The Theme of Fate in Romeo and Juliet

Fate in Romeo and Juliet

‘A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life’
The play begins by telling us that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed”. We are told that they will “take their life”. This let’s the audience know right from the start what will happen, and implies that the tragic ending of the play is inevitable.

Shakespeare uses the device of dreams to foreshadow the doomed ending further. Just before Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet’s party. He says, “My mind misgives; some consequence, yet hanging in the stars”. Romeo’s fears his own death, and his dreams predict the future correctly.

In Act 3, when Mercutio dies, he says, “A plague o’ both your houses!” He says it three times! So the two families are cursed by a dying man. This was thought to be  an especially powerful curse in Elizabethan England. It is clear that Mercutio blames the two families equally for his death. Mercutio’s death is the first consequence of Romeo and Juliet’s ill-considered wedding. His curse ensures that it is only the beginning.

And of course Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s banishment follow shortly afterwards.

In Act 5, Romeo’s dreams predict “joyful news”, but when Romeo meets his friend Balthasar. He tells Romeo that Juliet is dead (she isn’t. The Friar’s message hasn’t reached Romeo), his mood changes completely. 

He says “I defy you, stars!”.  He rejects fate and providence in yet another impetuous act. Instead of being patient, Romeo immediately seeks out an apothecary and buys poison.

If only Romeo could trust to fate and wait, then the Friar’s message would reach him, and he would be reunited with Juliet. But Romeo rejects fate. Instead chooses death. So in a way, it is Romeo’s rejection of fate that leads to the deaths at the end of the play.

SUMMARY
Fate is signposted from the start of the play. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet are inevitable. The question for you to think about for an exam is what makes it so.

Is it Romeo and Juliet’s idealistic view of love that makes it so? Or is it the irrational hatred between the families that mean that Romeo and Juliet cannot live.