Fate In Julius Caesar Research Paper

In the book Julius Caesar, the word fate is used quite often. Shakespeare uses fate to make the characters question themselves, is fate in our control? Many people conclude that fate is predestined, but Shakespeare raises the question, do we decide our own fate, or is it out of our reach? Fate is surely not predestined. We make our own choices, which means we choose our fate.

William Shakespeare creates many situations where a character has to make a decision that can impact the outcome of the future, like the death of Caesar. Caesar is warned about the threat to his life in the near future by the Soothsayer, but he arrogantly replies with “He is a dreamer, Let us leave him. Pass”(1.2.28-29). Caesar had the chance to save himself but he refuses to take the chance. He is deciding his own fate, by refusing to listen to the Soothsayer’s advice. This situation is a good example of fate not being predestined, but decided by the decisions a character makes. Not only that, but when Brutus decided to join the conspiracy,

While trying to convince Brutus to join the conspiracy, Cassius says to him, “Men at some times are the masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” (1.2.146-148). Brutus had to make his decisions on possibilities. Caesar might become too powerful. Caesar could forget the people who helped him to gain power. He assumed that something would go wrong if he doesn’t assassinate Caesar. In other words, Brutus takes fate into his own hands and goes forward to kill Caesar without any proof that he would go power-hungry and forget about the people. He followed the advice of Cassius, “men are masters of their own fate”. Once again it all ties up to the point of Caesar’s death. Brutus was motivated to decide his own fate and stepped up, but if he was still in the mindset that fate is already decided the outcome would have been