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Julia Camp

Mary Wood

English

31 March 2017

Role of Fate in Romeo and Juliet

Fate can be found in multiple places in the play Romeo and Juliet(Rom.) by William

Shakespeare. It can affect the way a person acts. They can react to it by revolting or just

accepting it. Shakespeare lets the concept of fate come into other plays too. He uses it in the play

As You Like It(AYL.) when Celia says, Let us sit and mock the good housewife Fortune from

her wheel, that her gifts may henceforth be bestowed equally, (AYL.1.2.30). She is basically

saying to just let fate take control. What will happen will happen and do not do anything about it.

Fate: something that unavoidably befalls a person, (Merriam-Webster). The people that chose

to revolt try not to admit that it happens unavoidably. They would try to break the definition of

the word, which is what formed the character, Juliet, more than anyone. She would not let

anyone tell her what to do when Romeo and herself met. If fate was not in the play Romeo and

Juliet at all, then a lot of events would not have happened. For example, in the prologue of the

play, Romeo and Juliet were already doomed, Romeo went to the feast/party, her parents

wanted something she did not, and that they both end up dead at the end.

First of all, in the prologue, Romeo and Juliet are already doomed by their fate. They do

not have a chance to last before the play even began. In the prologue, it states, A paif of star-

crossed lovers take their life, in line 6. The definition of star-crossed is thwarted by bad

luck. The prologue does not just say they have bad luck, but they also will take their own lives.

It is fate that they will commit suicide. Although, it is still a mystery as to why it will happen. It
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also reads, The fearful passage of their death-marked love, in line 13. Fate prevents this

relationship from working out at all. Shakespeare wanted to make it clear that the reason the

relationship would not end well was not because of ill-advised mistakes, but rather fate. If it was

not fate, he would not have stated that it would not work well or refer to them the way he did. As

mentioned earlier, Juliet is one of those people that choose to rebel against it. She will not accept

anything that she has to do if she does not want it to happen.

Secondly, fate allows Romeo to read the guest list to a feast/party the Capulets are

having. This gives Romeo the idea he should go, which is where he meets Juliet. But I pray, can

you read anything you see? Romeo responds, Ay, if I know the letters and the language. Then

the servant replies, You say honestly. Rest you merry. Romeo says, Stay fellow, I can read.

(He reads the letter) Seigneur Martino and his wife and daughters; County Anselme and his

beauteous sisters; The lady widow of Vitruvio; Seigneur Placentio and his lovely nieces;

Mercutio and his brother Valentine; Mine uncle Capulet, his wife and daughters; My fair niece

Rosaline and Livia; Seigneur Valentino and his cousin Tybalt; Lucio and the lively Helena. A fair

assembly. Whither should they come? The Servant replied, Up. Romeo said, Whither? To

supper? The Servingman said, To our house. Whose house? said Romeo. The Serving man

responded, My masters, (1.2.65-83). (check formatting for bloBasically, in this scene, Capulet

hands his servingman, Peter, a list of guests to invite to a party the Capulets are having. Peter

cannot read, though, so he was looking for help. It just so happened that Romeo, who has just

been devastated about Rosaline, was right there. Romeo read the lists of guests aloud, and he

realized Rosaline was going to the party. Therefore, he planned to go himself. This is where he

met Juliet. Fate played a major role in this scene. There were a lot of coincidences: Rosaline was

invited to the party, the servingman could not read, Romeo was just in time to help him, and
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Juliet was at the party. If one of these things did not happen, Romeo never would have met Juliet.

They would not have seen each other, and definitely not have fallen in love.

However, it was fate that her parents were going to force her to marry Paris, just making

Juliet to like Romeo even more. In Act 3, Lady Capulet says to Juliet,Marry, my child, early

next Thursday morn, The gallant, young, and noble gentleman, The County Paris, at Saint Peters

Church, Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride. Juliet responds, Now, by Saint Peters

Church and Peter too, He shall not make me there a joyful bride. I wonder at this haste, that I

must wed Ere he, that should be husband, comes to woo. I pray you, tell my lord and father,

madam, I will not marry yet. And when I do, I swear It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,

Rather than Paris. These are news indeed! (3.5.117-128). In this scene, Lady Capulet is telling

Juliet she needs to marry Paris. Juliet has never even met Paris at this point. However, its a big

coincidence that her parents are completely against her marrying Romeo. Often, when people

want to do something, even a little bit, if someone tells them they cannot or if they actually

cannot, they want to do it more. Juliet liked Romeo at the party; she was head over heels for him.

