In contrast, the main characters in Cal are working class, reliant upon social conditions. For example, Cal is unemployed at the beginning and Marcella works in a small library. .
Romeo and Juliet and Cal differ in the protagonists" opinions of life and Fate. In Romeo and Juliet we hear many times the mention of Fate. At the beginning of the play Romeo and Juliet are addressed to the audience by the Chorus as "star- crossed lovers". They seem constantly aware of this, when Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, he cries out "Then I defy you, stars," completing the idea that the love between Romeo and Juliet is on opposition to destiny's plan. During the Renaissance the idea of the Wheel of Fortune and Lady Fortune was popular. They believed that lady fortune spins a wheel that has everybody on it, one minute you could be at the top and have good fortune or you could be at the bottom and have bad fortune. Romeo also says after he kills Tybalt "O I am fortune's fool!" showing many people believed that they could do nothing about their Fate at that time. .
Cal is very different, the characters are a lot more modern and familiar to our generation. For example, Cal gets caught up in the IRA by Crilly and Skeffington and is unable to get out once he is part of it. He doesn't blame the stars as Romeo does in Romeo and Juliet, he accepts it as bad luck symptomatic of Ireland's social situation. In Cal the mood is generally sombre, unlike scenes in Romeo and Juliet like the Ball scene, which shows us the excitement of Italian aristocratic life. The characters in Cal have a different lifestyle and culture to Romeo and Juliet. For example, most of the characters in Cal are badly off and struggle to earn a living, very different to the characters of the families in Romeo and Juliet who are very wealthy and high status.
The development of love in Cal and Romeo and Juliet is very different, love develops very hastily in Romeo and Juliet with the two lovers falling in love the night before they get married.
