Sunday, November 23, 2014
Fate or Free Will?
Do you believe events in your life have been guided by fate or chance? Why or why not? Based on the text, what do you think Shakespeare's attitude was towards fate? Does Macbeth have any choice in his actions or was everything predetermined? Use examples from the text as your support.
No, there is no such thing as fate. The theory of fate would
suggest that every human being is living a scripted life that we cannot change.
That notion is not correct or logical. As humans, we all have free will and
full ability to control our lives as well as the lives of others. God has given
us brains that help us work through our own problems that may arise along the
way. Many people who believe in fate base it off of coincidences that they have
encounter. They say that these are so large, that they could not merely be
coincidences; however, when we are alive for such a long time, we are bound to
encounter coincidences based on pure chance and nothing more. With fate, there
is no purpose to live. If anything (or everything) is predetermined in life, what's
the point of living? Life is a chaotic journey in uncharted lands were everyone
experiences it differently, that's what makes it worth doing, it's something
personal and intimate.
Shakespeare would probably not believe fate guided the
actions of Macbeth. There is no clear evidence in the play that fate decided
that Macbeth was going to become a murderer and a traitor. They were all based
on his own choices and actions. He was weak, of course, and his ability to
carry out the murders of King Duncan and the others that followed were not
necessarily started by the witches, but by Lady Macbeth herself. Although
Macbeth is told he will become king, he is not told how to achieve the position
of king: that much is up to him. We cannot blame him for becoming king (it is
his Destiny), but we can blame him for the way in which he chooses to get there
(by his own free will).
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