The Theme of Destiny
As critic Bertrand Evans points out: "Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of unawareness" more so than any of Shakespeare's other plays. "Fate, or Heaven, as the Prince calls it, or the "greater power," as the Friar calls it, working out its purpose without the use of either a human villain or a supernatural agent sent to intervene in mortal affairs, operates through the common human condition of not knowing. Participants in the action, some of them in parts that are minor and seem insignificant, contribute one by one the indispensable stitches which make the pattern. They act when they do not know the truth of the situation in which they act, this truth being known, however, to us who are spectators." The idea that Fortune dictates the course of mankind dates back to ancient times. Those writers of the medieval world incorporated the goddess Fortune into Christianity and made her God's servant, responsible for adding challenges to our lives so that we would see the importance of giving up our tumultuous earthly lives to God. The most influential treatise on the theme of Fate was The Consolation of Philosophy, written by the scholar Boethius (A.D. 475-525). Written while he awaited execution, it is a dialogue between himself and his guide 'Philosophy', who explores with him the true nature of happiness and fate, and leads him to hope and enlightenment. Here is an excerpt from Book IV:
Why does slippery Fortune change so much, and oppress the innocent with punishment more fit for criminals? …Look down on all earth's wretchedness. Man plays so little a part in this great work and is controlled by Fortune. (Book IV)
Boethius' work, specifically his concept of "Fortune's wheel", made an enormous impact on the work of Chaucer and Dante and, less directly, Shakespeare. Fate's impact on Romeo and Juliet is made clear from the outset of the play. The Chorus tells us that the lovers are "star-cross'd", and thus hindered by the influence of malignant planets (note that Renaissance astrologers used the planets to predict plagues and other such calamities, in addition to predicting the outcome and quality of individual's lives). Throughout the play Fate's role is reaffirmed as the lovers sense its interference. Romeo, just before he attends Capulet's ball, has a premonition:
My mind misgives
Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin thisd fearful date
With this night's revels, and expire the term
Of a dispised life, clos'd in my breast,
By some vile forfeit of untimely death:
But he that hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail! (1.4.106)
Romeo later cries that he is "fortune's fool" (3.1.141), and Juliet exclaims that she has an "ill-divining soul" (3.5.52). Moreover, their predictions extend into their dreams, as Romeo says "I dreamt my lady came and found me dead" (5.1.6). So in keeping with tradition set down by the great writers of the past, Fate controls Shakespeare's doomed lovers. And takes no share of the blames for the catastrophic ending. He disowns responsibility and places the blame on Destiny or Fate." This reliance on the idea of Fate in the play is the most representative of Shakespeare's dramatic deficiency. It is not the lovers' flaws that lead them to ruin; the tragedy does not spring from their own weaknesses. As a result, there is little growth of character and no profound analysis of the complexity of human nature. Thus, despite the lyrical beauty of the play and the endearing qualities of Romeo and his Juliet, (which have secured its place as one of the great dramas), it fails to rise to the level of Shakespeare's other tragedies that explore the inner failings of humankind.
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/playanalysis/romeocommentary.html
