How does Shakespeare present the theme of fate in Romeo and Juliet?

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was published in 1599 and performed to Elizabethan society in an era when great value was place on divinity, higher power, astrology and destiny. Shakespeare acknowledges these beliefs in structure and language in the very first lines of the play: "A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life" (line 6). Shakespeare's foreshadowing in this instance demonstrates Romeo and Juliet's demise as inevitable. Furthermore, the narration provided by the chorus in Romeo and Juliet is reminiscent of Greek tragedies; the chorus cements Shakespeare's work in a long literary tradition while also being symbolic of an omniscient power and divinity that can foreshadow and oversee the predestined struggle of Shakespeare's characters. Fortune is mentioned frequently in the play as something which controls the characters: "oh I am fortune's fool", "unhappy fortune". Additionally, Shakespeare presents free will and active choices as futile in the play; the Bubonic Plague and its interference with communication within the play is outside the characters' sphere of control, as evidenced in act five, scene 2: "I could not send it-here it is again-nor get a messenger to bring it to thee, so fearful were they of infection” (lines 14-16). Similarly, whilst characters actively try to inform Romeo of Juliet's plan Romeo did not receive the information in time, witnessing her perceived death instead. Ultimately, Shakespeare's characters are puppets, for both fate and the author who controls the play, and therefore their destiny.