In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, how are the gods seen as charitable in the way they allow certain events to happen?

To be charitable is to be giving. Just as we see in Greek and Roman mythology, the gods in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet are takers much more than they are givers. We can interpret at least a couple of moments in the play, however, as instances when the gods charitably give.

One of those instances concerns Romeo and Juliet's wedding night. Act III, Scene 2, opens with Juliet giving a monologue that can be seen as a prayer of petition to the sun god to allow night to arrive faster. The monologue opens with the following request:

Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus' lodging: such a wagoner
As Phaethon would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately (Act III, Scene 2, lines 1-4)

Phoebus is another name for Apollo, the Greek sun god. He was believed to drive the sun east and west using a golden chariot pulled by white horses. According to the myth, prior to taking this role previously held by his father Helios, Phaeton, Apollo's brother, stole the chariot and drove the sun to set in the west very early one morning. Juliet's allusion to Phaethon relays her eagerness for the setting sun so she can have her wedding night. Since her wedding night certainly does come, albeit at the normal hour, we can loosely interpret Apollo as having charitably granted her petition; at any rate, nothing occurred to prevent Juliet from having her wedding night.

Despite this interpretation, the gods still take far more than they give. Specifically, they take many lives. One example of taking can be seen during Romeo's exile. Romeo opens Act 5, Scene 1, by relaying a dream he had of Juliet kissing him, a dream he feels prophecies their union to come. Soon after, though, Juliet's faked death is announced. Unaware she has not actually died, Romeo feels he has been tricked by the gods and exclaims, "Is it even so? Then I defy you stars" (Act V, Scene 1, line 24)! The word stars can be interpreted as another term for fate, and fate is controlled by the gods. By saying he defies the stars, Romeo is saying he is challenging fate, or the gods, meaning he is not going to accept the fate the gods dealt him; he is going to take matters into his own hands by ending his life with his own hands. Romeo's reaction to the news of Juliet's death shows us how he feels the gods have taken from him, not given to him. In addition, Romeo's sentiment that the gods have taken from him leads to real deaths, showing us the gods truly do take lives.