"We are merely the stars tennis-balls, struck and bandied which way please them"

This quote by John Webster is a metaphor for how humans are subject to the whims of fate. We are like stars, which are remote and untouchable, but we are also like tennis balls, which are struck and batted around by an unseen force. This force is fate, which manages our lives and determines our destiny. We have no control over our lives, and we are simply pawns in the video game of fate. We are powerless to withstand the will of fate, and our lives are figured out by the choices of those in power. This quote functions as a tip that we are all based on the impulses of fate, and that we must accept our fate and reconcile it. It is a suggestion that we must not take our lives for given, and that we ought to take advantage of the time we have.