The idea of fate vs free will has been argued for centuries.William Shakespeare, in Romeo and Juliet, references this idea multiple times though out the story. Although fate seems to control what happens to Romeo and Juliet their choices contribute more to their fate Romeo always blames his own reckless actions on fate. Romeo is warned not to go to the masquerade party but tells fate to “steerage of [his] course” and “direct [his] sail” and goes anyway. Romeo knows himself that he will die if he goes but still chooses to go. Romeo decides that whatever happens is up to fate and it’s completely out of his control.
Hamlet: Often, a person procrastinates when it comes to a conflict because of fear of the possible outcomes. In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the idea of procrastination results in disaster. The author demonstrates Hamlet's failure to act through the many deplorable scenes within the play. Ultimately, Hamlet is a tragic hero and his failure to act out is what makes him a tragedy. Hamlet pursues his failures by holding off his intentions to kill Claudius, unsuccessfully claiming his love for Ophelia, and the accidental murder of Polonius.
Hamlet derives a plan to have actors re-enact the death of his father as told to him by the ghost. He watches Claudius during the play, and knows from the way Claudius behaves that he did indeed kill his father. He wants to kill Claudius, but puts it off several times. He knows that it is a sin and against the law to kill out of revenge. He also sees Claudius praying for forgiveness, but wouldn’t kill him because he wouldn’t ascend to heaven.
In my opinion I think that fate is the most dominant worldview. In this essay I will describe why I think why fate is dominant. There are many examples that show how the fate worldview is present. One of them is where Laius goes to a place to hear his prophecy and he was told that his son was going to kill him, and even though he abandoned his son on the top of a mountain, without knowing his son did kill him and married jocoausta his mother. That was another example of how fate is present because the oracle also said that Oedipus was going to marry his mother.
The last major effect the plague had on the plot was when Friar Lawrence sent a letter to Romeo explaining Juliet’s fake death and his plan via Friar John. On his way to Romeo, Friar John had to be quarantined after meeting with people who were infected with the plague. This meant that the letter never got to Romeo, who instead heard the inaccurate news of Juliet’s death through someone else, which ultimately led to his and Juliet’s death. In the 1300s, people believed that the positions of stars and planets affected their lives. This was also known as fate.
“However, even before a name had been given to the infant, Apollo’s oracle foretold nothing but ill: he was destined one day to kill his father and then to become his mother’s husband. (Gee 194)” It just so happened that fate intervened once more. “When Oedipus became a young man he heard a rumour that he had been adopted … he therefore went to Delphi and asked the ministers of Apollo who his true parents where, but all he was told was that he would kill his father and marry his mother. (Gee 194)” Oedipus, thinking that the king and queen of Corinth are his parents, leaves in attempt to escape that destiny, to no avail. By leaving, he left behind his parents, family members and friends.
Hamlet also knew that he could not go around telling people that Claudius killed his father just because a ghost told him so. Therefore, instead Hamlet masterminded a plan that made the King, Claudius, show his guilt and then he would have proof that Claudius did in fact kill his father. Hamlet's obsession with his mother's remarriage to his uncle contributes to his insanity. In numerous occasions, Hamlet will make a comment about the little time that it took for his mother to move into his uncle's bed. Sarcastically, Hamlet states, "What should a man do but be merry?
A Tragic hero is some literary character who makes an error of judment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces brings on a tragedy. Oedipus’s tragic flaw was his intelligence paired with arrogance and metaphorical blindness that leads to his destruction when it drives him to search for the truth. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is when he tries to avenge his father he hesitates in his actions and his thirst for revenge. Othello’s tragic flaw is his gullibility and jealously. Willie’s tragic flaw was he doesn’t know from reality from fantasy.
I). "Et tu, Brute!" Quote (Act III, Scene I). "Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings". - (Quote Act I, Scene II).
The ghost informed Hamlet that he had been killed by Sir King Claudius and that Claudius was, in fact, Hamlet's uncle. From there, the ghost only asked for one thing and one thing only, and all the deceased king requested was revenge from his son. Taking in all this information, wanting to avenge his father's death, and wanting to do as his father asks causes Hamlet to do many crazy things, including pretending to have lost his sanity. This causes many deaths in the story during Hamlet's journey to revenge. One of which was Polonious, who was stabbed by Hamlet during Hamlets rant to his mother.