The Prologue tells us a few important details - that the Montagues and the Capulets are "alike in dignity", that there is an ancient feud between the two families and that the grudge between them ends only with the deaths of their children.

Act One fills in some of the details for the audience. In the first scene we see that even the servants of the two households are caught up in the animosity. A brawl takes place, during which we see the fiery-tempered Tybalt and the peace-loving Benvolio for the first time. Prince Escalus threatens to execute anyone who disturbs the peace of Verona's streets again - this has consequences for Romeo later in the play.

Fate means destiny or the inevitable fortune that befalls a person or thing.

The prologue tells us that the two lovers in the play are 'star-crossed' and that their love is 'death-marked'. From the start, the audience knows that during the course of the play all will not run smoothly for Romeo and Juliet and that the outcome will be a tragedy.

The longstanding feud between the two families has led to recent street brawls, after which the Prince pronounced death to the instigator of the next fight. At the beginning of Act 3 Scene 1 it is a mercilessly hot day, tempers are frayed and fiery Tybalt is looking for Romeo.

Romeo comes across the brawling young men when he enters, joyfully and dreamily, from his marriage to Juliet. At first he does not want to fight Tybalt and so is not responsible for what happens next - Romeo and Juliet are not directly responsible for anything that goes wrong for them throughout the play. However, it could be said that if Romeo had been a bit less passionate and more controlled the events could have been very different.

Mercutio is killed because he feels that Romeo is being cowardly - not knowing the reason for Romeo's sudden 'love' for Tybalt. Romeo is trying to stop them and Tybalt stabs him under Romeo's arm. Tybalt wanted to fight Romeo, but it wasn't until Mercutio was killed that he did so.

To reinforce your argument that fate is part of Mercutio's death you can say that he was not the man who Tybalt meant to kill, he took on the fight to try to protect the honour of his friend Romeo. Romeo knows that his life is now out of his control and on his exit he says so himself (use this quote). The inevitable consequence of Mercutio's death is that Romeo goes after Tybalt and kills him. The Prince then banishes Romeo for this action and the message from Friar Lawrence doesn't get through and so on.

Mercutio's death is the fateful catalyst and events spiral to the terrible conclusion.

Love and hate is one of the major themes in this play, and it begins right in the prologue with the two households 'both alike in dignity' who 'from ancient grudge break to new mutiny' as the play starts.

The play itself opens with a fight, so the hatred between the two families is clearly established. Benvolio is the only character who seems to want to keep the peace; everyone else is happy for even the most trivial of opportunities to start a brawl.

Romeo is saddened by the fight, saying he's seen it all before. At the beginning he's presented as suffering through unrequited love: he loves Rosaline but she does not return his love. Romeo is seen to be very melancholy because of this, spending hours shut up in his room, or wandering alone through the grove of sycamores. It is for the purpose of showing him other women that they decide to gatecrash the Capulet party.

Act 1 Scene 5 is the best place to look to see love and hate side by side. It is in this scene that Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love. It is also in this scene that they find out that they are from rival families and are dismayed by the discovery. Tybalt reflects hatred in this scene when he learns who Romeo is, and swears he will get revenge.

In an introductory paragraph you can't include all this, but you would be best off giving a general overview of what the theme of love and hate is like in the first act.

First, it is important to understand what dramatic irony is. This is when the audience know more than the characters do, for example, we have been witness to Romeo and Juliet's wedding, so unlike Lord and Lady Capulet, we know that they are together. Also, we have seen the Prologue so we know that the lovers are doomed (none of the characters know this). This is why the parting of the lovers in the beginning of the scene is so bittersweet - we know that this is probably the last time they will be together. It also makes Juliet's responses to her mother more poignant. Lady Capulet thinks Juliet is talking about how much she wants to hurt Romeo, but she is in fact talking about how much she wants to be with him. We see through her choice of wording how painful this separation is for Juliet.

The argument Juliet has with her parents is quite painful to watch because of the dramatic irony. They are very cruel to her, not knowing that she is going to die, and even say such things as, "I would the fool were married to her grave," something Lady Capulet will live to regret saying. Capulet swears he will disown her - meaning she will be as good as dead to him - if she does not marry Paris, not knowing how horrific his words will turn out to be . Juliet herself tells them that if they do not delay the marriage that she will be, "In that dim monument where Tybalt lies," meaning that she will kill herself. The sad irony is that Juliet does not at this moment know how true that statement will turn out to be.

Act 1 Scene 1 shows the Montague/Capulet feud at its worst. The brawl begins for virtually no reason at all and the hatred shown between the two families makes for a dramatic opening of the play. As far as themes go, the one of love and hate runs throughout the play, and Tybalt is an excellent example of hatred in this scene. Compare him with Benvolio, the peacemaker to see a contrast between the characters.

Romeo in love contrasts with the violent opening of the scene. His language shows confusion between love and hatred that you can explore. Love can hurt and out of hurt can come love.

You can examine the dramatic impact of the opening quarrel between the servants . Show how the petty quarrel that they don't understand immediately creates an atmosphere of dissension and violence. Look at the sordid jokes that these uneducated men make and explain that the whole effect is one of ignorance and increasing unrest.

Trace the way that the quarrel escalates into something much more serious: this shows us the way that a meaningless feud can spread to all sections of society and cause more and more difficulties. Show how the silly bickering of the lowest members of the social hierarchy leads to the much more significant and frightening confrontation between Tybalt and Benvolio.

Then you can go onto show how we are introduced to the quarrelling houses in the context of the street brawl. This helps to mould our opinion of the whole feud, making us see that it demeans the dignity of the older generation by bringing them to the same level in public as their servants.

Describe the violence of the fight between Tybalt and Benvolio, explaining the impact on the audience of this one to one combat early in the play: we feel apprehension for the future as such an event takes place. The whole atmosphere of spreading antagonism is created quickly and effectively, and we also get to know the qualities of the main characters very quickly: Old Capulet is immediately shown to be a silly, interfering, old man, for instance.

So the opening is effective, because it introduces the story of the feud, prepares us for its effects, suggests the atmosphere of the whole play and increases the tension and expectations of the audience, as well as depicting the leading characters clearly .

The violence in the first scene is vitally important for the rest of the play. We see the sheer hatred between the Capulets and Montagues, but we also learn more about some of the characters. Benvolio is seen as a peace maker, whereas Tybalt hates peace and says as much. This characteristic of Tybalt is the one that makes him seek revenge for Romeo gatecrashing the Capulet party later in the play.

The Prince's decree is also vitally important. He says that if any of them are caught brawling within the city walls again they will be put to death. Obviously, this is in the back of the audience's mind when Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel, and both Mercutio and Tybalt are killed. We fear that Romeo will be killed for his involvement, yet he is only banished. As it turns out, the banishment leads to his death anyway.

The violence in Act 1 is designed to be contrasted with the love in the play. The fury of the first scene is set against Romeo's unrequited love for Rosaline. As an opening, the fight draws the audience immediately into the play, and because we don't know much about the characters we don't have sympathy on either side of the feud. Once the fight has been stopped, then we want to learn about what could have possibly caused it. The little argument at the beginning was so trivial, but it had massive consequences.