Theme Of Fate In Romeo And Juliet

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet captures a love story between two unlikely lovers. Throughout the play, the audience is given drama, tragedy, and lots of romance. However, another key subject of the play is the almost personified element of fate. Throughout the story, characters mention fate as if it is an ominous figure hovering over them. Fate plays a large role in carrying along the story and characters until the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. It pushes characters against their beliefs and reasoning, it threads together the story in unlikely and convenient ways, and is always one step ahead of the characters throughout the entirety of the story.
Fate is sometimes mentioned and criticized by characters in the play; however, it continues to shape their actions and decisions despite their slight awareness of its presence. A prime example of this control is shown when Romeo gets a bad feeling about going into the Capulet party. “I fear, too early; for my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars...” (I.IV.391). This bit of foreshadowing at the start of the play illustrates that fate pulls the strings of the show. Regardless of Romeo’s foreboding caution about the Capulet party, fate pushes him in. From the very beginning, we see that the characters have minimal free will. Romeo is not the only character that fate toys with, though. In Act II, Scene III, Friar Lawrence warns Romeo about the danger of rushing into marriage and to be mindful of his strong