Comparing Fate In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Shakespeare tells us fate is that it is an inescapable, all powerful force. After Mercutio has been stabbed by Tybalt. He angrily calls out the Capulets and Montagues on all the bad they’ve caused and all the bad they will be the cause of, and yells that they will be cursed with a plague (or, their fate is dark). “A plague on both your houses!”. When Mercutio yells at the two families, he is angry because his fate was tied in with theirs. He curses them because of how he’s been tied into their rotten fate. In the Luhrmann version, there are many parallels between Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech and this one, but one really stands out; Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech starts innocent enough, but by the end, he’s painted the fairy as a demon. This is relevant because Romeo and Juliet’s love story starts sweet and peacefully, but by Mercutio’s death, their tarnished fate has become apparent (Luhrmann).

He realizes not only that his friend’s death was fate and has triggered more death, but that Romeo has no control over his own fate. “This day’s black fate on more days doth depend; This but begins the woe others must end” (Shakespeare III.i.124-5). Romeo fears that after Mercutio’s death, even more fighting will be inevitable, and will lead to more death. He realized that Mercutio’s death is inevitable, as well as is the ensuing violence. This is important because Shakespeare is again foreshadowing how Romeo is destined to die, and he can’t change it. Shakespeare shows that destiny rules all is after Romeo kills Tybalt, when he curses his bad luck. He is distraught, and decides that something bad is destined to happen to him. In the Zefferelli version, there is a scene immediately after Romeo realizes he has killed