Five characters in particular in the play intensely manipulate the tragic path of the young couple (apart from Romeo and Juliet themselves). Mercutio, the nurse, Tybalt, Friar Lawrence and Balthazar.
Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend changed the course of events by encouraging Romeo to go to the Capulets masquerade ball and by duelling with Tybalt in town. If Mercutio had not encouraged Romeo to go the Capulets ball then the couple would not have met and there deaths may have been averted but were they supposed to meet? Had Mercutio not got involved in Romeos duel with the fiery Tybalt then perhaps Romeo wouldn’t have been exiled, but was he destined to be exiled?
The Nurse, Juliet’s committed servant who treated her almost like a daughter, changed the course of events by going behind Lord and Lady Capulets back. It the nurse had not performed Juliet’s bidding by acting as her messenger to Romeo, it is possible that Juliet would have given up on her ideas of immediate marriage and their tragic deaths would have been averted. However could it be that regardless of the nurse’s influence, the couple would have still gone ahead with their doomed marriage?
The friar, Romeos friend and assistant of Juliet in her plan to be with Romeo, changed the course of events by helping the young couple in their plans to marry and accompanying Juliet in her scheme to reunite with Romeo. If the friar had not agreed to marry the young lovers then it is entirely possible that they would have completely given up on the thought of marriage and sat and thought things through. On the other hand, Romeo and Juliet may have been fated to be married and would have partaken in the ceremony no matter what the friars final; decision was. Also, had the friar not got so involved with the lives of Romeo and Juliet he may not have suggested the dramatic and complicated plan to an obviously desperate Juliet who would have been willing to attempt anything in which case a completely different outcome would have occurred. But perhaps the thought of not seeing one another would have caused Romeo or Juliet to commit suicide anyway. The couple may have been doomed from the start regardless of the friar’s decision to involve Juliet in his elaborate plot.
Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet and a hotheaded enemy of the Montague’s, changed the course of events by beating Romeo after he refused to fight, which led to Mercutio stepping in and eventually Romeos banishment. Had Tybalt not been so unsporting and accepted Romeos refusal to fight him then perhaps Romeo would have stayed in Verona and all would have been well but Tybalt could have lost his temper on another day and the same thing could have happen simply because It was written in the stars
Romeo, the 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 his wife and himself. In my opinion Romeo acts too hastily throughout the play, he shouldn’t have asked Juliet to marry him so suddenly for example, and he should have thought more carefully before rushing back to Verona after hearing about Juliet's supposed death. Romeo also acted violently and without thinking throughout the play, first when killing Tybalt and later Paris, perhaps if he had thought about his actions a little more he and Juliet would have lived ‘happily ever after’.
Juliet, the beloved daughter of lord and lady Capulet and Romeos unfortunate lover, was also a key factor in the events leading up o the deaths or Romeo and herself. She shouldn’t have deceived and disobeyed her parents, and, like Romeo, she too took to the idea of marriage much too hastily. On the night of the ball she was supposed to be with Paris, getting to know him before they eventually became wed but she made it very clear she wasn’t too keen ”I’ll look to like if looking liking move, but no more deep will I endart mine eye than your consent gives strength to make it fly”(Juliet act 1, scene 3,lines 99-101). If Juliet had not been so fickle as to fall in love with Romeo on the night of the masquerade they may both have kept their lives
Balthazar, Romeos trusted friend, was probably the most foolish of all, after seeing Juliet lying on her false death bed he flew off no questions asked so quickly that he over took Friar Lawrence’s delivery man and reached Romeo before he did which inevitably led to the couples death. Had he spoke to the friar or travelled slower or had the messenger travelled faster the tragedy could have been eluded.
Now all of those people were partly to blame individually, but together they managed to cause the death of two of the cities great assets and one of each of the family’s beloved children. You can pick and choose over who was mostly to blame but I believe fate bonded all the different elements and created a path of death and destruction. Fate in Shakespearian times played a major role. People believed their whole lives had been pre-planned and here are several quotations form the play which support this view.
The first example is of a reference from 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 to their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife’
This quotation implies that even from the very beginning, the young couple were destined for each other. ‘Star crossed’ refers to the astrological outlook on destiny that was very widely accepted when this play was written. By writing this line so early in the play Shakespeare creates a sense of anticipation in the audience. From the start they know what the eventual outcome will be, but the questions how? And why? Are answered as the play progresses
Another example of one of the characters from the play referring to fate is when Mercutio is trying to convince Romeo to go to the Capulets ball. Romeo eventually agrees but he still feels uneasy:
“I fear, too early: for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin this fearful date”
This second reference shows that Romeo never felt happy with the idea of going to the Capulets ball in the first place. If he had trusted his instincts and refused to go the deaths of the two lovers may have been averted. By including these foreboding lines, Shakespeare suggests to the audience that the ultimate destiny of Romeo and Juliet was, in fact, fated
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 suggests that the meeting of the two lovers was perhaps to extraordinary to be solely based on coincidence. She acknowledges the paradoxical situation of her “only love” spring from her “only hate”. By including these lines Shakespeare increases the tension by giving a clue as to how the lovers will meet their demise
When Juliet talks to the Nurse after finding out about Romeos banishment she again cries out an exclamation based on fate.
“Alack, alack, that heaven should practice stratagems
Upon so soft a subject as myself”
This remark demonstrates Juliet's anguish upon hearing of her lover banishment. She remarks upon “heavens 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 the Romeo did not receive the letter about Juliet's fake death
“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 from Romeo not receiving the letter. Shakespeare could have phrased this sentence differently to place the blame on the messenger, but instead he expresses it as though it were 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 out intents”
The “greater power” the friar refers to is fate, or that of a higher being controlling out fate. His statement will be the last line Juliet hears before stabbing herself. Shakespeare again chooses to place the blame on a higher power rather than an individual mistake, signifying his desires to make the audience believe that no one person or event was responsible for the deaths of the two star crossed lovers from Verona but the inevitable destiny or necessity destined for term of life
“For never has there been a tale of more woe
Than that of Juliet and her Romeo”