by Ann Johnstone

Created on: July 19, 2008   Last Updated: November 09, 2008

Opinion is divided as to the role of fate in the play Romeo and Juliet'. In fact the balance of fate, chance and personal choice in contributing to life's outcomes is one of life's greatest dilemmas, and has been debated through the centuries by both philosopher and theologian alike.

No consensus exists as to whether the characters are truly fated to die together regardless of circumstances, or whether the events unfold as the result of a series of unlucky chances. Arguments in favor of fate often refer to the description of the lovers as "star-cross'd" in the opening lines of the play.

"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. 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 phrase seems to hint that the stars have predetermined the lovers' future. In Shakespeare's day people were very wary of what the stars said. If two people's stars were crossed in the sky, they would not contemplate a liaison.
The destiny of Romeo and Juliet is not revealed to the reader at the start of the story, but every new development brings these two lovers closer to their inevitable fate.

However others see the play as a mere series of unlucky chances. For example, Montague and Capulet servants just happen to cross paths in a public place. This is a chance meeting. Then an illiterate servant was asked by Capulet to invite people to a ball at his house. The names of the invited guests were on a list which, of course, the servant could not read. Out of an entire city, he found Romeo and invited him to attend the event. He was not to know that Romeo was a Montague. Yet surely chance and fate are two different sides of the same coin.

Many debates centre upon Shakespeare's actual intent when he wrote this play. Was it designed to be a story of two young lovers' struggle against fate and fortune, or was it a commentary on the foolishness of unbridled passion and the ultimate tragedy to which it inevitably leads? Perhaps it was intended to show how two young lovers become instruments in the hands of fate or providence in uniting two warring families. Scholars have yet to agree, though recently several have argued that it is a combination of all three.

It would certainly appear that fate played a significant role throughout the entire story.

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