“Let us sit and mock the good housewife
Fortune from her wheel that her gifts may
henceforth be bestowed equally.”
(Act I Scene 2: As You Like It)
“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.”
(Act 1 Scene 2: Julius Caesar)
One cannot say whether Shakespeare wrote these lines objectively or distilled them from his life’s experiences, but one can guess that Shakespeare pondered about fate on more than one occasion. Which of the two viewpoints did he subscribe? Or was he confused about fate as is made clear by his greatly contrasting points of views I’ve quoted above?
If a genius of Shakespeare’s stature couldn’t arrive at a conclusion about fate, what can we mere mortals do?
I suppose each one of us has an interesting opinion about whether fate shapes our lives or if we are independent of any external influences. Our opinions are built on our circumstances, social status and times we live in.
The ancient Greeks were gravely fatalistic. In Greek mythology, the Fates were three sisters: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. A man’s life depended on their whims. They had the shears with which the thread of life was cut. Clotho spurn the yarn, Lachesis drew the lots and Atropos severed the thread of life. Although Gita, a holy text of the Hindus, lays stress on karma (actions) more than any other thing, Hindus are utterly superstitious and fatalistic group.
I believe certain things cannot be altered in our lives. We cannot choose to be born at a certain place at a time we like; we cannot choose to die in the way we like. Such things are predestined. However, we have free will to fashion out the interval between birth and death.
