Fate in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Essay Sample

In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, the demise of the two lovers is caused predominantly by fate, however there are parts where free will took place to lead to the downfall of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare informs the audience of the tragedy that will happen in the play. In the play, death-marked love is inevitable from the beginning. In Romeo and Juliet fate controls the play and their lives, leading to their demise. 

The unlucky things that occur in Romeo and Juliet are controlled by fate. “Friar John-I could not send it here it is again.”(Shakespeare 219). The unlucky timing and situation that took place when Friar Lawrence made the letter that would have stopped the two lovers from taking their lives was never delivered. Friar John never delivered the letter because he was locked away for health reasons. The job he was given never got completed because of the fate that stopped him from completing his duty. “Friar Lawrence-Have my old feet stumbled at graves “(Shakespeare 229). Friar Lawrence stumbled over the graves in the cemetery, this slowed him down and if he did not do this he would have been to the Capulets monument in time to stop Romeo and save the lives of Romeo and Juliet. This is not Romeo or Juliet’s fault that the letter never arrived or that Friar lawrence was not fast enough to catch Romeo before he committed suicide. It is fate that has done this, the star crossed lovers take their life as stated in the very start of Shakespeare's play meaning that fate was the main reason for their demise.

The bad luck is not the only part that contributed to fate, it is also the death-marked love. “Chorus-The fearful passage of their death-marked love”(Shakespeare 7). This is an oxymoron that combines death which is sad to love which is happy. This also states that the love between them is doomed to end with the death and demise of them. This is how fate controls the story because there is no way that Romeo and Juliet can control their destined deaths because their bad luck and death-marked love is controlling their lives and they cannot change that. There are parts in the play where free will also lead to their demise. “Romeo- And ‘Fire-eyed’ fury be my conduct now”(Shakespeare 123). It is Romeo's anger at Tybalt that leads Romeo to attack and kill him. This leads to his banishment and makes consummating the marriage with Juliet nearly impossible without the help of the nurse and Friar. Once Romeo hears of the news of Juliet's death he does not know that Juliet is alive because the letter could not be sent. Romeo’s emotions and anger lead him into killing himself by using poison. His emotions of love towards Juliet and his will to be with her also leads him into killing the county Paris.

Another reason for the death of these two is time. Romeo and Juliet have known each other for less than a day and they decide to get married. At this same time her father is trying to arrange her marriage with the nobility in Verona. The time of their marriage is very early because they have not known each other for very long. This is also bad timing because their families are still fighting with each other. There is also bad timing when Romeo enters the Capulet tomb. “Romeo- ‘He dies’ -Enter Friar Lawrence” (Shakspeare 227). In this quote Romeo kills himself moments before the Friar enters the tomb looking for him. This is all fate making the timing of the Friars entrance after the death of Romeo because he was tripping over stones. If the Friar showed up earlier or Romeo waited to drink the poison then Juliet and Romeo could have left together. The timing of everything in the play affects the death of Romeo and juliet. When the wedding is moved up by two years Juliet decides to take a sleeping potion to trick her family into thinking she is dead until Romeo comes to get her. When Juliet does not want to get married at the time that her father has planned, she gets very mad and decides to find Romeo. That is how the timing affects the way fate acts upon Romeo and Juliet.

In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, fate controls them and leads to their demise. Free will did affect them, however it was mainly fate that led them to kill themselves. The fate that controls Romeo and Juliet leads to the tragic misfortune that consumed them. Shakespeare informs the audience that Romeo and Juliet will not live, but the fate that traps them along the way is what makes the play interesting and tragic. In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet Fate takes their lives through control, time, and bad-luck.