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The story of Romeo and Juliet, the two main characters in Shakespeare’s play, is an inevitable tragedy, which ends in the lamentable suicide of the pair . The play follows the two star-crossed lovers as they meet and fall desperately in love, despite a fierce feud between their families. However, fate steps in and pulls them apart, and, with both believing the other to be dead, they take their lives rather than exist without each other. Events, extenuating circumstances and character motivations lead to the fateful and inescapable misfortune which befalls Romeo and Juliet. The “ancient grudge” between the families is a factor which drives the pair to extreme lengths. Fate also plays a significant part in their suicides, as well as their own impulsive and obsessive personalities.

The Capulets and Montagues have been fighting for a generation, and when Romeo realizes that Juliet is a Capulet, it is clear that their love is hardly blessed by destiny. “My only love is sprung from my only hate.” Juliet declares when she too finds out. Throughout the play, the pair must meet in secret, lest they be caught out by their families. When Romeo visits Juliet, she expresses her fear for his safety, to which he replies “My life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued wanting of thy love.” He has no doubt that they will kill him if they find him with her. Romeo is banished for defending his family honor and avenging his friend, Mercutio, and it is this action which inevitably leads to their deaths. The feud is an unavoidable and unalterable factor in their relationship. It foreshadows their love and even without their suicides, they never could have been together; their love was doomed to end tragically.

Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses much dramatic irony to express an impending tragedy, an end in which fate plays a significant part. Shakespeare hints that their death is written in the stars - “A pair of star-cross'd lovers take...