Fate Versus Free Will in Romeo and Juliet You can want something to happen so badly but sometimes fate steps in. In this play, fate and free will play a massive role in the decisions made by Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare, tells a tale about star-crossed lovers from rival families who have been feuding for years. Against all odds, they fell in love and lived out a whirlwind romance that ultimately ended in tragedy. Romeo should never have been at that party because of who he was and what his fate was. For instance, Romeo states in 1.4.110-115, "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. …show more content…
For instance, Friar Lawrence states in 2.3.91-92, "For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households' rancor to pure love." From the very first scene in the play, it is clear to the viewers and readers that the Capulets and the Montagues hate each other. Romeo and Juliet should never have met, but they did, they became infatuated with each other, and they wanted to marry each other. The marriage is exceptionally off course of what fate says should happen. The wedding wasn’t perfect, it did not fall together flawlessly, Romeo and Juliet planned it, but if it were fate as humans view fate, it would fall together with little to no help from Romeo and Juliet. The parents of the female and the man getting married arranged almost all marriages in the time period of the play. The two people involved, especially the female, had little to no say in whom they married. Arranged marriages are closer to fate than Romeo and Juliet's. No one was forcing them to get married, but they chose to marry each other because they loved each other. The thought that Romeo and Juliet would marry probably never even came to the minds of their parents because of the ongoing feud between their families. Romeo and Juliet choosing to marry each other because of love and choosing not to have a marriage arranged by their parents show how this play goes against fate and allows characters to make