Explore the different ways in which Shakespeare presents the the theme of Fate in Romeo and Juliet

Realistically in an exam, you will have 50 minutes to answer this question and therefore our essay plan should strictly stick to three points. We must also remember to strategically cover all the AO’s (assessment objectives) in each point. The easiest way to answer this question to explore how fate interacts with other themes of the play. For our first point let us consider Fate's relationship with Love. A typical answer would be that the play emphasises the struggle between the character’s love against fate. However, the examiner gives higher marks when you come up with your own interpretation. So instead let us try to argue that, actually, (AO 1) their Love was part of Fate’s deliberate design. This is shown by how Shakespeare structures (AO 2) the meeting of the two characters to be a result of pure coincidence. Consider, Romeo only goes to the ball because the servant who couldn’t read asks him for help with understanding the invitations. (Shakespeare could have chosen for Romeo to have been directly invited but instead arranges the play such that his decision to go to the ball is a result of pure chance.) Thus, even from the very beginning, their love is portrayed as a result of fate’s design. We should then explore the effect of this and say that, arguably, the fated nature of their love makes it seem more divine because it is the result of a ‘higher order’. (AO 3) With religion playing a large role in Elizabethan audience’s lives (for example- whether rich or poor, young or old, all were expected to attend a Protestant Church service every Sunday) this association of the character’s love as being the design of a ‘higher being’ would immediately makes it seem more powerful and pure- rather than just being teenage lust. Therefore Shakespeare uses Fate to make the character’s love seem more spiritual and, by this association, more potent.