Foreshadowing is one of the main dramatic techniques in Romeo and Juliet. The lovers’ tragic end is both directly and subtly foreshadowed from the very beginning of the play. This strong foreshadowing emphasizes that the lovers’ fate is inevitable and that their sense of freedom is an illusion. Foreshadowing also creates the sense that the plot is hurtling unstoppably forward, just as the passions of Romeo and Juliet, Montague and Capulet, Tybalt, and Mercutio escalate uncontrollably.