Shakespeare had multiple reasons for creating his masterpiece Romeo and Juliet. Using an essay response, identify one of his main reasons for composing the play and provide at least three pieces of evidence (from the story, his life, or your prior knowledge) to support your claim.

In the opening Prologue of Romeo and Juliet, the Chorus refers to the title characters as “star-crossed lovers,” an allusion to the belief that stars and planets have the power to control events on Earth. This line leads many readers to believe that Romeo and Juliet are inescapably destined to fall in love and equally destined to have that love destroyed. However, though Shakespeare’s play raises the possibility that some impersonal, supernatural force shapes Romeo and Juliet’s lives, by the end of the play it becomes clear that the characters bear more of the responsibility than Fortune does.

Explanation: