Fate and free-will decides the course of people’s lives. Fate cannot be controlled by human power, unlike free-will which is made up of the decisions that people make. However, there are consequences for every action humans make. In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare displays “two star-crossed lovers” who face many obstacles due to their forbidden love. Ultimately, it was their own decisions that ended their lives. Although they face series of tragic events caused by fate, Romeo and Juliet cause their unfortunate end by making poor decisions because they chose to make irrational decisions based on their emotions when given opportunities to turn away.

The two star-crossed lovers create their tragic end because they take actions that puts their lives at risk. Blinded by love, Romeo and Juliet make irrational decisions, taking rash actions that goes against common sense, which end up causing more trouble for themselves. At the end of the play, when Juliet sees Romeo’s corpse she says, “O...dagger, / This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die”(5.3.182-184). Juliet’s rash action of stabbing herself in order to die besides Romeo shows that her own actions caused her death. Juliet had the opportunity to marry Paris and live a happy life without Romeo in a family with a rich and proud background. However, Juliet chose to take her life out of her love for Romeo. Similarly, Romeo also took his life after seeing the “dead” Juliet. He had bought poison from an apothecary asking, “Let me have/ A dram of poison,... / That the life-weary taker may fall dead”(5.1.61-64). Consumed by shock, grief, and depression, Romeo buys poison enabling him to die along with Juliet showing his lack of reasoning and logic. Enslaved to his uncontrollable emotions, Romeo acts without thinking of the impending consequences. Both Romeo and Juliet’s impulsive action along with their reckless decisions cause their lamentable deaths.

Even though there were some events that could not be controlled by Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers cause their own demise because of their reckless decisions they make to satisfy the needs of their forbidden love. Humans are easily swayed by their emotions causing them to act rash and reckless. People in society should learn how to control these emotions in order to prevent people from making unreasonable decisions and suffering the consequence for their actions.

<Juwon Chun Granada Hills Charter High School 9th G>