Romeo calls himself fortune's fool because he believes that his life was going well until he and his friends ran afoul of Tybalt. Now, however, he believes that he is being mocked by fate.
Romeo is happy when he meets Juliet. His broken heart—courtesy of his infatuation with Rosaline—is mended. They overcome the bad blood between their families and married in secret. Everything seems to be going his way.
However, Mercutio takes the place of Romeo in a duel with Tybalt; Romeo refuses to duel because he is now kin to Tybalt (through his marriage to Juliet). Tybalt then slays Mercutio. In a rage, Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona as a result.
All the happiness that Romeo had experienced is now gone. He's apart from the women he loves and separated from his family and friends. He feels that being away from Juliet is as bad as a death sentence. Though he thought fortune had smiled upon him, it appears to him that he was only being set up for a larger fall. If he had checked his temper and not killed Tybalt, then he would have been fine and would have been able to be with Juliet. Because he didn't, he is banished.
In act 3, scene 1, Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo reacts violently to Mercutio's death by killing Tybalt. Immediately after killing Tybalt, Benvolio informs Romeo that Prince Escalus will doom him and instructs Romeo to flee from Verona. Romeo responds to his misfortune by saying, "O, I am fortune's fool!" (Shakespeare 3.1.98). Romeo calls himself "fortune's fool" because he recognizes that his fortune has suddenly turned against him.
Romeo has recently married Tybalt's cousin and has attempted to avoid conflict with Tybalt. Tragically, Lady Luck is not on Romeo's side, and he acknowledges that his future has taken a turn for the worse. Instead of enjoying time with Juliet, Romeo must now flee Verona in order to avoid his disastrous fate. He feels that he has been tricked by Lady Luck into killing Tybalt and laments his future.
Romeo's comment underscores the element of fate that is prevalent throughout the play. Romeo and Juliet have already been described as "star-crossed lovers," who cannot avoid their destiny, and Romeo must now escape Verona to survive. Overall, Romeo blames fate and Lady Luck for his impetuous act, which has ruined his seemingly bright future.
Romeo says this in act III, scene I, after he has killed Tybalt in battle. In saying that he is "fortune's fool," what Romeo means is that fortune, or fate, has made a fool of him, or mistreated him. There are several reasons for this at this point in the play. First, he has just killed Tybalt, who belongs to the same house as his new wife. It is cruel of fortune to have put Romeo in a position where he should fall in love with a member of an opposing house; it is crueler still that he should then be forced to kill a member of that opposing house, to which he is now tied by marriage. Earlier, Romeo had attempted to avoid this fate by refusing to fight with Tybalt, but fate would not have it as Romeo designed.
Next, it is cruelly unfair of fortune that Romeo should be in this position—"the prince will doom thee death"—at this stage of his life, when he should be celebrating his new relationship with Juliet. Instead, he must now fear being put to death for murdering her kinsman.
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