Fate In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Fate is a power beyond anyone’s control. In the Bible, Jeremiah 29:11 tells, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This shows that their fate was already determined before they were born, so the lover’s death was unavoidable. In William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Julie, fate and the two lovers’ volatile passions that makes them inseparable reveals that their love has no ending, but one of tragedy.
Fate is one reason why their love will be a tragedy. Fate plays a big role in Shakespeare’s story, and is mentioned many times throughout. The prologue reflects on fate, what’s to come of the lovers, and how their story will end. In the prologue, Shakespeare writes, “The son of one enemy and daughter of the other, victims of unfavorable fate, commit suicide. Their unfortunate pitiful deaths” (Prologue.5-10). This proves that nothing good will happen because both the families’ children end up dying at the end.

Foreshadowing is one literary device that contributed to fate and Romeo and Juliet’s passion.

Juliet predicts her own death by saying, “Go ask his name: if he be married. My grave is like to be my wedding bed” (I.V.140). This was said early in the story when Juliet wanted to find more about this handsome boy who turned out to be Romeo. This already shows that fate is already involved and cannot be stopped. Romeo is able to predict his own fate also. He says, “This day’s black fate casts a shadow on the future. This is only the beginning of the sorrow to come” (III.I115-120). This shows he knows that his ending won’t be good, after killing Tybalt. No matter how hard the lovers try to fix their ending, fate wins. They are unable to avoid their horrible tragedy, because fate is a stronger thing than the two of them

together.

Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. Both families have a history of hatred, but it’s never mentioned on how it started. The son and daughter fall in love with one another. Fate was bound to have them fall in love. Their volatile passion towards one another always kept them running back to each other. In this play, love and death are inseparable. Juliet is head over heels from Romeo, even before she knew his name. Juliet shows her strong affection from the start by saying,” Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed. If that thy bent of love be honorable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, by one that I'll procure to come to thee, where and what time thou wilt perform the rite, and all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay and follow thee my lord throughout the world” (II.II.149-155). This proves for Juliet, marriage and love to Romeo are inseparable (unavoidable). Choices are made by the characters, but all events throughout the play point to fate as to why these unfortunate events happen.
Romeo and Juliet’s volatile passion for one another is another reason to show that their love will end in a tragedy. Throughout the story, there were many feuds, fights, and deaths between the families. Despite their families’ hatred for one another, Romeo and Juliet still loved each other. They are fated to die because they are in love through a course of unfortunate events. The two lovers could have turned away from loving one another, but fate kept bringing them back together. The themes of death and violence permeate Romeo and Juliet, and they are always connected to passion, whether that passion is love or hate. The passionate love between Romeo and Juliet is linked from the moment of its inception with death when Tybalt wants to kill Romeo because he notices he crashed the feast just as he catches sight of Juliet and falls in love. From that point on, love seems to push the lovers closer to love and violence, not farther from it. Romeo and Juliet are plagued with thoughts of suicide, and a willingness to experience it. For example, brandishes a knife in Friar Lawrence’s cell and threatens to kill himself after he has been banished from Verona and his love (III.III.20). Another example is when Juliet also pulls a knife in order to take her own life in Friar Lawrence’s presence just three scenes later. After Capulet decides that Juliet will marry Paris, Juliet says, “If all else fail, myself have power to die” (III.V.242).
In the last act of the story (Act 5), Romeo and Juliet both die. Juliet wasn’t dead, she took a potion made by Friar Lawrence to assume she was dead to everyone. This was a plan made so she was out of existence, and can start a new life with Romeo away from everyone. Romeo saw that she was dead, didn’t know she was actually still alive, and drank a death potion he brought. Juliet wakes up shortly and notices Romeo dead. This sadness causes her to stab herself in the heart. The passion they had for one another was so strong that, that being without one another was torture. The love they had was deadly because it caused both to end their lives because they were missing their other significant other. Miscommunication of Juliet’s fake death was fate because they were bound to die.
In conclusion, fate and the two lover’s volatile passion shows that their love will be a tragedy. Fate is a strong power that took the lives of two families who disliked one another. After their children’s death, the two families make peace and become friends. The two lovers couldn’t avoid, nor change their ending.