Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a play depicting the tragedy of two star-crossed lovers devotion to each other. Their families feud kept the two from being together. The two’s immense loyalty to each other resulted in their deaths. A major theme in this book is “love conquers all” and this leads to an important argument; was the story’s devastating ending fate or free will? Romeo and Juliet’s actions lead to their demise and the story was most definitely driven by free will.
In Act 3 scene 2, Juliet makes the decision to forgive Romeo and further their love to prosper. She then goes on to say, “But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? That villain cousin would have killed my husband. Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring. Your tributary drops belong to woe, Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy,” lines 101-105. In other words, Juliet settles her sympathy for Tybalt’s death by convincing herself that Romeo would have also died. She goes on to say that if her love had passed she would not be able to survive herself. This foreshadows to the choice she makes to end her life at the end of the book. Her emotions are determined by the outcome of others actions and this influences the choices she makes. In no way, could fate have dictated her outcome based on her strong passion. During Act 4 scene 1, Friar Lawrence and Juliet devise a plan to maintain her and Romeo’s relationship. Friar Lawrence quotes, “And this shall free thee from this present