Although, when her mother told her she had to marry Paris, she despised the idea. She then

realized she has to be with Romeo and it cannot be any other way. It was fate that her parents

were unconditionally against Romeo and Juliet. In fact, after Capulet and Lady Capulet found

out Tybalt, Juliets cousin, was killed by Romeo, Lady Capulet comforted Juliet by saying she

would send someone over to Mantua, where Romeo was banished, to poison him (3.5.92-97).

Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday,

Or never after look me in the face. Speak not. Reply not. Do not answer me. My fingers itch.

Wife, we scarce thought us blest That God had lent us but this only child, But now I see this one

is one too much And that we have a curse in having her. Out on her, hilding! (3.5.166-175). In
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this part of scene 5, Capulet gets very upset at Juliet for disobeying him. He basically calls her a

great deal of names, and in the end he threatens to disown her if she does not marry Paris.

Anyhow, it was fate that Juliets parents were completely against Romeo and Juliet getting

married, for they wanted her to marry Paris. It could also be considered fate that her parents are

so strict. They want her to do what they want, and she cannot do anything else.

All of these events led to one major event, suicide. It was fate that Romeo killed himself

right before Juliet wakes up, as well as the plan being messed up. Since the prologue said they

would not work out, fate made sure they would not. Friar Lawrence, the priest, came up with a

plan to let Juliet escape and live with Romeo. However, some parts of the plan got mixed up, and

the scheme did not work out. Juliet was going to look dead from a vile, and she would wake up.

When she woke up, Friar Lawrence would make sure Romeo was there to take her away. What

really happened, though, was Friar Lawrence could not tell Romeo Juliet was not actually dead.

Romeo entered her tomb, and she looked dead. He was overcome with sadness, so he killed

himself. Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide. Thou desperate pilot, now at once run

on The dashing rocks thy seasick, weary bark. Heres to my love! (drinks the poison) O true

apothecary, Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss, I die, (5.3.120). Just a minute or two later,

Juliet wakes up, Yea, noise? Then Ill be brief. O, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust,

and let me die, (5.3.174-175). After she says this short line, she stabs herself. Fate affected this

in such a way that it is not hard to recognize that it is fate, rather than some simple mistake. All

of the events mentioned earlier made them do this to themselves. It was fate that Juliet woke up

just a little too late, and Friar Lawrence simply could not send Romeo word. What also could be

considered fate was the fact that Romeo purchased an illegal shot of poison for himself. It

worked so quickly it did not give Juliet a chance to stop him. Another example in this scene is
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how Romeo carried a dagger with him for Juliet to find when she wakes up. This scene shows

the most significant part of fate, for this is the unhappy ending that has now been proved to be

true from the beginning.

All of these fairly significant events would not have happened if it were not for the role

of fate. In the prologue, it stated that they were basically doomed from the start. They had no

chance, and it was not because of a mistake or two. Shakespeare made it seem like it was fate.

Romeo reading the guest list was also fate. He was still love-sick from Rosaline, which gave him

the idea to go. Romeo and Juliet met there, and they got along well. Paris wanted to marry Juliet,

as well as her parents also wanted her to marry him. However, she did not want to. Fate caused

her parents being so hard on her caused her to want to even more than before. The most

important situation fate impacted was their death. They had a plan; it almost worked. Romeo

committed suicide just before Juliet woke up. If fate did not play any role in this play, Romeo

and Juliet could have lasted. Neither Tybalt, Pairs, or Mercutio would have had to die. However,

no one would have been able to prevent it from happening. What is fate is fate, and there have

been tales of people changing it, but by definition, fate cannot be changed.
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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Updated Edition

Folger Shakespeare Library, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1992, New York, NY.

"Fate." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

"Fate in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." Online Homework Help SchoolWorkHelper. N.p., n.d.

Web. 30 Mar. 2017.