In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the idea of destiny is one that runs rampant throughout the play. Many of the play's characters blame destiny for the problems that arise in their lives. Destiny comes in the form of fortune, fate, divine intervention, and dreams among other ideas. However, Mercutio is the character in the book that clearly does not blame any sort of fate, and can accept the fact that humans are responsible for the outcome of their lives. Other characters blame fate for everything that happens in life because they cannot accept the idea that humans control their own destiny, and tragedies happen. Shakespeare makes it obvious through the conversations Mercutio has with other characters, especially Romeo, that Mercutio does not blame fate while the people around him do.

The first time Mercutio is introduced to the audience is in act I scene...