This feud brought problems along with it, such as the killing of Tybalt by Romeo. Juliet had said: “What’s in a name?” which explains her ill fate of being a Capulet and Romeo being a Montague. When Romeo tells his servant, “Ay, mine own fortune in my misery.” This sentence tells us he does not care for what Juliet’s name, nor his is. Bad luck plays a major role in the story of two-star-crossed lovers. There is an example of this when Romeo attends the Capulet’s party, and this is where he is first exposed to Juliet and where the misfortune begins.
This is because in the play, Juliet refused to marry Paris and so the Friar offers his help again and gives her a special potion that makes her appear dead. His intentions were to bring Romeo, who was banished, and Juliet back together again and this could be done if Juliet did not marry Paris. He wanted Juliet to go to Mantva where Romeo was. The Friar's good intentions are destroyed again when Friar John fails to deliver the message clearly of Juliet's plans of using the special potion and go to Mantva to Romeo. Romeo misunderstands this and believes Juliet is dead.
When he first met Juliet, he seemed to have forgotten about Rosaline Thinking Juliet was dead, Romeo thought that his only option was to take his life out of grief for Juliet. His impatience resulted in the death of Paris, himself and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet's naive minds, suicide was the only answer to their problems. In Juliet's case she had other options but she choose to overlook. Romeo and Juliet's innocence show us that jumping into situations too fast can cause big problems.
He speaks of how only the deaths of two star crossed lovers will break the violence, although it is said in a way that will not be noticed by those viewing the play for the first time. Plays in Shakespeare’s time were viewed many times, as it was the only available source of entertainment. Romeo and Juliet, sometimes referred to as the most tragic love story of all, is a story of young love between two people in families engaged in a deadly feud. The families fight in public at the start of the play, resulting in a death penalty from prince Escales if the peace of Verona is disturbed again. Meanwhile, Romeo, the son of Lord Montague, gatecrashes a masquerade ball hosted by Lord Capulet in honour for a potential marriage between his daughter Juliet and a wealthy man named ‘Paris’.
After Romeo is banished from Verona, Friar Laurence helps Juliet come up with a plan for her not to marry Paris. This plan consists of Juliet faking her death, so her sweet, love Romeo can find her in the Capulet’s tomb. However, if Friar Laurence didn’t mention the plan to Juliet, she would have save anyone from any heartbreak or death. Also Friar Laurence says, “Saint Francis be my speed! how oft to-night/ Have my feet stumbled at graves.” (5.3.121-122) This shows that Friar Laurence was being slowed down by graves in a tomb.
Firstly, Friar Laurence married Romeo and Juliet knowing that their families hated each other and that it could end very poorly (Shakespeare 944-45). Friar knew this was a bad idea, but he continued with it and married the two. However, if he did not do this he would never be in trouble and Romeo and Juliet would then have to get married the ordinary way, thus, letting both families know. Next Friar decides to give Juliet a vial which will put her in a death-like state and sends a letter to Romeo about the plan, but it does not get to him (Shakespeare 993-1012). If Friar Laurence did not give Juliet the vial, Romeo would not kill himself because he thinks Juliet is dead.
But is it really a destiny, which killed them? Or is it only a coincidence that they meet? Ether way, it is what makes this play work on our minds. In “Romeo and Juliet” there are many things that happen out of chance, but I would like to show the most important ones. The most important thing is, that they are from households, which are eternal enemies.
However, Friar Lawrence is more responsible than Tybalt for the deaths of our “star cross’d lovers” because he allowed Romeo and Juliet marry and it caused Romeo to avoid the fight at first with Tybalt, than later tried to stop the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio and caused Mercutio to get killed by Tybalt. Friar Lawrence also made a potion for Juliet to fake her death to let her see Romeo, but he failed to get the note to Romeo and Romeo didn’t know Juliet’s death was fake, so he ended up committing suicide and so did Juliet. Friar Lawrence never told anyone about Juliet’s death being fake. “So smile the heavens upon this holy act that after-hours with sorrow chide us not.” This was when Friar Lawrence agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet. It lead to them dying for each other’s love, when this could have been prevented if they weren’t married.
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” – What do you think of this estimate of the play’s events? Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is indeed a woeful tale of two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction as it proclaims in the last line of the play. Shakespeare explores the theme of love in his tragedy-drama play “Romeo and Juliet” and the different issues that arise. The issues which prevent Romeo and Juliet from loving each other and subsequently lead to their woeful death include – the eternal feud between the two families which proves to push them to their death, indecisive and superficial advice given from pre-trustworthy sources and ultimately, fate, which holds the most powerful influence over Romeo and Juliet’s destiny. The endless feuding between the two families is a major aspect that contributed to the lover’s tragedy.
In the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, William Shakespeare brings to the audience a strong idea of ‘fate’. Shakespeare tells the tale of two star crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, whose short romance is plagued with tragedy. One of the main themes and significant factors in Romeo and Juliet is fate. This indicates that Romeo and Juliet's life could be influenced by some power other than their own. During Shakespeare's time most Elizabethans believed in fate and the idea that everything would eventually fall into place.