Fate in Romeo and Juliet

324 Words2 Pages
Some believe that fate or destiny isn’t something that truthfully exists in the world. Destiny suggests that outcomes of certain situations are meant to happen-- and for a good reason. It is the belief that every event in life is laid out like a map, as if life was simply a puzzle, or connect the dots game. In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare uses the theme of fate as an exceptionally pivotal element to drive the story’s plot. Throughout the story, fate unavoidably befalls both Romeo and Juliet to their deaths. In its first address to the audience, the Chorus states that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed,” that is to say that fate directs them. Thus, it is the most responsible influence for the couple's tragic ending. Destiny intertwines itself in Romeo’s life in a manifold of ways. When Romeo and his friends sneak into the Capulet’s party, Romeo is hesitant to do so because of a bad dream he had, and says, “My mind misgives/Some consequence yet hanging in the stars/Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/With this night’s revels and expire the term/Of a despised life, closed in my breast/By some vile forfeit of untimely death” (I. IV. 113-118). Like the chorus, Romeo addresses the stars having importance to his life and believes that early death lies before him. The power of dreams is also demonstrated, when he believes that he will be reunited with Juliet. Another example is when Balthasar informs him of Juliet’s “death.” Romeo once again is pitted against the power of the stars: “Is it e’en so? Then I defy you, stars! / Thou knowest my lodging” (V.I.25-26). At the end of the play, Romeo finally tries to escape from his destiny by drinking a deadly poison to “shake the yoke of inauspicious stars” (V.III.111), ironically carrying out the destiny given by the Chorus in the
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