We are first introduced to the concept of fate in the play in Act 1, Scene 2 when a servant of the Capulet household encounters Benvolio, Romeo’s loyal cousin, who seems to act as a pacifier between the two families throughout the play, and Romeo. The servant asks Romeo to read the invitation list to a Capulet ball; fate intervenes when Romeo notices that Rosaline, Romeo’s most recent focus of unrequited love, is on the list. Of course this social function will be the first time he meets Juliet, the girl he will instantly fall in love with. In L. 59 of the same scene and conversation Romeo says, upon being asked whether he can read:
“Ay, mine own fortune in my misery.”
In saying this Romeo could be suggesting that he can perhaps foresee his destiny to be miserable or that this misery will be the cause of his death.
The next reference to fate is in Act 1, Scene 4, Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio are proceeding to the Capulet ball. Mercutio is a fellow Montague and close friend to Romeo, he is a lively joker but also pessimistic and reflective; one gets the feeling from Mercutio’s dialogue that Shakespeare has intentionally withheld part of his background and not explored his character fully. After Mercutio has eliminated Romeo’s doubts about attendance by teasing him Romeo says:
“I fear too early; for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars” (L.106-107)
It is evident from this that Romeo feels a great sense of foreboding. He continues to say:
“But He hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail! On lustly gentlemen.” (L. 112-113)
By this he is inviting Fate, personified by the capital ‘H’ and the use of sexual distinction, to control him, it seems he is abdicating his responsibility of the situation.
Act 1, Scene 5 is set inside the Capulet manor. The masquerade party is, in my opinion, above all the most important aspect of fate in the play. The fact that Romeo is wearing a mask and that his face is hidden allows Juliet to fall in love with him before she even sees who he actually is. If Juliet had known who Romeo was she would probably have not fallen in love with him.
Act 2, Scene 3 sees our introduction to Friar Laurence, a holy man and Romeo’s confidant. Friar Laurence will later serve as a crucial tool of fate. In this scene the Friar is gathering herbs in his garden when Romeo approaches him, this action portents the up-coming fraudulent death of Juliet and actual death of Romeo, both brought about by these herbs concocted into potions. It is in this scene that Friar Laurence agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, reasoning that this coupling may end the bitter feud between the families. This is fate using Friar Laurence as a catalyst, perhaps to achieve its ultimate goal: the unification of the two families. Ironically this is accomplished, after all, not through the matrimony of Romeo and Juliet but through the destruction of Romeo and Juliet.
Act 2, Scene 6 is set again in Friar Laurence’s cell. The Friar is advising Romeo as they await the arrival of Juliet, for the marriage ceremony. Friar Laurence speaks to Romeo of his love for Juliet, offering counsel as a contrast to Romeo’s impulsive behaviour. The two men’s conflicting views are vaguely reminiscent of the fate vs. freewill struggle. Romeo; young, eager, impulsive and dismissive of advice, trying to control his own life, Friar Laurence; older, wiser, thoughtful and more cautious, yet an appliance of Fate for these very reasons. In L. 9 the Friar prophesises the fate of Romeo and Juliet:
“These violent delights have violent ends,”
And in L. 6 Romeo again tempts fate by saying:
“Then love-devouring death do what he dare;”
This is another example of Shakespeare’s use of personification of death, although not quite as concise as other dialogues.
The next scene, Act 3, Scene 1, sees a climax in the play. Tension is created through an intricate use of ocular and word play and it is evident from the start that something will happen. The scene opens with Mercutio and Benvolio walking through Verona, Benvolio senses danger and wishes to leave:
“The day is hot, the Capels are abroad,
And, if we meet, we shall not ‘scape a brawl,” (L. 2-3)
Here, it seems, fate steps in and utilises Mercutio’s stubborn, proud and jovial nature. Mercutio not only refuses to leave but he begins to welcome the prospect of conflict and mocks Benvolio. The Capulets enter, headed by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, who has issued a challenge to Romeo. Mercutio defies and ridicules Tybalt. Romeo enters and refuses Tybalt’s challenge to fight. Disgusted and egotistical Mercutio affronts Tybalt. Tybalt slays Mercutio and enraged Romeo slays Tybalt. When Romeo kills Tybalt he realises the "misfortune" that this will cause when he says:
" O, I am Fortune’s fool.” (L. 136)
Romeo is cogitating how his actions have been those that fate, or fortune, Shakespeare personifies fortune in the above quote, wanted and he has now fulfilled fate’s last desire by killing Tybalt. For if the Prince, the apparent keeper of law and order in Verona, finds Romeo he will have him killed and Romeo knows that his death would destroy Juliet.
