Power In Romeo And Juliet

Fate’s Power in Romeo and Juliet People like to believe that they have the ability to make their own decisions, but what if this is false? The idea that humans do not have free will and someone or something controls the future has been developed over thousands of years. These beliefs can be seen in religion, art, literature and dramas, an example of which being the story of Romeo and Juliet. In fact, the idea of fate controlling what will happen in the future is the principal concept of the story Romeo and Juliet. The first time that destiny controls the future in the story occurs when fate allows Romeo to go to the feast. Destiny does this by having a servant of the Capulet family, who does not know how to read, approach Romeo. The servant

Destiny is able to do this by having Balthasar see Juliet being carried to Capulet’s tomb. Balthasar carries the message of Juliet’s supposed death to Romeo by proclaiming to him, “I saw her laid in her kindred’s vault” (V.i.20). Romeo believes Balthasar, however fate plays yet another trick on Romeo by stopping Romeo from receiving a letter from Friar Lawrence, which describes in detail that Juliet is not dead and how they will rescue her. Unfortunately for Romeo, Friar John, who was supposed to deliver the letter, returns it back to Friar Lawrence and tells him, “I could not send it,--here it is again,-- / Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, / So fearful were they of infection” (V.ii.14-16), explaining to Friar Lawrence how the message couldn’t be sent, because of destiny. Because of fate’s actions, Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, making Romeo perform the actions that fate

Destiny manages to do this by sending Romeo back to Verona with poison that was given to him by an apothecary, who Romeo, conveniently, had previously saw. Fate made sure that Romeo would be able to die by allowing the apothecary to give Romeo the poison. Fate plays tricks on Romeo again by having Paris attack him at Capulet’s tomb. This leads to more bloodshed in the play as Paris dies. Immediately after, Romeo drinks the poison and dies shortly before Friar Lawrence arrives and Juliet wakes up, only to find Romeo’s dead body. With Romeo dead, Juliet decides to commit suicide, third death at the tomb that night. It is presumed by many that such occurrences as this one can only happen with the help of destiny. One of the watches patrolling the tomb summarizes the dramatic scene perfectly by explaining, “Sovereign, here lies the County Paris slain; / And Romeo dead; and Juliet, dead before, / Warm and new kill’d” (V.iii.195-197). As the people discover what happened, some proclaim that fate indeed was the culprit of the deaths. To conclude, Romeo and Juliet is a story of how destiny decides how the lives of people are lived. Free will is a trait that most people believe they possess, however there is always a possibility that life is just a story written by fate, just like the story of “Juliet and her Romeo”