Fate and Free Will

The Theme in the Work

The prologue to Act I presents the lovers as born under a contrary star and anticipates their death. In scene 4 of Act I, before the ball, Romeo senses some consequence still hanging in the stars, but follows the group.

In scene 1 of Act III, after Mercutio dies in his place, Romeo attributes his weakness to his love for Juliet and begins to call himself the plaything of fate. The sequence of scenes suggests: the duel he refuses reaches him anyway, and the revenge he takes drives him out of Verona.

In scene 1 of Act V, on hearing that Juliet is dead, Romeo defies the stars and decides to return to Verona that night, with what he knows. In scene 2 of Act V, the reason there is no letter is Friar John, locked in a house suspected of plague. In scene 3 of Act V, the Prince reads the whole as a scourge laid upon the families' hatred.

Chance enters through small gaps. In scene 2 of Act I, the servant who carries the invitations cannot read and asks Romeo for help, and Romeo thus reads the list and learns that Rosaline will be at the ball, the same ball where he will meet Juliet. In scene 3 of Act III, Friar Laurence promises to find Romeo's servant to carry news to Mantua, and in scene 1 of Act IV he says he will send a friar with the letters; in scene 1 of Act V, the one who arrives in Mantua is not that friar but Balthasar, Romeo's servant, who saw Juliet placed in the tomb and runs to tell of her death. In scene 3 of Act V, Friar Laurence reaches the tomb after stumbling over graves and tells Juliet that a power greater than them has frustrated the plans; she, instead of leaving with him, refuses and kills herself, and the friar's words show that he himself sees the hand of something beyond the choices of the two.

The play lets the stars speak at the beginning and at the end, but what the scenes show around them are choices and gaps: a duel accepted, a letter held back, minutes of delay. Destiny and free will do not compete here, they alternate: each character acts with what he knows, and the whole looks like fate to someone watching from outside.

Where It Appears

• Prologue to Act I: The Chorus announces that from the two enemy houses of Verona a pair of lovers under a contrary star is born, and that their death will end their parents' discord.
• Scene 4 of Act I: On the way to the ball, Romeo senses that the night will bring something ominous and says he fears some consequence still hanging in the stars, but follows the group.
• Scene 1 of Act III: Romeo refuses the duel and tries to separate Mercutio and Tybalt, but Mercutio is wounded under his arm and dies, and Romeo, who wanted to avoid the fight, ends up killing Tybalt and fleeing.
• Scene 1 of Act V: Hearing from Balthasar that Juliet is dead, Romeo exclaims "Then I defy you, stars!" and decides to return to Verona that night.
• Scene 2 of Act V: Friar John returns to Friar Laurence's cell with the letter unsent, because he was locked in a house suspected of plague and could not travel to Mantua.
• Scene 3 of Act V: Before the bodies, the Prince tells the families that a scourge has been laid upon their hatred, for heaven found a way to kill their joys with love.

Passages

The Chorus, in the Prologue to Act I:

Romeo, on the way to the ball:

Romeo, on learning of Juliet's death: