Oedipus Rex, Candide, Macbeth, The Cherry Orchard, and the Metamorphosis all have one obvious recurring theme; fate v.s. freewill. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus tries to beat his fate. He leaves home and travels because he is afraid of the prophecy made of him. Despite this, in the case of Oedipus, his fate was inescapable. Candide, on the other hand, defies his fate. He is fated to be separated from Cunegonde, but he keeps trying and trying to be with her. Candide goes through many obstacles, learns about life, and by the end, he learns that he must accept what life throws at him, and “cultivate his garden.” Macbeth believes that fate is on his side. When he hears about his prophecy, he immediately believes that nothing can hurt him, that he will remain King, and his children with inherit the throne. But, from the witches point of view, Macbeth’s crimes and misfortunes were fated to happen and nothing could change it. In The Cherry Orchard, it can be inferred that it was always Lyubov’s fate to lose the Cherry Orchard. It can also be debated that if enough action was taken, Lyubov could have kept the Orchard. Finally, in The Metamorphosis Kafka tries to make the point that the freewill of humans in the end cause people to be dehumanized. The big picture is that despite all these books being written in different eras with different ideals, they all have that same ambivalence about fate and freewill. And even now, that ambivalence remains. People are unsure of whether we have freewill, or all of our actions are part of a predetermined plan. So, why is it that throughout history and the present, the debate between fate and freewill remains?
Predetermined fate is a hard thing to believe in because everyone has a different view on life. A ...
... middle of paper ...
...le in others it is terrible. One of the main reasons why humans have mixed feeling about fate and freewill is that while some people want to blame something/someone else for their misfortune or bad deeds, others admit that their actions are their fault and no one elses. Another way to see it is that the people who believe in freewill are afraid to admit that they cannot escape their destiny, that their life is fated to turn out a certain way no matter what they do, and that is a scary thought. I like to think that I have free will. At WMS, we might have rules and regulations, but it is our choice on rather to follow them or not. Of course if we don’t follow them, there are consequences. Just because we have free will does not mean that we can do anything we want to do without consequences. With free will comes responsibility and I know I am ready to take that duty.
Fate vs Free Will is one of the most oft used literary techniques in writing. It is never more evident than in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The major theme of the story Macbeth is whether or not the story is fueled by the free will of Macbeth, or by his fate. Are the events in Macbeth a result of his mentality and outlook on life, or were they going to happen no matter what? Almost every major event that takes place can be traced back to this question. It can be viewed in different ways, and most people have their own opinions. Dissecting this question is a part of what makes teaching Macbeth still have so much value to this day. But there is a clear answer to this question upon further dissection. The story of Macbeth is fueled by his free will, which he perceives to be a necessary part of achieving his fate.
Another thought that exemplifies the significance that free will holds, is seen in elements of Sophocles' classic, which revealed that Oedipus had more knowledge over the details of his dilemma than he let himself become conscious of. The last idea will reveal how the onset of fear will push people down a treacherous path of risk and pain, which is also seen in the play through multiple characters. Free will is an attribute that all people possess. It could work as a tool to get individuals through the scary twists their lives may entail. It could also work against them in many ways, which depends on the level of human weakness and ignorance. But, the most important assertion that can be made after considering the argument of, "fate vs. free will," is that...
In the end God ultimately decides ones fate, but one can influence His choice throughout their life. The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, as well as the books The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, Divine Comedy by Dante, and Oresteia by Aeschylus all talk about justice and fate. These stories show how even though God will decide what happens to someone at the end, the actions one does is how God bases his decision. One’s fate is determined based on what God and the law think is just. Human beings have free will and know what is right and wrong. Depending on what ones actions are they will have a good or a bad fate. Changing your ways to better fulfill Gods will is something that humans can do at any time. While it is true that God will determine what happens to people and what their final fate is, human beings do have control over their fate.
There are a lot of different things that come to mind when somebody thinks of the phrase Free Will, and there are some people who think that free will does not exists and that everything is already decided for you, but there are also people who believe in it and think that you are free to do as you please. An example that explains the problem that people have with free will is the essay by Walter T. Stace called “Is Determinism Inconsistent with Free Will?”, where Stace discusses why people, especially philosophers, think that free will does not exist.
Throughout the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare both fate and free will is demonstrated. Cassius argued that everyone has the power to change their future in what they do when Casca came to him frightened by omens. Though, omens have seemed to prove correct throughout the play, therefore it dominates the argument of Fate versus Free Will.
