How does Shakespeare uses fate in Romeo and Juliet?

In this essay I will be talking about and explaining how Shakespeare uses fate in Romeo and Juliet and why he uses it  in the ways he does. Shakespeare will speak and use fate many times in the story of Romeo and Juliet while talking about the future in Romeo and Juliet’s lives and what will be the outcome. Shakespeare uses many metaphors to explain fate in this play so it makes you think ahead. Most of the metaphors Shakespeare uses  are nearly all talking about god.

William Shakespeare uses a metaphor to communicate his ideas about fate in many different ways. In an example Romeo asks for God to direct him, here is a quote from the text, “He that hath steerage of my course, direct my sail”. Shakespeare describes Romeo as a ship and God as the captain of the ship. Romeo is letting God control the path he follows and what it leads to because Romeo has strong faith in god and he believes that god will lead him down the right path.

Another metaphor that Shakespeare uses to exposes his idea of fate is “some consequences yet hanging in the stars” Shakespeare uses this because he is trying to explain that Romeo has bad things to come in his life, this is called fate. Back in those days the stars were like kings and people looked to the stars to ask for help, so Shakespear used that as an advantage insted of telling you straight away in normaul language what he means. Romeo also knows that somethinig bad will happen but he still lets God guide him.

“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;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend”. Shakespeare uses this at the begginning of the play to give you a ruff idea on whats going to happen in the play and to adress that it might not end well for both famillys. It also says two members of each family will die and peace will end up relaxing between both familys. This paragraph also says that both familys are both alike, (two househoulds both alike in in dignity) that is a quote from the text. As we go further on in the story all the things that was explained in the prolouge paragraph happens and it gets worse. This is called fate/destiny because all the thing that were assumed to happen happened.

Another way that Shakespear exposses fate in the play Romeo and Juliet is by making Romeo recive a letter that might or would have saved the love stricken couples lives and relationship if the life saving letter had arrived to Romeo sooner than it did.          Had they received the letter sooner it would have saved their familys from pure sadness and heart ache.

Fate played a big part in Romeo and Juliet actually meeting in the first place, because in the scene Romeo came across a man who could not read a party list, so he asked Romeo to assist him with  reading it as he could not read or write since he had not learnt as a child because he came from a less wealthy family, but while he was helping the man to read the party list he saw his true love Rosaline’s name on the list. If it wasn’t for fate this man would not of come to Romeo for help because he might of been able to read with no help on reading the list and Romeo would not of found out about the party, and that Rosaline was on the guest list, which ment that Romeo would not of met his true love.

To conclude my essay on “how Shakespear uses fate in Romeo and Juliet” i feel that shakespear uses fate very well in the play and in all the right times. He also makes you think ahead and look back to link the two ideas he is talking about, just like when i read the prolouge and then reconised the things that were said there happend later on in the play.I feel that the one thing we all have in commen is that we all share the same fate… We WILL all die in the end. shakespear uses this as an advantage and gets Romeo and Juliet killed at a very young  age and called it fate.