Act 3, Scene 4 sees us back in Friar Laurence’s cell once more. Romeo is steeped in woe due to his recent banishment, punishment for the murder of Tybalt. The Friar is trying to console and advise him. In L. 2-3 the Friar says:
“Affliction is enamour’d of the parts,
And thou art wedded to calamity.”
He is reflecting on Romeo’s seemingly constant bad luck in life, but perhaps “wedded to calamity” is implying that his marriage to Juliet is ill-fated and he is destined only for misfortune. In the climax of distress Romeo asks for poison or a dagger to kill himself with, another reference that foreshadows later events.
In the next scene it is the morning after Romeo and Juliet were united one last time, as he flees from her room her final words to him are perhaps the most oracular in the whole play:
“Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb:” (L. 55-56)
In Act 4, Scene 1 the Friar formulates a plan to foil Paris’, Capulet’s chosen suitor to Juliet.) marriage to Juliet and re-unite her and Romeo. This act of freewill by Laurence will be destroyed by the intervention of fate later in the play. Juliet makes another auspicious statement during the scene:
“Or bid me go into a new-made grave
And hide me with a dead man in his shroud-“ (L. 84-85)
This is ironically and fatidically relating to Juliet’s later experiences in the mausoleum where Tybalt (“with a dead man”) lays.
In the next scene, Scene 2, Juliet apologises to her father and agrees to the wedding plans, as per her instructions from the Friar, and Lord Capulet brings the marriage forward to Wednesday, the next day. This is another example of fate trying to hinder the Friar’s actions made through freewill. It hastens events and attempts to ensure that Romeo receives the information belatedly. If the Friar and Juliet had taken the time to make sure that Romeo had got the information, their plan might have prevailed.
Act 4, Scene 3 opens with Juliet dismissing the nurse, at one point she refers to the Stars:
“To move the heavens to smile upon my state
Which, well thou know’st, is cross and full of sin.” (L. 4-5)
This is slightly ironic, she states to the Nurse that she must have holy conjuncture with the heavens, another reference to fate and the Stars, so she is favoured. She is in fact going to consume the potion from Friar Laurence and play in to the hands of Fate.
In Scene 5 Juliet is found by the Nurse the following morning, they presume she is dead and proceed to make funeral arrangements. Shakespeare again personifies Death in vivid detail when Lord Capulet is speaking in L. 36-40:
“Hath Death lain with thy wife. There she lies,
Flower as she was, deflower’d by him.
Death is my son in law, Death is my heir;
My daughter he hath wedded. I will die,
And leave him all. Life, living, all is Death’s!”
Act 5, Scene 1 is set in Mantua, Romeo is reflecting on a dream he has experienced which contains an ironically twisted prognostication:
“I dreamt my Lady came and found me dead-…
…And breathed such life with kisses in my lips,” (L.6-8)
Of course Juliet does find Romeo dead and she does kiss him, yet not to breathe life into him but the inverse, to try and transfer death from him to herself. Romeo’s servant, Balthasar, then arrives and brings him the news of Juliet’s death. Romeo declares his freewill in anger at the loss of Juliet:
“Then I defy, you stars!” (L. 24)
Romeo is revealing that he will not let fate control him anymore and he will undertake his own course of action, one which seems to still end in fate’s ultimate contrivance.
In Scene 3 Romeo arrives at the Capulet monument, he is met by Paris who is warned by Romeo to not provoke him and withdraw from the tomb. Paris refuses and is slain. Romeo goes to Juliet and kills himself. Fate intervenes again and Juliet wakes as Friar Laurence enters the scene, just a little too late; they discover that Romeo is dead. The Friar explains to Juliet, referring to fate:
“A greater power than we can contradict
has thwarted our intents…” (L. 153-154)
He is saying that you cannot contradict fate, that it will always have its way in the end, whether we know it or not. Juliet feels no reason to continue living and asks the Friar to leave her. She stabs herself with her lover’s dagger and is found moments later by the Prince and his accompaniment of guards. The Prince censures the families’ feud, and himself for not controlling it. Montague and Capulet unite again and promise to raise a statue to their departed offspring. Fate has won.
Freewill comes with great consequences. Both Romeo and Juliet made what turned out to be regretful decisions and ultimately destroyed both of their lives. In the end, Fate had its way.
Some people may think that there is no way to control fate or change what is in the stars. Some people may think that fate is an outmoded superstition and that it has no more say in what occurs in our lives than, say, a rabbit. Ultimately Romeo and Juliet is not just a tragic love story it is a tale of fate vs. freewill. It could be that the love of Romeo and Juliet was destined for death so that their parent's feud would be over. What is for sure, though, is that the whole structure of the play itself rests upon the fate from which the two lovers cannot escape. In my opinion the words that most accurately summarise the play and rather appropriately end my essay are:
“For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” (Act 5 Scene 3 L. 308-309)
Daniel Murphy