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Fate In Romeo And Juliet Essay

574 Words3 Pages

In only five days, immortal love is forged between two star-crossed lovers who meet, marry, and die for the sins of their families. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, fate is clearly the propellent of the play because Romeo and Juliet’s inability to take control of the events around them and predetermined circumstances thwart their vain attempts to overcome the ancient feud, making their fateful deaths inevitable. Fate is referenced throughout the story, although the word is disguised under placeholders such as “stars'' and “fortune”. One of the first mentions of it is in the prologue. The chorus announces “[a] pair of star-crossed lovers take their life” (Shakespeare 1.P.6). Using the word “star-crossed” suggests the involvement of fate is a …show more content…

Romeo ill-fatedly steps in between Tybalt and Mercutio, who were having a playful fight, and gets Mercutio stabbed by Tybalt. Romeo, in disbelief of what he has done, exclaims “[o], I am fortune’s fool!” (Shakespeare 3.1.129). Characters in the story, such as Romeo, see some events as outside their control. Romeo’s initial reaction to Mercutio getting stabbed is to blame it on fate, suggesting that fate is the one responsible for the tragic moment. Shortly after Romeo gets exiled, Friar Lawrence gets news that Romeo never got the message containing his plan, leaving Romeo in the dark with the grief of his wife’s death. As Romeo constructs his plan to be united with Juliet in death, he says “[o], here / [w]ill I set up my everlasting rest, / [a]nd shake the yoke of inauspicious stars” (Shakespeare 5.3.109-111). Romeo believes that he can try to defy his fate by killing himself, which is an example of dramatic irony since the audience has known his fate since the beginning of the play, only reinforcing the role of fate in this

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