Romeo and Juliet: Fate or Choice

We cannot alter our destiny, it cannot be shaped, we can only learn to accept it…or so they say. What is fate really? Can we control it? Does fate determine our lives? Fate is a supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events, beyond human control. The idea that that you can’t avoid what happens to your future, that it’s unavoidable. However, what people fail to comprehend is that our destiny is exactly our control. The principal of fate is downright fallacious due to the fact that every action, every choice, and every situation molds ones’ future into either something beautiful or unpleasant, ultimately determined by that individual themselves.

People must grasp ahold of the truth and abandon using fate as a justification for the consequences of actions, but rather accept the fact that one’s in charge of their life. The question in regards to free will–the conduct of human beings expresses personal choice and is not simply determined by physical or divine forces—could be very shrewd to consider given that a variety of individuals fail to accept that their destiny is their choice. It is made evident that all events that a person contributes to regulates the outcome of their own future. That there is not fate, but free will.

More so, the most common association with fate is the idea of death. Though some deaths can be so-called “destined”, almost all can be preventable. Maternal mortality, for instance is just one of these causes of preventable deaths. Maternal mortality is the number of maternal deaths due to birth-or pregnancy-related complications per 100,000 registered live births. According to the Maternal Health Task Force, a well informed and collaborative community, over 60% of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. were preventable.

Also, World Health Organization, an organization who uses medical skills and knowledge to assists countries worldwide, states that about 830 women every day, die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. If the women have been taken more seriously, and received the proper health care that was refused to them, many mothers would be able to see their child take their first step. It was not their fate to die a mother; these women could’ve survived if specific choices had been made. As you can see, everything is not predetermined, rather choices made dictates an aftermath.

Furthermore, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, was a clear precedent of free will. These two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, were star-crossed, meaning they we’re destined to be separated. However, these romantics somehow managed to stay together though the whole storyline and after death. You see, at the end of the full drama, Romeo commits suicide in hopes of being together with his love, who he falsely believes is dead. Then when Juliet wakes up from her temporary death spell, she sees what has happened to her love and brutally stabs herself. The drama implies that they could not be together in life, so they decided to be together in death. The two romantics are described as star-crossed but, in fact, they stay together throughout the whole play and kill themselves in order to join in death. Every choice the two lovers made, or the lack thereof, altered the pathway to their future. Fate is only an excuse to those who are not willing to take responsibility for their actions.

Additionally, many people in this world think that the outcome of their future is not their fault if there’s contribution to the choices they make. For instance, consider this: Blackmail. Blackmail is demanding something from someone in return for not revealing information. Many people around the world get blackmailed in return for something of benefit. Notice how earlier I said “revealing”. If the person wasn’t lying or doing anything wrong, then she/he would not have to be blackmailed. In this case, the person with the secret wouldn’t have to be blackmailed if that individual would have done the right thing. That’s their free will: whether they do the right thing or not which fundamentally, shows how there’s a choice of action to everything.

In conclusion, there is no such thing as not having a choice or unavoidable consequences, we as humans shape our future through those decisions. Through one’s life, they contribute to situations and react accordingly and creating and end result. Fate is purely a made-up principal used to blame the consequences of our own actions. You must take responsibility for your choices in order to carve a positive and meaningful pathway for yourself and your future. Nevertheless, our actions are merely our own fault. Our own free-will. It is not fate that dictates our future, it is the choices we make and what we do about them.

Works Cited

1. ‘fate.’ American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. 2011. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 2 Dec. 2018 https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=fate.
2. “Blackmail | Definition of Blackmail in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” English Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2018, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/blackmail.
3. “New Report Explores Why Preventable Maternal Deaths Continue to Occur in the United States.” Maternal Health Task Force, Harvard Chan School Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health, 19 Mar. 2018, www.mhtf.org/2018/03/16/new-data-explore-why-preventable-maternal-deaths-continue-to-occur-in-the-united-states/
4. https://www.measureevaluation.org/prh/rh_indicators/womens-health/sm/maternal-mortality-ratio-mmr
5. “Who We Are.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 1 Sept. 2016, www.who.int/about/who-we-are/en/.
6. “Free Will.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/free-will

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