their parents’ strife.”

The first appearance of fate can be seen when Benvolio tries to

persuade Romeo that his love for Rosaline is false. Romeo is mourning

due to his unrequited love for Rosaline however; he is infatuated