Fate and free will. Free will and destiny. Intertwined at the root but hanging delicately from separate branches. The same could be said of Romeo and Juliet; both intertwined at the soul level and left hanging in the balance. Shakespeare wrote “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” to be a love story; not great, not fancy, not meaningful. Destiny is what constitutes the trunk of history, the strong spine of the ribs. The syncopation of all events in history could not have been possible without fate. The time, place and manner in which Romeo laid eyes on Juliet was nothing but a cruel masquerade trick of fate. Masking what might happen when this forbidden girl is struck into his world. Fate continues later, sending plagues to stop mail and important letters, placing impetuous cousins ​​in the path of shrouded happiness. In a dramatic final act, death and life intersect so closely that heavily loaded trains touch as they pass. Romeo kisses the very lips of life as he knows it, while Juliet awakens from temporary death to find it draped across her breast; a morbid veil. Fate took its deft hands and played the role of puppet master, influencing every thought, action and feeling of Romeo, Juliet and the rest of the cast. The galas, the long dresses, the pretty maidens, the disgruntled bosses, the timing and the location all came together to create a storm loaded with destiny for none other than Romeo. He was not prepared to face the buckshot loaded on his chest: Juliette. Rewinding slowly, the reader begins to notice a pattern; like watching a movie again to notice the subtle nuances. The festivities brought Romeo to his doorstep, but even then, it was not Romeo's choice, nor his free will, that brought him to the Capulets' doorstep. Indeed, it was the cold hand of fate that pushed to the middle of the paper and left me to die. There was no free will in these acts, nor in the previous ones, such was their destiny. As the curtain rises on their morbid end, the reader is left with many questions that all point to one answer: fate. At times, the puppets in this tragedy felt their strings and saw no good ending, but there was no way to stop fate. Long before they met, Romeo and Juliet were on a collision course. Their lives were controlled, their meetings scheduled, their obstacles already planned, their deaths already inscribed on the headstones. What else, besides this mysterious force, could cause such a twisted feeling? What could cause enemies to marry in love? What could cause enemies to die as lovers? What else could trace the web of love's complex spirals? What could cause such calamity from a simple kiss? What else? What else but fate?