Was romeo and Juliet destined to die?

Answer 1

I think that was the impression Shakespeare was trying to give by calling them "star-crossed lovers" in the Prologue and also calling their love "death-marked", by having Romeo call himself "Fortune's Fool", and by having the characters have premonitions from time to time. After all, if you really want to blame someone for something you will always be able to find some reason to do so (ask a personal injury lawyer). People like to blame Romeo or Juliet or Friar Lawrence or everybody in Verona for what happened, but really they couldn't help falling for each other and once they did, things were more likely than not to go wrong.

Answer 2

I would say yes because Romeo and Juliet didn't choose to fall in love it happened by fate and their love was the trigger of events.

Besides the fact that they probably would have never been able to live a peaceful life, none of the tragedies would have occurred had they not met in the first place. This scene, where the Montegues find out about the play is another twist of fate. The servant of Capulet, who happens to be illiterate, was given the job of telling people about the party, but only those specifically on a list written up by his master. Since he could not read, he was forced to ask two strangers to explain it to him. Those two people could have been anyone, but they just happened to be Romeo and Benvolio. Another ironic fact is that Romeo went to the party because he was madly in love with Rosaline. Hypothetically, if Rosaline had been there, and she returned Romeo's love, then all the following suffering would have never occurred. Romeo was completely in love with another woman going to the party, and only found out about it in the first place, through an adverse twist of luck.

Although Romeo and Juliet were responsible for their own physical deaths, but fate played a big role in getting the two into a suicidal mindset. The first and most obvious example was the quarantine in Mantua. Friar Laurence's plan was that Juliet would be laid in the tomb, appearing to be dead, and when she woke up, Romeo would be there to meet her. The Friar was to send a message to Mantua, where Romeo was banished to, and inform the anxious boy about the scheme. This is a seemingly perfect plan, and gives the readers a sense of hope, but it is squashed when the they discover that there was a quarantine in Mantua, and Romeo was unable to get the letter and, even right to the very end, fate was still rearing it's ugly head because if Juliet had woken up seconds earlier, these two wouldn't have ended up like they did.

Shakespeare had countless times where he could have saved both of them, but he does not. He gives the reader a little hope that the two will survive, but with each event, that hope is squashed. Although Romeo and Juliet did not have to kill themselves, none of the tragedies would have occurred, had it not been 'written in the stars'. Truly fate is the most dominant force in the play, and is most responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

Answer 3

The Prologue to Romeo and Juliet makes it clear that the lovers are doomed by their families' hatred for each other:

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 same point is made at many other points during the play.

The point Shakespeare is making is that hatred kills people, and not just the people you might like it to. It isn't fate: the Capulets and the Montagues were asking for this.

Think Iraq.

Think Afghanistan.

Answer 4

It could be both. People make choices freely, but sometimes circumstances can limit your options. Romeo chose to poison himself, and Juliet chose to stab herself, but the circumstances which led up to them making those choices of their own free will were not wholly under their control. When Romeo says, "O I am Fortune's Fool!" he knows that he has made a mistake in killing Tybalt, but he did choose to do it, although the circumstances made it very difficult to choose otherwise.

Answer 5

Romeo and Juliet were doomed from the start, because they were described as "star-crossed lovers", therefore they were destined to die for each other; a tragic fate.

Answer 6

Yap! It definetly is!

Answer 7

Yes