Question

Why are Romeo and Juliet "a case of bad luck" in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare?

Accepted Answer

Romeo and Juliet are "a case of bad luck" in Romeo and Juliet because in the first few lines of the prologue, the audience learns from the Chorus that the "star-cross'd" lovers, Romeo and Juliet, are destined for a life together of "bad luck" and misadventures beyond their control that will culminate in their deaths.

Answer

Romeo and Juliet's "case of bad luck" is introduced in the first few lines of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The Chorus speaks to the audience directly and tells them what's happened before the play begins and what to expect during the course of the play itself, all of which portends bad luck for Romeo and Juliet.

CHORUS. Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. (1.1.1–4)

The longstanding feud between the Capulets (Juliet's family) and the Montagues (Romeo's family) has once again erupted in violence.

CHORUS. ... From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows
Doth, with their death, bury their parents' strife. (1.1.5-8)

In these lines, the term "star-crossed" takes on two separate meanings by which Shakespeare foreshadows two separate series of events in the play. In the first instance, "star-crossed" implies that Romeo and Juliet are brought together by the stars, by happenstance, or by fate. They're destined to meet each other, the Chorus means to say, and it's inevitable that they'll fall in love.
"Star-crossed" imparts a second meaning to the line, which is that Romeo and Juliet's life together is ill fated and that the course of their their love will be challenged by circumstances outside their control. Shakespeare is saying in these lines that fate brought Romeo and Juliet together only to "double-cross" them.
Shakespeare intends that "take their life" also has two meanings. "Take their life" means that they begin their life together, as a couple, and it also foreshadows their deaths, in that they ultimately take their own lives.
"Misadventur'd piteous overthrows" refers to the many trials, tribulations, and misadventures that Romeo and Juliet will experience together during the play. As Lysander says in A Midsummer Night's Dream, "The course of true love never did run smooth" (1.1.136). This holds doubly true—at the very least— for Romeo and Juliet.
"With their deaths" makes it clear that Romeo and Juliet are going to die in this play—the ultimate misadventure. But the Chorus offers the hope that their deaths will end the feud between their families.

CHORUS. ... The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,And the continuance of their parents' rage,Which, but their children's end, naught could remove,Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage. (1.1.9-12)

In case anyone missed it the first time, the Chorus repeats that Romeo and Juliet are going to die in the play and tells the audience that the events leading to their deaths and the end of the feud between their families will form the plot of the play that they're about to see.
It's interesting to note that for a play that is so bound up with the concept of fate, the word "fate" appears only once in the entirety of Romeo and Juliet.
In act 3, scene 1, the just-married Romeo is confronted in the street by Tybalt, who previously challenged Romeo to a duel for appearing uninvited to the Capulet's feast where Romeo and Juliet first meet.
Romeo refuses to fight with Tybalt, but Mercutio takes the opportunity to step in and fight Tybalt himself. Romeo attempts to intervene, and Mercutio is distracted long enough for Tybalt to stab him. Tybalt runs away, and the mortally wounded Mercutio is led offstage by Benvolio.
Benvolio returns a moment later to tell Romeo that Mercutio died from his wound.

ROMEO. This day's black fate on more days doth depend;This but begins the woe others must end. (3.1.120-121)

Romeo is saying that today, even as bad as it is, is just the first day of worse days to come. His prophecy comes true within minutes, when Tybalt returns and Romeo kills him.
With Tybalt's death, any ray of hope that the marriage of Romeo and Juliet might lead to a reconciliation between the Capulets and the Montagues is utterly extinguished, and only darker days lie ahead.

Answer

Certainly, it seems like terrible luck that Romeo and Juliet just happen to come from these two feuding families and that they just happen to fall in love with one another the first time they meet. Next, it seems like terrible luck that Tybalt spots Romeo at the big Capulet party, which prompts him to find and challenge Romeo the next day. It is bad luck that Mercutio takes offense at Tybalt's challenge and Romeo's response, choosing to fight Tybalt himself, and it is very bad luck that Romeo comes between them—trying to break up the fight—and that Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo's arm as he tries to mediate and make peace. It is also bad luck that Lord Capulet decides to marry Juliet off to the County Paris in order to try to lift her spirits, especially given the fact that he previously said that Juliet's consent to the marriage was all-important. It is worse luck that the friar's letter acquainting Romeo with his plan to fake Juliet's death is never delivered because of some illness in the country. It is even worse luck that Romeo does not arrive at Juliet's tomb five minutes later than he does; if he were just a bit later, she would already be awake, and their deaths could have been prevented.

Answer

As stated in the Prologue to the play, Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed," meaning that they are beset by bad luck throughout the play. They have the bad fortune to fall in love in the first place, as they come from rival families. The Capulets and Montagues have a long-simmering feud that's not going to go away any time soon, and so the lovers must meet in secret. 
In addition, Tybalt, who is a member of the Capulet family, tries to punish Romeo for having attended the Capulets' ball, the place where Romeo met Juliet. Tybalt winds up killing Mercutio, Romeo's friend, and Romeo slays Tybalt in reaction. Romeo, banished from the city of Verona as punishment for his crime, does not get the message that Friar Laurence has given Juliet a sleeping potion to make her appear dead and not need to marry Paris. Upon finding the sleeping Juliet, Romeo believes she is dead and kills himself by drinking poison. Juliet, finding Romeo dead when she awakes, slays herself. At every turn, the lovers meet with bad luck, in the form of feuding families, incensed relatives, and missed messages. Fate is not on their side.

Answer

In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the two young lovers seem to undergo more than their fair share of unfortunate accidents. In the Prologue, Shakespeare describes their fate as follows:

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life ...

"Star-crossed" in this context has an astrological significance, suggesting being born under the wrong stars and thus condemned to bad luck. 
The first bit of bad luck the lovers undergo is falling in love with the most ineligible possible people. Thus Juliet laments:

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.

Essentially, if the two young people had different parents, they could have married happily, but they happen to be children of families on the opposite sides of a feud. 
The next part of bad luck has to do with the miscommunication concerning Friar Laurence's scheme. Romeo by accident does not get the note letting him know that Juliet has taken a sleeping potion and is not actually dead. Paris' fight with Romeo also has to do with a miscommunication.

Romeo and Juliet

Why are Romeo and Juliet "a case of bad luck" in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare?

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