Tybalt the fiery cousin of Juliet and the impulsive, impatient hotheaded enemy of the Montague household who loves a fight “have at thee, coward!” remarkably changed the course of events by originally trying to fight Romeo in town “thou art a villain.” If Tybalt had not been so enraged and violence hungry he and Mercutio would not have got into there duel and therefore the “brave” Mercutio would not have died. However Tybalt’s vengeful and proud character would not let Romeo get away with the embarrassment he had caused Tybalt to receive in an argument with Capulet in Scene 1 Act 5 and so he came back “here comes the furious Tybalt back again,” and so Romeo fought and killed him in revenge for his good friend, “o I am fortunes fool’s” is he right? Is it fate that has brought this all upon him?
The Friar is our next main character, he was Romeo’s friend that meant well “households rancour to pure love” and was very kind hearted however it seems like he was unlucky or maybe fate intervened, the friar was also the assistant of Juliet in her final plan, he changed the course of events by helping the young couple in their plans to marry “so smile the heavens upon this holy act” and assisting Juliet in her scheme to be with Romeo once again after his banishment “abate thy valour in acting it”, he tried to make the unthinkable happen and bring the couples dreams to life. If the Friar had not agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet, it is possible that the couple would have given up on the idea of being together or waited for a more appropriate time to get together for instance in 10 years the feud may have ended. However looking at the fate idea Romeo and Juliet may have been destined to marry and would have found means necessary regardless the Friar’s decision. The Friars influence also comes about at the end of the play for had he not suggested his dramatic plan to the desperate Juliet, she may never have seen Romeo again and the couple would have stayed alive, or they could have met up after she married Paris, but this would probably been too long and Juliet knowing she could not see her beloved and having to live a fake life may have committed suicide anyway “O bid me leap, rather than marry Paris”. So you could therefore say that it was inevitable that their love would be tainted and their lives ended in tragedy thus fate had the couple doomed regardless of the Friar’s decision to involve Juliet in his elaborate plot which seemed so full prove and definite to work however didn’t due to a series of bad luck “Unhappy fortune”, “neglecting it May do so much danger” this here shows that whatever plan anyone tried they could not get the better of fate and destiny because it would win every time and make sure the inevitable happens “A pair of star-crossed lovers”.
The Nurse, Juliet’s committed and loyal servant who treated her almost like a daughter, also managed to change the course of events by going behind Lord and Lady Capulet’s backs to make Romeo and Juliet’s marriage possible. Her vulgar and common language displays her social position in society however; she is still more dedicated to Juliet than the Capulet House as she relayed messages to Romeo from Juliet “Henceforward do your messages yourself,” and she only really seemed to care about the wealth fare and happiness of Juliet “The gentlewomen is young...deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing.” If the Nurse had not performed Juliet’s orders and acted as her messenger, it is possible that Juliet would have given up on the idea of her marriage to her handsome Romeo and the couple’s deaths would have been avoided. However you can never count out fate for there is still a strong possibility that regardless of the Nurse’s influence and involvement, that the couple would still have gone ahead with their disaster-prone and doomed marriage once they had fallen in love for their love seemed so strong and I don’t think that they would have given it up easily.
It is not just the mistakes and doings of others that where responsible for the lover’s fate, they where also responsible for their own fates as they made their own decisions and mishaps: --
Romeo the gentle and loving only son of Lord and Lady Montague and Juliet’s husband, was in fact a major influence on the events leading up to the deaths of him and his young wife. Romeo acts too hastily “give me my sin again” throughout the play and lures Juliet’s heart with beautiful poetry and wonderful similes and metaphors. Despite Juliet’s hints “then have my lips the sin that they have took” he maybe shouldn't have asked Juliet to marry him so suddenly, he also should have also acted violently, without thinking when he slain Tybalt “Either thou or I, or both must go with him” for instead he could have got Tybalt exiled for killing Mercutio and he should have thought more carefully before rushing back to Verona after hearing of Juliet's death, and also when killing Paris at Juliet’s tomb “Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee boy.” However I think that all of these actions where down to his impulsive and instant character, perhaps if he could control his feelings and thought about what he was doing before acting, the deaths of him and love would have been averted.
