Fate vs Freewill
Humans are naturally inclined towards placing the blame of their mistakes on someone else’s shoulders. However, when it becomes apparent that they alone must take responsibility for their actions, they turn to accuse fate. It is the concept that every milestone in your life has been predetermined by a higher power. On the contrary, there is the notion of free-will; the idea that you have the ability to control your own life, and the circumstances that you face are a result of certain decisions you made. Fate versus free will is a recurring theme found in William Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet. The text explores how when an individual makes impulsive decisions, they often face obstacles, and as a result may seek …show more content…
Juliet can be held accountable for both her and Romeo’s downfall. Her care-free attitude led to poor choices which held detrimental consequences. Instead of Juliet owning up to her impulsive behaviour, she opted to believing her and Romeo were ill-fated. In fact, Juliet acknowledged her and Romeo’s unfortunate relationship right after they shared their first kiss. She says the following quote to her personal nurse. “My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown, and known too late. Prodigious birth of love it is to me that I must love a loathed enemy.” (I. v. 146-147) We can infer through Juliet’s usage of the word luck that she was addressing her ill-fate of falling in love with her enemy’s son. After this piece of information was revealed, she could have chosen to stop their relationship, but decided to pursue Romeo as her love interest. Realizing she did not think their marriage through, she resorts to prayers as seen through the following quote. “For I have need of many orisons to move the heavens to smile upon my state, which, well thou, knowest, is cross and full of sin.” (IV. iii. 3-5) Juliet believes that through pursuing holy acts, she can please god who will take pity on her star-crossed romance. Blaming fate for her circumstances makes her feel better about acting rashly. If Juliet took responsibility for her mistakes, perhaps …show more content…
There have been too many occasions where I blamed fate for my actions, when I should have owned up to them. Just recently, I had an altercation with my best friend over my secretive behaviour. She was worried over the fact that we were always fighting, and how she did not want our dynamic to transform into a toxic relationship. Instead of agreeing, I blamed our fights on fate, claiming that maybe we weren’t destined to be friends. She got quite upset about this, and she told me she wished I would just own up to my mistakes. Needless to say we didn’t speak for months. Finally, I gained the courage to apologize and let her know that my reserved behaviour was probably due to the lack of friends growing up, and that sharing my experiences was a foreign concept to me. This experience taught me my actions triggered these problems, not my destiny. If I had just accepted the fact that some aspects of our friendship were problematic, perhaps we could have resolved our problems and I would not have faced those lonely months without her. So while fate can be a very comforting theory, I have learned it should not be used as an excuse for your mistakes, as dilemmas will
Humans are naturally inclined towards placing the blame of their mistakes on someone else’s shoulders. However, when it becomes apparent that they alone must take responsibility for their actions, they turn to accuse fate. It is the concept that every milestone in your life has been predetermined by a higher power. On the contrary, there is the notion of free-will; the idea that you have the ability to control your own life, and the circumstances that you face are a result of certain decisions you made. Fate versus free will is a recurring theme found in William Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet. The text explores how when an individual makes impulsive decisions, they often face obstacles, and as a result may seek …show more content…
Juliet can be held accountable for both her and Romeo’s downfall. Her care-free attitude led to poor choices which held detrimental consequences. Instead of Juliet owning up to her impulsive behaviour, she opted to believing her and Romeo were ill-fated. In fact, Juliet acknowledged her and Romeo’s unfortunate relationship right after they shared their first kiss. She says the following quote to her personal nurse. “My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown, and known too late. Prodigious birth of love it is to me that I must love a loathed enemy.” (I. v. 146-147) We can infer through Juliet’s usage of the word luck that she was addressing her ill-fate of falling in love with her enemy’s son. After this piece of information was revealed, she could have chosen to stop their relationship, but decided to pursue Romeo as her love interest. Realizing she did not think their marriage through, she resorts to prayers as seen through the following quote. “For I have need of many orisons to move the heavens to smile upon my state, which, well thou, knowest, is cross and full of sin.” (IV. iii. 3-5) Juliet believes that through pursuing holy acts, she can please god who will take pity on her star-crossed romance. Blaming fate for her circumstances makes her feel better about acting rashly. If Juliet took responsibility for her mistakes, perhaps …show more content…
There have been too many occasions where I blamed fate for my actions, when I should have owned up to them. Just recently, I had an altercation with my best friend over my secretive behaviour. She was worried over the fact that we were always fighting, and how she did not want our dynamic to transform into a toxic relationship. Instead of agreeing, I blamed our fights on fate, claiming that maybe we weren’t destined to be friends. She got quite upset about this, and she told me she wished I would just own up to my mistakes. Needless to say we didn’t speak for months. Finally, I gained the courage to apologize and let her know that my reserved behaviour was probably due to the lack of friends growing up, and that sharing my experiences was a foreign concept to me. This experience taught me my actions triggered these problems, not my destiny. If I had just accepted the fact that some aspects of our friendship were problematic, perhaps we could have resolved our problems and I would not have faced those lonely months without her. So while fate can be a very comforting theory, I have learned it should not be used as an excuse for your mistakes, as dilemmas will