Human beings always believe that what they want to do is ‘up to them,' and on this account, they take the assumption that they have free will. Perhaps that is the case, but people should investigate the situation and find a real case. Most of the intuitions may be correct, but still many of them can be incorrect. There are those who are sceptical and believe that free will is a false illusion and that it only exists in the back of people’s minds, but society should be able to distinguish feelings from beliefs in order to arrive at reality and truth.
Determinism and free will are incompatible. The events in people’s lives are already chosen for us, or determined. The expected behaviors of people are explained by natural laws and by experiences that they were exposed to. But this viewpoint does not explain people’s intuition. Although, there is a chain of physical causes that lead into people’s intuition.
Are the characters governed by fate or free will? Fate means a power that some people believe causes and controls all events, so that you cannot change or control way things will happen. Free will means the ability to decide what to make independently of any outside influence. The different between the two they justify the causes that are in somebody else’s hands or in your own hands. The reason why I picked the background information that supports my hook because life can be influenced by the outcome of what you do regardless of what is in favor. The characters and events in the play were influenced by fate because the path and actions they chose recently reflect what happen later on in the play.
The argument of whether humans are pre-determined to turn out how we are and act the way we do or if we are our own decision makers and have the freedom to choose our paths in life is a long-standing controversy. As a psychologist in training and based on my personal beliefs, I do not believe that we truly have this so called free will. It is because of this that I choose to believe that the work of free will by d’Holbach is the most accurate. Although the ideas that Hume and Chisolm present are each strong in their own manner, d’Holbach presents the best and most realistic argument as to how we choose our path; because every event has a cause, we cannot have free will. Not only this, but also, that since there is always an external cause, we can never justify blame. Now let’s review Hume and Chisolm’s arguments and point out why I do not think that they justly describe free will.
In today's society we let our lives be led by a certain force that we believe in very strongly. Yet, a common debate that still rages today is whether we, as a species, have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. In the play, Oedipus the King, that special force is also used and is known and defined as fate. This played an important role in the lives of the characters just as it plays one in our daily lives.
Macbeth was not a hopeless victim of fate, he was pushed by the power of suggestion, and in the end he ultimately chose his actions. The characters are people guided by a God, witches or a higher power, giving major points of destiny, yet the control of how they handle life events is on the individual. Macbeth and the rest of the cast can not just sit back and blame "fate;" life is what each individual person makes it. The play makes an important distinction: Fate may dictate what will be but how destiny comes about is a matter of chance of man’s own choice or free will.
Fate and free will, the beliefs that humans are either mere playthings to the universe or are in full control of their destinies. The tragic play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, has the ideas of fate and free will present throughout. The play opens on eleventh century Scotland, where the main character, Macbeth, meets with three witches who tell him that he is fated to become king. Macbeth decides to leave out chance, take matters into his own hands, and kill King Duncan. He soon becomes paranoid and sends orders to kill those he believes are a threat to his power. Although Macbeth was fated to become king, his downfall was caused by his own free will on the account of his choices to put faith in the witches, kill King Duncan, and kill the family of Macduff.
Whether or not the concept of fate is legitimate is regularly debated by many people. Some believe that the events of one’s life are predetermined by a supernatural power, out of human control. Others believe that free will allows us to create our own fate, and that one’s decisions determine how the events of one’s life play out. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, both fate and free will are predominant themes in the play. The ever-present supernatural aspect of the play can create an interesting debate over whether or not Macbeth’s downfall could have played out differently, or even been avoided completely. The witches’ prophecies had an impact on Macbeth’s actions, however, it is ultimately free-will that causes his downfall.
One of the main themes in Oedipus the King written by Sophocles is the debate between free will and fate. There are many free choices that were made in the play, such as the decision for Oedipus to pursue the knowledge of his own identity. However, fate is responsible for many of the other critical events that took place in the play, such as Oedipus’s incest. Fate is made to seem very important in this play because it is written to seem that the characters cannot be held fully responsible for their actions due to fate.
Freedom, or the concept of free will seems to be an elusive theory, yet many of us believe in it implicitly. On the opposite end of the spectrum of philosophical theories regarding freedom is determinism, which poses a direct threat to human free will. If outside forces of which I have no control over influence everything I do throughout my life, I cannot say I am a free agent and the author of my own actions. Since I have neither the power to change the laws of nature, nor to change the past, I am unable to attribute freedom of choice to myself. However, understanding the meaning of free will is necessary in order to decide whether or not it exists (Orloff, 2002).