In Act 2, scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet, the Friar Lawrence makes a fated comment, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households’ rancor to pure love. (Shakespeare, 847).” The only problem, the future of the characters and their families' fate is riddled with sadness and anger, not foreseen peace and love. The play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, portrays the relentless pursuit of love between the two main characters, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. What makes this play different from other love stories is that the lovers come from opposing families, even worse, families that hate each other very dearly. The two lovers first encounter each other at a party, which happens …show more content…
Romeo and Juliet’s destinies are set in stone and from the beginning of the play; the reader knows that their love will not last forever. In the prologue of Act 1, it is said, “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows doth with their parents’ strife. (Shakespeare, 807).” With the reader knowing that the pair is not meant to be, it adds another level of desperation and emotion when it comes to the terrible events the lovers face. Throughout the play, the lovers continually try defying destiny and make their love work in whatever way possible. Romeo draws a connection between fate and the stars, saying that he curses the stars for what they have done to him. They also try denying that their love can never work because they come from opposing families that will never settle with each other. In Act 1, scene 5, Juliet relates, “My only love, sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me that I must love a loathed enemy. (Shakespeare, 830).” Both the characters know that their love is forbidden, and Juliet at first, is especially angry that fate has caused her to fall in love with her only enemy. However, Romeo does not seem as shaken, showing that his thoughts are clouded by love and lust instead of slowing down to understand what has happened. Overall, the play Romeo and Juliet, demonstrates the cruelty that fate can enact on lovers and the sad downfall of the inevitable