Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

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Fate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

There are many factors that contributed to the deaths of the

protagonists and it is definitely a mixture of these, which is

responsible. However in my opinion it is fate which played the biggest

part in the deaths of the “star-crossed lovers.”

Romeo himself, plays a major part in the tragic outcome. Throughout

the play he makes hasty and impulsive decisions without really

thinking them through. After being so “in love” with Rosaline he very

quickly decides to marry Juliet. This shows that Romeo is insincere

and disloyal. He also makes a hasty decision when he kills Paris.

Romeo often lets “fire-eyed fury be my conduct,” such as when he

rushes straight back to Verona after hearing of Juliet’s “death.” The

personification of fury makes it seem that Romeo is being taken over

by someone else and this loss of control is representative of the

sense of inevitability, a generic feature of Tragedies.

It is not, however, solely Romeo’s fault. Friar Lawrence acts as a

father figure to Romeo and makes some major impulsive decisions as

well. He marries Romeo and Juliet thinking, “this alliance may so

happy prove; To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” This shows

he has good intentions but he doesn’t think it through any further.

This impetuous decision making may have been inherited by Romeo who

also makes rash unthinking decisions. The use of the word “may” shows

that Friar Lawrence is unsure and has his doubts but despite this he

immediately decides to marry them.

However, the worst decision made by the Friar was to give Juliet the

illegal potion. His plan would require perfection on everyone’s part

and inevitably it fails. It could be argued that he concocted this

awful plan, “lest in this marriage he should be dishonoured.” I don’t

think this is the case as, in spite of his arrogance, he does care for

Romeo. I think it is more down to him not thinking it through, an

attribute he has passed on to Romeo.

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