From the first lines of the play the audience is made aware of the role of fate and of the ultimate deaths of the lovers. The educated audience member will be instantaneously aware that when fate is at work the outcome is inevitable. However, if the rich imagery and forwards in the text are used well then we cannot help but hope that Fate will be thwarted. Fate, rather than being personified as in earlier times, is given power and substance through cosmic imagery. Shakespeare also uses every form and manifestation of light in the imagery surrounding the two lovers.
The stars that represent fate prove to be an insurmountable obstacle to the love that Romeo and Juliet share. It is the fight against family, feud, city, and fate that propels the action forward. It is also because, we, the audience members want so badly for the star-crossed lovers to prevail that we cry at an outcome which we had no real doubt would happen. Not only do the characters in Romeo and Juliet believe in the controlling force of fate but also according to the Elizabethans, they believed in the pervasive operation of an external fate in the world. Furthermore, it was quite taken for granted that the stars dictated the general mutability of sublunary things, and that fortune was a part of this mutability applying to mankind alone. One of the earliest instances of a character guessing at the fate awaiting him is Romeo in Act one scene four. Romeo has a premonition of what will come which is eerie in its accuracy. He foresees his own "untimely death" as stemming directly from the actions of that night (the party at the Capulets') and while he may contrive with the best of intentions and brightest of plans he will not escape what has been set before him. Much later in the play Romeo has one of his most famous lines. In Act five scene one, upon hearing of Juliet's death, he says, "Then I defy you stars!" At first glance this is merely the ranting of a very young man but with a closer inspection those five words hold much significance. Romeo cannot defy the stars any more than he can change history. Mere lines before his death Romeo says, "O, here/ Will I set up my everlasting rest/ and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars/ From this world weary flesh." (5.3.109-112) The last action of his life is done in Act five scene three as a final attempt to throw the grasp of fate from his body but the audience knows that it is in actuality fate who has won, as it always will.hbbbvkhfoiufhlkdhsfklsdnclkshalfhklahfl
A careful examination of the cosmic imagery surrounding the lovers, the influence, and the impact of fate in Romeo and Juliet will yield a more satisfactory interpretation of the play. The stars, moon, sun, and very heavens themselves all conspire against the protagonists. "The background, both of things seen, and of the imagery, is of light against darkness; sunshine, starlight, moonbeams, sunrise and sunset, fire, candles, and torches, set off by quick coming darkness, clouds, mist, rain, and night," all run together and into each other until there is just a torrent of sight, sound, and image as fast and fierce as the play itself. To effectively perform the play the actor/actress cannot dwell on what might have been but rather on what is--a furiously paced production. The abundant imagery and foreshadowing within Romeo and Juliet is a very necessary key to understanding the play. vhjlbshdfbhbcdfkjsdbgiukcegnjnjknfklk
