Destiny is the events that are predetermined to occur in the future of a person or thing. Fate is the development of events outside a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. The Film texts Romeo and Juliet and The Notebook are based around the themes of destiny, fate and “star crossed lovers." The two couples in the films, Romeo and Juliet and Noah and Allie both fall madly in love but due to circumstances such as class, society and family neither of these couples are destined to be together without a fight. By defying their destinies both couples choose a fate that was not originally designed for them. The Film text Romeo and Juliet is about two people Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet who meet and instantly fall in love at a party. The only problem is that they are from two opposing families. The two marry in secret but before they can tell their families and broker the peace between the families, Romeo kills Juliet’s cousin Tybalt and events start to spiral towards the young couples eventual demise. Romeo and Juliet were clearly “Star crossed lovers”. "Star-crossed lovers" is a phrase describing a pair of lovers whose relationship is often thwarted by outside forces. From the moment they met Romeo and Juliet were not destined to be able to live happily together but nevertheless Romeo and Juliet defied the stars and went against their families. “Is it even so? Then I defy you, stars!”(5.1.24) [ CITATION Sha97 l 3081 ]. Romeo and Juliet were aware that they could not be together but they believed that their love was strong enough so to create their own destiny. Just like Romeo and Juliet, Noah and Allie defied their predetermined fate. The two lovers Allie and Noah were “star crossed lovers” because class, wealth and family kept them apart. The Notebook is about a man named Duke reading a love story to an old woman. The main issue that the lovers faced in the story he told was their different social standings. The love story Duke told was about a poor man named Noah and a rich girl named Allie who fell in love during the summer but due to their separate social standings they broke up. After seven years apart they reunited and instantly fell in love again. Once again Allie has to choose between social standing and love. In the end she chooses a life of love and financial uncertainty over being rich but unhappy. In the film Noah said “It's not about following your heart and it's not about keeping your promises. It's about security” [ CITATION Rya04 n l 3081 ]. Noah knew that Allie was questioning their love because of social reasons. In the end Allie chose to stay with Noah because she loved him and she wanted to be with him forever. Not only were the couple “star crossed lover” but they also had to deal with the disapproval of their families. In the case of Romeo and Juliet their families were arch rivals and sworn enemies. When Romeo and Juliet found out that they were from opposing families they did not care. They were in love and wanted to be together whether their families approved or not. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love And I'll no longer be a Capulet”. (Act 2, scene 2) [ CITATION Sha97 l 3081 ]. What Juliet was trying to say with this statement is that they love each other that much that they are willing to defy their families to be together. In The Notebook, Noah’s Father is very supportive of the couple’s relationship even though he knows that is very unlikely that it will work but Allies parents are not as supportive. Allies Mother wanted Allie to marry a rich man so that she will be well off for the rest of her life. When Allie and Noah reunited she found out that Noah had written to her when she left. “I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you everyday for a year.” Allie confronted her Mother about the letters when she came to get Allie but instead of taking her back to her fiancé she took her to see a man she had loved before she had met Allies father. Allies mum chose money over love. Hearing her mother’s story helped Allie make her choice between Noah and her fiancé. By defying the will of their families both couples had set in sequence a set of events that would either end good or badly for the young couples. As predicted at the start of the film a series of events started to unravel as a consequence of the young lover’s actions. After killing Tybalt, Romeo was banished from Verona. So when he heard news of Juliet’s death her rushed to see her corpse in the church. Because the couple were not destined to live happily he just missed the letter explaining that Juliet had faked her death. From the moment they met at the party and tried to create their own destiny their fate had been sealed. There was no way that the two could be together but instead of accepting the fact that it would never work they defied their destiny and created a