Juliet who is hard to find suitable adjectives for considering she changes so much over the play and her progression from a wide-eyed girl into a self-confident, devoted and competent women is remarkable and a great credit to Shakespeare especially considering he only had five days of the play to accomplish this. Juliet is the beloved daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet and Romeo’s wife, she to was also a major influence on the events leading up to the deaths of her and her husband. Juliet made her mistakes by rushing into the marriage like Romeo did “thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,” and by also trying to do it by herself and cope with things on her own when she was only fourteen and instead she should not of disobeyed and deceived her parents but instead tried to gain their support. She was already engaged to marry Paris at the time of the ball, and until then, had been very happy with her parents’ choice. If Juliet had not been so changeable as to fall in love with Romeo on the night of the masquerade, they both may still have kept their lives.
As I mentioned before people now tend to believe that there is no such thing as fate as everyone seems apparent to be in control of their own destiny, and no problem is inevitable. The idea of all our actions being already planned out, and no matter what we do the ultimate consequence will be the same, seems rather odd to people, however this is what many people argue that Shakespeare wanted us to believe this was the case in Romeo and Juliet, and several quotations from the play can very strongly support this view. Shakespeare in the Prologue introduces the idea of fate from the very being of the play: “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life; Whole misadventure piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife.” This four-line quotation implies that the young couple are going to be doomed from the very beginning. The term ‘Star-crossed’ refers to the astrological outlook on destiny that was much more widely accepted when Shakespeare wrote his tragedy. By including this line so early in the book, Shakespeare masterfully creates a sense of anticipation of impending doom for the audience. It leaves the audience to think of how? And why? The tragedy is to come about, as they know what is going to happen, also by knowing what is going to happen instead of trying to concentrate and keep up with what is happening in the story they can instead admire some of the unnoticed talent of Shakespeare.
Another early example of fate being brought up is when Romeo has a sense of unease about reluctantly going to the ball after Mercutio had persuaded him to and cheered him up. He uses cosmic imagery to help portray these points ‘I fear, too early: for my mind mis gives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date’. This reference shows that Romeo never felt happy with the idea of going to the Capulet party in the first place, however Mercutio had helped a bit to get him in the mood but he still had a bad feeling about. If he had trusted his instincts and refused to go, the deaths of the two lovers may have been prevented. Shakespeare cleverly includes these ominous lines to build up the tension and create a sense of dramatic irony suggesting to the audience that the ultimate destiny of Romeo and Juliet was, in fact, fated.
After the Capulet party, Juliet refers to the idea of fate using vivid oxymorons once realising that Romeo is a Montague, “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.” Juliet realising how extraordinary a thing that has happened, this being her falling in love with the one person she should hate begins to think that it could not possibly be down to chance and coincidence. She knows that she is now in an impossible situation as her “only love” sprung from her “only hate” this one line is also a tension builder and clarifies everything for the audience.
This isn't Juliet’s grief a stricken cry about fate when finding out that Romeo has been banished after killing Tybalt by her nurse. “Alack, alack, that heaven should practise stratagems upon so soft a subject as myself!” This quote really makes the audience feel for this young couple, it gains them pity and hope from people especially as Juliet is only young and innocent but however much hope someone may have they realise that the love is doomed and the unhappy destiny cannot be changed. This quote also demonstrates Juliet’s remark directly about fate, as this is what she means by “heaven’s stratagems”
Friar Lawrence refers to fate twice at the end, firstly when he is told that Romeo did not receive his vitally important letter, and finally when he is talking to Juliet shortly before she stabs herself in the Capulet Vault “Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood, the letter was not nice but full of charge of dear import…” “A greater power than we can contradict Hath thwarted our intents.” The Friars two quotes both display his feeling of helplessness and his defeat in his battle against fate in his first quote he could have phrased it to fault the messenger however he states it so it is the fault of fate. In the second quote it really sums up everything for the ‘greater power’ that Friar Lawrence refers to be, of course, fate. However his statement does not make Juliet feel any better, as it is not what she wants to hear as she knows that there is no hope and lets fate have its way by promptly committing suicide. Shakespeare is determined to get the audience to believe there is one thing that killed the lovers and was responsible for their paths that being no person or action but fate for he again chooses to place the blame on a “higher power.”
After carefully examining everything about what was to blame for the misshaped lives and eventual deaths of the young couple, I cannot ignore the countless references to fortune and fate thus making it easy to conclude that Fate was to a great extent responsible. It seems like Shakespeare really meant for his audience to interpret the happenings of the play as influenced by some higher power, no matter what you do you cannot stop this power, and if fate really does control everything about our lives then therefore the actions of all the characters in the play were also fated. Making the tragic inevitable ending Shakespeare desired.
