SARAH:  Ralph, let’s take a closer look at the play’s introduction of its two title characters: Romeo and Juliet. 

RALPH: Sure, Sarah.  “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.”

SARAH:  The pair of star-crossed lovers are, of course, Romeo and Juliet – coming forth from their parents’ “loins.”

RALPH: The "loins” are the lower part of an animal’s abdomen, like… well, like the loin chops we might buy from a butcher.

SARAH:  Here, Shakespeare is referring to loins as the place of human reproduction. 

RALPH: Then, when he refers to the births of Romeo and Juliet as "fatal", he’s using that word in two senses. 

SARAH:  A common idea in Shakespeare’s day was that the alignment of the planets and the stars at the time of your birth could tell you what fate had in store for you. Having an unfavorable alignment—being star-crossed—meant that things weren’t going to go well for you. 

RALPH: But “fatal” here can also mean “deadly.” 

SARAH:  As in, the violent family feud into which Romeo and Juliet are born will lead to their untimely deaths. 

RALPH: Sarah!

SARAH: What?

RALPH: You’re giving it away!  The end, you’re spoiling it!

SARAH: Oh please, Ralph!  They know that Romeo and Juliet die at the end, everyone knows that!  And Shakespeare is telling us the end right here, right at the beginning of his play!

RALPH: Well, ok, fine.  I guess you’re right.  So yes, these lines hint at the conclusion of the play, when Romeo and Juliet take their lives as a result of their families’ fighting. 

SARAH:  And they also reveal the fact that Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths will end the feud between the families: “with their death, bury their parents’ strife.” 

RALPH: Note that Shakespeare has included even more clever wordplay here. In dying, Romeo and Juliet bring about a different kind of death: they “bury their parents’ strife.” The fighting between the families will die here as the two young lovers die.