The Role Of Fate In Romeo And

Juliet Essay, Research Paper

In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, fate is the a

dominant factor throughout the story, and it is the cause of many hazardous

events, but Romeo and Juliet were ultimately the ones responsible for their

own deaths. The word fate generates a bit of confusion, and can have many

different connotations. Fate is an inevitable and often adverse outcome or

condition; destiny. The destinies of these two ?star crossed lovers? were

not set from the start of the story, but almost all events that took place

brought Romeo and Juliet closer to their inevitable fates. There were too

many coincidences to give the reader any doubt that the two protagonists

were entirely the masters of their futures.

The first coincidence was that Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers,

shared the

unfortunate fate that they were from feuding families. The two of them

were a perfect

match, and were completely in love with each other, and the odds that one

was a

Montegue and one was a Capulet are incredibly slim. They both showed their

grief when

they learned that the other was from the opposite family. ?O dear account!

my life is my

foe?s debt.? (A-1:Sc5:ln 132), and ?My only love sprung from my only hate.?

(A-1:Sc5:ln

152) were the two expressions that Romeo and Juliet exclaimed,

respectively. Juliet had

the right idea when she showed her frustration with the feud, and its

influence on R&J?s

relationship, in her solliloquy on the balcony, and said, ?What?s in a

name? That which we

call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet…? (A-2:Sc2:ln 41-52)

Besides the fact that they probably would have never been able to

live a peaceful

life, none of the tragedies would have occurred had they not met in the

first place. This

scene, where the Montegues find out about the play is another twist of

fate. The servant

of Capulet, who happens to be illiterate, was given the job of telling

people about the

party, but only those specifically on a list written up by his master.

Since he could not

read, he was forced to ask two strangers to explain it to him. Those two

people could

have been anyone, but they just happened to be Romeo and Benvolio. Another

ironic fact

is that Romeo went to the party because he was madly in love with Rosaline.

Hypothetically, if Rosaline had been there, and she returned Romeo?s love,

then all the

following suffering would have never occurred. Romeo was completely in

love with

another woman going to the party, and only found out about it in the first

place, through

an adverse twist of luck.

Although Romeo and Juliet were responsible for their own physical

deaths, but

fate played a big role in getting the two into a suicidal mindset. The

first and most

obvious example was the quarentine in Mantua. Friar Laurence?s plan was

that Juliet

would be laid in the tomb, appearing to be dead, and when she woke up,

Romeo would be

there to meet her. The Friar was to send a message to Mantua, where Romeo

was

bannished to, and inform the anxious boy about the sceme. This is a

seemingly perfect

plan, and gives the readers a sense of hope, but it is squashed when the

they discover that

there was a quarrantine in Mantua, and Romeo was unable to get the letter.

and,even

right to the very end, fate was still rearing it?s ugly head because if

Juliet had woken up

seconds learlier, .

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Although R&J were illfatefully put in their awkward positions, it was their

falts that they

died. There were infinite instances where if a tiny detail had taken

place, these two

wouldn?t have ended up like they did.

Conclusion

William Shakespear had countless times where he could have saved

both of them, but he does not. He gives the reader a little hope that the

two will survive, but with each event, that hope is squashed. Although

Romeo and Juliet did not have to kill themselves, none of the the tragedies

would have occurred, had it not been ?written in the stars?. Truly fate is

the most dominant force in the play, and is most responsible for the deaths

of Romeo and Juliet. Reverse deus ex machina

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