In the play Romeo and Juliet, what does Romeo mean when he says, "Then I defy you, stars"?

It means
he is defying fateor attempting to, at any rate, because unfortunately fate will ultimately
defeat both .

has just been wrongly informed of 's death. His immediate
reaction to this tragic situation, as well as intense sorrow, is one of angry defiance. Romeo
recognizes himself as the plaything of fortune and subject to the whims of fate. But he's not
going to take this lying down; he's determined to take his fate into his own hands by heading
back to Verona and killing himself in Juliet's tomb.

Thehere is that in his
attempts to defy fate, Romeo is actually making it happen. For when Juliet wakes from her
drug-induced slumbers and sees Romeo's dead body lying next to her, she stabs herself to death,
thus fulfilling the sad fate of the star-cross'd lovers.