Theme Of Fate In Romeo And Juliet

In Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, fate is responsible for the young couple’s death. Fate creates situations for the plot to advance, starting with the catalyst of this whole affair, the servant who could not read. Fate pushes him to Romeo, who just so happens to be in “love” with Rosaline, one of Capulet’s guests. At the party, Romeo just so happens to fall in love with Capulets only daughter (1.5.116). Henceforth fate seems to be at rest until the death of Mercutio, the first death of the play. Mercutio openly despised the idea of fate, as evident by his Queen Mab speech (1.4.53-95). Mercutio being the play’s first death is anything but coincidence. His death sparked the chain of events leading to the couple’s death, once again fate toys with the couple’s lives. The characters of Romeo and Juliet certainly seem to have free will, but every action in the play is orchestrated by fate.
The Prince was the one who banished her husband. Her dad was the one who engaged her to Paris, Friar Laurence was the one who thought of the plan. While Juliet did have a bit of free will, any choice she could have made would be a bad one. “An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend; an you be not, hand, bet, starve, die in the streets. For, by my soul, I'll ne’er acknowledge thee (3.5.193-194), if Juliet rejected Paris she would be disowned. “I will confess to you that I love him (4.1.25). If Juliet married Paris she would be stuck in a loveless marriage, knowing that her true love is still out there waiting for her. The only choice with a possible happy ending is faking her death. Fate had created a scenario where any free will choice would result in