In the play “Romeo and Juliet” William Shakespeare invites the audience to explore the idea of fate. He does this through a number of different methods, including during the prologue, through metaphor and via the use of co-incidences.
Prologue:
Fate is first introduced in the play during the first 14 lines. In the prologue, the chorus says “ Two star crossed lovers take their lives” Shakespeare used this to place this idea of dying in the audience’s face. This is fate because the ending of the play is being predetermined to the audience. The prologue is one big statement giving the audience a short preview of the whole play.
Shakespeare introduces fate again in “The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love.” This means that fate was going to end up in death for both of them. When Romeo decides to go to Capulets party he decides to walk down the passage to his fateful death. The fearful passage is not an actual track, but a metaphor that means the path he is taking with Juliet to their death. The metaphor “Death mark’d love”, tells us that from the second Romeo and Juliet fell in love, they were doomed to death.
Metaphor:
Shakespeare hints at fate by writing it into many of the main characters lines “…He hath steerage of my sails directs my course.”. Shakespeare has written this metaphor. this is a metaphor because Romeo was calling himself a boat, and God is the Captain. This is Romeo giving his life to a higher power that is God. Romeo is letting god direct his path because back in the Sixteen hundreds people in England thought that their lives have been planned out for them by a higher power.
Co-incidences:
Co-incidence is used in Romeo and Juliet to bring the message that anything can happen, even if you don’t plan it. An example of this is when Romeo and Juliet meet. They should not have met, but that fateful day Romeo and his gang just happen to bump into the Capulet servant with a list to the party. Romeo would not have gone to the party if he did not happen to see Rosalind’s name on the list. This is a co-incidence that Shakespeare has deliberately inserted into the play. If Romeo had never met that servant he would have never fallen in love with Juliet, and would probably have lived. We can consider co-incidences to be evidence of fate because in the 16th century people believed that their lives were planned out by God, and if something strange happened, like co-incidence, they would assume this was evidence of the hand of God.
Conclusion:
Fate comes up multiple times in this play in the way that death is littered all throughout the play, from the start to the very end. Shakespeare has hinted multiple times in this play of death using metaphors. I think that Shakespeare has written the play so well that the quotes are so unnoticeable until you actually look at them. This play is still relevant today, four hundred years later.