In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare shows us that it is our decisions and actions that govern our consequences, but it is fate that places these choices in our lives. Romeo is a great example of how bad choices create dire consequences for a person, because he chooses to act hastily and rashly when fate throws something in his way. He doesn’t think about the possible outcomes of his decisions, or on the effect they will have on others, especially those closest to him. He lets his anger take control of him and he gives little thought to the consequences of his actions.

We all make decisions, whether we think so or not, and every decision is partnered with consequences, which will be worse or better depending on the choice you make. When the alarm on your clock wakes you up, you make a decision to either get up or stay in bed. Whether or not you do get up will affect the rest of your day with either positive or negative consequences, and will present you with different sets of choices depending on your decision to get of bed or not. Romeo has countless decisions to make for the duration of the play; many of them are very difficult choices that require a lot of thinking before action is taken. Romeo, it seems, doesn’t even consider the consequences of his actions. He just plows right ahead and does what he thinks is best at the time. As a result of this, his consequences are very serious, such as his banishment from Verona.

How often do we do things without thinking? You are on a bike, and you see a pathway leading into the dark. Thinking for some inconceivable reason that this path looks like a good idea, you turn down the path and continue, missing the warning signs in the darkness. The next thing you know, you are plummeting down a sheer cliff, caught completely off guard, and with no hope for the future. Romeo does this so many times in the play that we can’t help but wonder if he ever learns anything from his mistakes. He simply doesn’t think things over – he takes the pathway into the dark and challenges whatever fate can hurl at him. An example of this is when Romeo kills Tybalt, angered because of Mercutio’s murder. Romeo probably knew that Tybalt would be found guilty by the law and sentenced to death, but he did what he thought was best at the time. Without giving any thought to the consequences it would hold for him and especially for Juliet, he chased down Tybalt and killed him out of anger for the death of his friend, resulting in the banishment that flips the play upside down. He made a hasty, unthought-of decision, and the consequences not only affected him, but his family and his wife as well. It is these poorly thought decisions that come with the harshest consequences.

Anger is a normal emotion for everyone; we all get angry, but we choose how we react when we get angry. A calm person will usually keep their anger to themselves, whereas a reactive person often takes their anger out on other people, which is harmful to themselves as well as the victims of their rage. Romeo is a very reactive person, and when he gets angry, he immediately acts without thinking, which is shown by his desperate suicide attempt in Friar Laurence’s cell when he gets angry with himself about Tybalt’s death. Had he been succesful in killing himself, he would have created many other problems, like Juliet killing herself. Romeo was definitely thinking of himself in this situation, and if it wasn’t for Friar Laurence and his wisdom, the play would probably end at this scene with the early death of the two lovers. In situations where where we are presented with problems, we have the choice of getting angry or not. It is the choice we make in these situations that will govern what the consequences will be. Romeo, it seems, chooses to get angry at every difficulty that life throws at him, and then blames it on fate, saying he is ‘fortune’s fool’ and griping about how fate has ruined his life. Fate cannot ruin your life, or make your life difficult; only the descisions you make can turn your life for better or worse.

We cannot choose our choices; they are placed before us as we walk the long road of life, varying in importance and difficulty, and we have almost no control over which ones will be placed in our path. We do, however, have full control over how we deal with these choices and how we react to the difficulties presented by them. It is ultimately our own descisions, not fate or any other unseen force, that governs our consequences. Our consequences will always good ones if we make wise choices.