When I was going through a tough time in my life when my parents divorced, I became a fairly spiritual person. With the help of various supporters, I learned to accept the drastic life changes that were occurring and that they were happening for a reason. I grew to know that this was a part of God's plan for me; He was teaching me early on that life isn't easy.
With that being said, I believe that the events in my life are in accordance to God's plan for me. However, I also think that I am in control of my actions. I am the one who decides how to handle each situation that I come across. As an example, I was the one who made decisions about how to split time between my parents during that difficult time.
Even though I believe in God's "fate," or plan, Shakespeare did not; it can be seen through his play, Macbeth, that he believed that people are in complete control of their actions. Through this text, Shakespeare demonstrates his view that fate plays little to no role in life events. He argues through the character of Macbeth that actions are choices that have substantial effects on the future.
When Macbeth receives the prophecy from the three witches, his actions, not fate, determine the rest of the play, as Shakespeare and I would agree. It is not fate that drives Macbeth to kill Duncan. Instead, the murder is a power-hungry decision that he made to fulfill the prophecy. (Of course, he couldn't have done it without the assistance of Lady Macbeth, whose persuasive tactics vary from mockery to encouragement).
However, the final decision to kill Duncan was utterly in the hands of Macbeth. Once that action was complete, there was no turning back, as indicated when he states, "We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it," in Act III Scene II. By saying this, Macbeth declares that there is more that he needs to do to fulfill the prophecy, such as order the murders of Banquo and Fleance in the previous scene of Act III.
As can be seen through these examples from the text, Macbeth's actions are not driven by fate, but by his desire for success and power. He makes things (mainly murder of people who are in the way of his prophecy) happen himself, without the contribution of a higher power to assist him.
Macbeth will DO anything for his 15 minutes of fame... and can you imagine Miley's actions driven by fate? C'mon- she is in complete control of her (questionable) actions.
http://memecrunch.com/meme/SXOA/macbeth-meme/image.jpg?w=586&c=1
Great job Anna Claire! I believe that there is a plan for my life (fate) as well, and I also believe that I am in full control of my actions. But it is interesting to thing how fate and actions (people's choices) go together. Are humans given the illusion of "choices" since everything that happens in our life is all apart of the "plan"? I wonder if it is possible to change fate and the overall plan for my life. Is fate permanent?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this. It's very cool to think that what guides one person's life could be completely different from what guides someone else's. Personally I am one to believe that my life is guided by a mixture of both fate and choice, but it's interesting to think about the extent to which these two driving forces are able to work together. I think we could argue the Macbeth is also guided by fate in a sense, because he IS constantly trying to fulfill the prophecy (his fate), even though he does so by choosing his own course of action. I find it hard to pick just one, but I really like the points you made - great job on this!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about our lives being driven by both fate and our own choices. There are some situations that we will be placed in that we have to choice over but we can control how we let these situations affect us and how we react to these situations. I was talking to Emiliano and Ines about moving to the U.S. and they said that at first they didn't like it but they decided they had to make the best of the situation at hand. I had that same kind of feeling when I moved from Durham to Raleigh (although not on as big a scale). I think that our situations are already decided but what we make of them is our choice.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you really opened up in this blog post and talked about your parents divorce. It is not an easy topic. I agree with you on how God has a plan for us. Sometimes that plan seems crazy at times and we don't understand why things are happening. I also agree with your statements about how we control our actions. I have always had a big emphasis in my life on personal accountability. You have control of what you do and you have to be accountable for those actions. Again thanks for being open in this blog post because it made for an enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote my blog on this topic and definitely agree with you that God has control in the paths we take. With this in mind, it's difficult to pick just fate or chance. Personally, I believe fate guides us but it was really interesting to read about your feelings with blending the two. Great analysis AC! (:
ReplyDeleteHey Anna Claire! I really enjoyed reading this post. I admire you including your story about the divorce, and how you explained it's connection to fate. I also agree that God does have some kind of plan for us but that it is our choices that create the effects of the plan. Also for in Macbeth, I believe that's what happened there too; that Macbeth's fate was for him to be King but his choice was how he was going to get there. Thank you for sharing, you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteHey AC!!! I totally agree with your analysis of Macbeth's fate vs action debate! I think that your argument can be taken a step further when assessing the necessity of killing Banquo. His death was not necessary for the witches' prophecy; however, Macbeth himself decides to kill Banquo. His actions are cause, not the prophecy. Overall, great analysis and blog post!!!
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