Chu 1
Allison Chu
English I HP
2/15/15
Fated to Be Ruined
Fate is a universal idea expressed in famous literature all throughout history. One of the most well-known literary works of all time is Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet.
The full title of the play,
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
, clearly depicts that there is an unfortunate end to Romeo and Juliet’s story. Beginning with Romeo falling in love at first sight with Juliet and ending with their notorious deaths, the best explanation for the strange coincidences is fate. The tragic end of the lovers, the reconciliation of their families, and the ironic hints shows that fate is evident in the overall plot of the play.
Romeo and Juliet’s misfortunate deaths are the result of fate robbing them of their free will. At the beginning of the play, there is a line in the prologue that states that the two were destined to fall in love and then die. “A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life”(Shakespeare Romeo and Romeo and Juliet, Prologue 6). This states that
Romeo and Juliet are, in a sense, ‘star crossed’. In Elizabethan times to associate certain conditions with stars is to refer that fate plays a part in those conditions. To their demise, the beloved pair could not escape the ending. No matter what their desires or actions. As specified in the prologue, “The fearful passage of their death-marked love”(Prologue 9), Romeo and Juliet’s death was planned from the start. All things considered, their destiny was unavoidable.

The loss of the young lovers opened their parents’ eyes, showing the families that the stupidity of their feuds killed their children. After the long years of rivalry and disagreement, Capulet tried to come to terms with Montague. “O brother Montague, give me thy hand./ This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more/ Can I demand”(5.3,
313-315). Had the families not hated each other, Romeo and Juliet could have lived a happy ending. Fate is what brought the pair together, but the feud is what caused their end. It is too late to save their children, but to compensate for that the families try to resolve their differences. Without the haziness of the families’ hatred, the Capulets and the Montagues finally made peace.
However, before they made peace, the irony of some of the characters’ lines foreshadowed the horrible tragedy that fate brought upon Romeo and Juliet. Romeo’s words before he arrived at the party gives an eerie feeling to the audience because it, in a way, predicts his future.
“I fear too early, for my mind misgives/ Some consequence yet hanging in the stars/ Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/ with this night’s revels, and expire the term/ Of a despised life closed in my breast/ by some vile forfeit of untimely death./ but he that hath the steerage of my course,/ Direct my sail. On lusty gentlemen”(1.4, 107-114).
There are countless other ironic hints, but one of the