Fate and How It Is Shown in Four Classic Novels

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Fate
In the end God ultimately decides ones fate, but one can influence His choice throughout their life. The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, as well as the books The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, Divine Comedy by Dante, and Oresteia by Aeschylus all talk about justice and fate. These stories show how even though God will decide what happens to someone at the end, the actions one does is how God bases his decision. One’s fate is determined based on what God and the law think is just. Human beings have free will and know what is right and wrong. Depending on what ones actions are they will have a good or a bad fate. Changing your ways to better fulfill Gods will is something that humans can do at any time. While it is true that God will determine what happens to people and what their final fate is, human beings do have control over their fate.
In the play Macbeth, Macbeth hears a prophecy from the three witches telling him he will be king. After hearing the prophecy Macbeth said, [Aside] “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir,” (1.4.146). At first Macbeth was planning on just waiting until he was crowned king by chance, he was not going to intervene at all. This shows how humans have control over their fate. He could have just waited until he naturally became king which would have made God happier. Later in the play though, Macbeth hears news that Malcolm has been crowned the Prince of Cumberland. After hearing this Macbeth says, “[Aside] The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done...

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...ate. This is shown in the books The Prince, Macbeth, The Oresteia, and The Divine Comedy. God is the one who decides what happens to someone during their life, but humans can influence his decision and ultimately decide their own fate. In Macbeth and The Oresteia, Agamemnon and Macbeth are both given prophecies. Agamemnon was given a choice on sacrificing his daughter or not and Macbeth had the choice to either let chance happen or take matters into his own hands. These books show that human beings do in fact have control over their fate. Sometimes in these books they blame the Gods or other people and say that they made them do it. Since human beings have free will this is not a viable excuse. People can react to things however they want. Therefore, even though God may decide what happens to you, human beings control their fate by the actions they choose in life.

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