Shakespeare's 'Star-Crossed Lovers' Reveals Psychology of Romance

What Shakespeare Really Meant The phrase ‘star-crossed lovers’ appears in the prologue of Romeo and Juliet, where Shakespeare describes the young couple as doomed by their ‘star-cross’d’ fate. In Shakespeare’s time, astrology was widely accepted as legitimate science, and people genuinely believed that celestial alignments at birth determined life outcomes. When stars were ‘crossed’ or in opposition, it signaled cosmic misfortune. But Shakespeare’s choice to frame the tragedy this way reveals something deeper about human nature.