Something that is always brought up is,¨do we control our destiny or does your destiny choose you?¨ Well folks the answer is very simple. I am going to summarize two stories that talk about how much we control our destiny. People have also been talking about this concept for many centuries too.…
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet are victims of free will because their decisions lead to their ultimate death. Several times throughout the play either Romeo or Juliet’s decisions leads them farther and farther apart. Firstly, after Capulet’s ball, Tybalt fights Murcutio and Romeo decides to intervene in the fight. This leads to Tybalt stabbing Murcutio and Romeo taking revenge by killing Tybalt. After this incident, the Prince declares “Let Romeo hence in haste, / Else when he is found, that hour is his last” (3.1.204-205). This incident turns the plot of the whole story because it tears Romeo and Juliet’s dreams apart. On the other hand, after hours of grieving for Romeo, Juliet asks the Friar to clean up her…
Throughout history, the concept of fate has been a common theme among works of literature and man's thought in general. Does he have the ability to choose his path through life, or is his destiny laid out before him? This question takes on new meaning in modern society, as people try to make their own choices while conforming to the structure of society and its norms. While society, with its customs and laws, seems to limit a person's freedom, the person is still essentially free to make their own choices.…
Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story of two young lovers doomed from the beginning. In this tragic tale, the parents of the two teenagers are usually assumed to be the most at fault for what occurred within those few days. Many people believe that the kids were innocent victims in the whole situation, and none of those events would have occurred if the parents wouldn’t have been so idiotic and made such hasty decisions. These people most often can agree that the leaders of the Montague and Capulet families are the only ones left to punish in this situation. After all, they were the ones who put everyone in this situation. The parents do deserve a lot of blame, but they are not the only ones who deserve it, and the kids were not mere innocent…
Modern day society promotes individualism and self-responsibility. Yet somehow, fate exists as an intrinsic part of many people’s lives. This paradox in mindset shows how logical reasoning, common sense, and science bow down for the supernatural force that guides one through life, fate, for better or worse. Such is seen clearly in the dialogue and actions of the characters in Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare. Taking place in 14th century Verona, Romeo and Juliet describes the tragedy that ensues when two feuding families’ children fall in love, but fate ensures both of their suicides. The villainous acts of fate prove that fate makes one helpless against decisions in life, belief in fate becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and…
When being interviewed Brazilian, novelist and lyricist, Paulo Coelho claimed, “I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfil our destiny, but our fate is sealed”. In today's society, many people are conflicted on whether events in one’s lives are driven by one's choices or are simply meant to be. Coelho believes that both free will and fate play a role in one’s life, he says that one has the power to make certain choices, but in the end it all comes down to fate. The concept of fate versus free will can be seen in the fictional pieces, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, “Pyramus…
There has been debate on whether Romeo and juliet's lives ended because fate or personal choices. In the play Romeo and Juliet both romeo and Juliet went through complicated situations. Romeo and some friends crashed a party they weren’t invited to. This is when Romeo and Juliet first met each other. Shortly later the two maid plans to go get married. Personal choices have greater impact on the characters than fate.…
Through the symbol of the wind as a microcosm for the natural world and Ahab’s interaction with the wind, Herman Melville argues that human will will never been able to subvert the natural world long term, and short term attempts will be at the cost of the individual. Throughout Moby Dick, Melville characterizes Ahab as ambitious and charismatic, a leader who constantly internally and externally compares himself to a god. The wind acts as a symbol, an object that represents a greater intangible motif, for the natural world. Through Ahab’s monologue about his interactions with the wind, his own helplessness within the natural world becomes evident. Ahab begins by stating “Were [he] the wind, [he]’d blow no more on such a wicked, miserable world” (Melville, 337),…
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a tragic tale of love and hate. The story ends in conflict and controversy because of their families and other outside forces in which fate was a factor. The "Star Crossed Lovers" death was caused by free will and blinding love, this was a significant turning point in the book because Romeo was banished. As the story goes on characters such as Tybalt and Mercutio set off a spin of events eventually ending in the death of the beloved Romeo and Juliet.…
For centuries, there has been lots debate on whether or not there is such thing as fate or free will. To this day, people are trying to decide if one’s life is already laid out for him/her and that if no matter what he/she does that it will still unfold in a preset way, in which that they cannot change, or if one has free will and the ability to completely change his/her life. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, is not doomed by fate, but by free will. In particular, Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrates that it is not fate that determines one's life as it is one's flaws and choices. This is illustrated through Macbeth himself, who, first, makes the choice of not listening to his conscience, which continuously makes…
Capulet’s ball is entirely in the hands of destiny. By chance, a young knave of the…
For centuries, it has been human nature to strive for freedom. We struggle to create our own futures, regardless of our presumed fate. Songwriters, artists and even play writes constantly include stories of free will and destiny. Sophocles, a famous Greek playwright, beautifully includes fate and free will as themes in his plays Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. This motif is so abundant in Greek literature because oftentimes characters try to avoid an oracle that they don’t want to accept to be true; this opens up an opportunity for human nature to fight fate, which is what Sophocles sets the basis for his plays. Although each character’s fate is chosen for them, they try to fight their destiny because they want a brighter future.…
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo” (Shakespeare 5.3.314-315). In the final lines of the play, the Prince says that the story of Romeo and Juliet will always be the most somber story there is, but it did not have to be that way. In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, six people died of differing causes. However, these could have been prevented if more freedom had been allotted to the characters of the play. This is one of the subthemes of the play, that giving people freedom and having open minds can stop violence and death. The six deaths in the play could all have been prevented if Romeo and Juliet were able to marry each other. If Romeo and Juliet had been allowed to pick who they wanted to marry,…
William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Hamlet: Prince of Denmark’ remains one of the most celebrated, influential texts in world history, holding continuing relevance and significance throughout history due to its detailed, multi-faceted elucidation and exploration of many core facets of human existence; such as revenge, loyalty, truth, mortality, and power. As he alludes to in Act 3, Scene 2, Shakespeare uses the play to “hold, as ‘twere’, the mirror up to nature”, and display a paradigm and example of the complexity of humanity. Above all, however, Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ exemplifies the complexity and uncertainity surrounding the extent to which humans can exercise free will upon their own lives. Through this, Shakespeare explores…
People used to be very superstitious. They used to believe that their lives were determined by the stars, or destiny. In “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare makes multiple references to the stars. They don’t make any references to destiny in “Pyramus and Thisbe”. Destiny, however, does not exist. This essay will analyze both “Romeo and Juliet” and “Pyramus and Thisbe” to show how the ending of these two stories was simply the outcome of bad decisions from both characters.…