If the Friar had not suggested his dramatic plan to the desperate Juliet, she may never have seen Romeo again and the couple would have stayed alive.
Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet and short-fused enemy of the Montague household, changed the course of events by forcing Romeo to fight him. If Mercutio had not deliberately started to make fun of Tybalt , and if tybalt had not reacted in such a dramatic way, the two would not have got into their duel and Romeo may have been safe from the threat of banishment.
Romeo, was in fact a major influence on the events leading up to the deaths of him and his young wife. Romeo acts too hastily throughout the play: he shouldn't have asked Juliet to marry him so suddenly, and he should have thought more carefully before rushing back to Verona after hearing of Juliet's death. Romeo also acted violently and without thinking when he killed Tybalt and, later, Paris.
Juliet, was also a major influence on the events leading up to the deaths of her and her husband. Juliet shouldn't have deceived and disobeyed her parents, and, like Romeo, she was too hasty in rushing into marriage. She was already engaged to marry Paris at the time of the ball, and until then, had been very happy with her parents choice.
On the other hand, Shakespeare wanted us to believe that fate was a main factor in Romeo and Juliet, and several quotes from the play can support this view.
The first example of a reference to fate is in the prologue, at the very start of the play.
‘From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.’
This quote says that even from the very beginning, the young couple were doomed. By including this line so early in the book, Shakespeare creates a sense of anticipation in the audience. From the start they know what the eventual outcome will be, but the questions of ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ are only answered as the play progresses.
Another example of one of the characters from the play referring to fate is when Mercutio attempts to make Romeo go to the Capulet dance. Romeo eventually agrees, but he still feels uneasyand says:
‘I fear, too early: for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date’
This second reference shows that Romeo never felt happy with the idea of going to the Capulet party in the first place. If he had trusted his instincts and refused to go, the deaths of the two lovers may have been avoided. By including these lines, Shakespeare suggests to the audience that the destiny of Romeo and Juliet was in fact, death.
After the Capulet masquerade, Juliet refers to fate 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 means that the meeting of the two young lovers was perhaps too incredible and lucky to be solely based on coincidence. By including these lines, Shakespeare increases the tension in the audience by giving a clue as to how the lovers will meet their fate.
When Juliet talks to the Nurse after finding out about Romeo’s banishment, she again cries out an exclamation based on fate.
‘Alack, alack, that heaven should practise stratagems
Upon so soft a subject as myself!’
This remark demonstrates Juliet’s anger upon hearing of her lover’s banishment. She remarks upon ‘heaven’s stratagems’, or in other words, fate. By including these lines, Shakespeare attempts to make the audience pity the doomed couple, especially the innocent, young Juliet, but at the same time realise that their unhappy destiny cannot be changed.
Friar Lawrence refers to fate when he is told that Romeo did not receive his vitally important letter.
‘Unhappy fortune! by my brotherhood,
The letter was not nice but full of charge
Of dear import…’
This quotation displays the worry of the Friar as he realises the disastrous consequences that could unfold if Romeo does not receive his letter in time. Shakespeare could have phrased this sentence differently to place the blame upon the messenger, but instead he expresses it as though it was the fault of fortune. This is a prime example of the beliefs concerning fate in the 16th century.
A final example of one of the characters from the play referring to fate is when Friar Lawrence is talking to Juliet shortly before she stabs herself:
‘A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents.’
The ‘greater power’ that Friar Lawrence refers to is fate. His statement does not make Juliet feel any better however, as she still commits suicide! Shakespeare again chooses to place the blame on fate rather than an individual, signifying his desire to make the audience believe that no one person or thing was responsible for the deaths of the young couple but fate.
After looking at the two possible factors as to who was to blame for the deaths of the Romeo and Juliet, the countless references to fortune and fate make it quite easy for my to conclude that fate was to a great extent responsible. It seems that Shakespeare wanted his audience to think that the events in the play were influenced by some other than the characters.
On the other hand the actions some of the characters were also in some way a big influence on the tragedy, for example the hastiness of Romeo and Juliet or the unneeded violence of tybalt.
But overall I conclude that fate was to a greater extent to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
