Destiny is the hidden power believed to determine what will happen in the future. It is evident from the beginning of the play that destiny is involved. The prologue states that Romeo and Juliet are ‘star cross’d lovers’ (Prologue 6), which is referring to the inevitability of fate. It is not only felt by the audience, but the characters are conscious of it too. Romeo and Juliet frequently notice signs, such as when Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, he cried, ‘then I defy you, stars,’ (Act V, Scene I, Line 24) confirming the idea that Romeo and Juliet’s love, was not a part of their fate.
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.
Friar Laurence knows that Romeo and Juliet have feelings for each other. Friar Laurence is even the man that was willing to marry Romeo and Juliet. While Romeo and Friar Laurence were waiting for Juliet on the altar, Friar Laurence tells Romeo,“These violent delights have a violent ends/ And in their triumph die.” (2.5.9-10) Friar Laurence knows that their marriage will bring about consequences, and he still chose to marry them. If Friar Laurence didn’t marry Romeo and Juliet, their deaths wouldn’t have occurred. After Romeo is banished from Verona, Friar Laurence helps Juliet come up with a plan for her not to marry Paris.
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.
The last major effect the plague had on the plot was when Friar Lawrence sent a letter to Romeo explaining Juliet’s fake death and his plan via Friar John. On his way to Romeo, Friar John had to be quarantined after meeting with people who were infected with the plague. This meant that the letter never got to Romeo, who instead heard the inaccurate news of Juliet’s death through someone else, which ultimately led to his and Juliet’s death. In the 1300s, people believed that the positions of stars and planets affected their lives. This was also known as fate.
Analysis of Act Three Scene Five of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, tells the tragic tale of two “young star crossed lovers” who unintentionally engage in innocent love, amid the hatred between their two feuding families. This is a ply which also shows how prejudice leads to escalating violence. Prejudice leads to violence like experienced in the play by two feuding families the montages and the Capulet fight. The prologue, warns us, the audience at the beginning of the play how these lovers will end up taking their. own lives After reading the play and watching two versions of the film adaptation Romeo and Juliet, I will now focus on how effective Shakespeare dramatic techniques are in on Act Three, Scene five.
In Act III, scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence informs Romeo that the Prince has decided to punish him with banishment from Verona. Instead of feeling joyful of escaping capital punishment, Romeo mourns over the fact that he could never see Juliet again. While the two discuss the Prince's decision, the Nurse arrives and tells Romeo that Juliet is also heartbroken over Tybalt's death. Guilty of hurting Juliet, Romeo threatens to commit suicide. To stop Romeo, the Friar suggests that he and Juliet should consummate their marriage, and afterwards, they can try to get the Prince's pardon.
The knife was destined to be how she killed herself. In the final act of the play, Romeo had been banished to Mantua from killing Tybalt. He runs into his old servant Balthasar, who told him that Juliet was dead. Romeo, not knowing that she had actually taken a sleeping potion, can’t believe she died, and states “Is it e’en so?-then I defy you, stars!” (V. i. 24).
This relates to the concept of a predetermined destiny as he acknowledges the fact that fate had something to do with his destiny, but by him trying to defy fate he only fulfils it. The intense attraction they felt had a sense of rightness, destiny, as if it was fate that had them meeting and falling in love. The fact that Romeo and Juliet were from feuding families and they only discovered this after they met and fell in love emphasises their preordained fate. The moment they met their deaths had already happened.
Romeo decides that whatever happens is up to fate and it’s completely out of his control. Also, after killing Tybalt, he calls himself “Fortune’s fool” and realizes he will be punished severely (3.1.142). Romeo is basically says he is a subject to the whims of fate. He thinks fate is playing around with him and not taking responsibility for what he himself did. However when he hears of Juliet’s “death” Romeo tries to “defy the stars” and kills himself (5.1.25).