Fate and Free Will in Shakespeare’s Tragedies

“There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow”

There is a lot of talk about the stars in Shakespeare’s plays. My favourite mention of them is in Julius Caesar — a play I never had the opportunity of reading in my studies, but whose words set the framework for one of my final papers. The quote spoken by Cassius, “The fault, Dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings”, sparks inquisitiveness within the human psyche: do we have free will or are we subjected to a preordained fate?

In William Shakespeare’s plays, the notion of fate is explored through the characters that push against it. This is especially ubiquitous in his tragedies, as we see characters that are representative of a fortuneteller in their allusions to the future, and tragic heroes who simply ignore their predictions.

We see this phenomenon in Antony and Cleopatra through Antony and Caesar, who attempt to mend their relationship despite the soothsayer’s incessant reminder that Antony’s fortune will always pale in Caesar’s presence. We see it in King Lear, where Lear spirals into madness, a result of ignoring the Fool who points out his and his daughters’ inherent faults.

We hear the fortunetellers predictions of demise, and watch the heroes’ blatant ignorance lead them to their death. It seems as though their choice to disregard the figures of fortune is what ushers them to their ultimate death, but could it have already been written?

Antony and Caesar choose to try to restore their friendship throughout the play, but it always falters. King Lear wants to believe his daughters love him, but their inherent evils always shine through. No matter how hard they push against their fate, it overwhelms and engulfs any of their desires to change it. Thus, Shakespeare uses his plays as a medium to exercise his perspective on fate: that life’s course is predetermined, but humans are free to act in an attempt to change it.

Shakespeare’s perspective on fate becomes especially lucid in Hamlet. Before the final fight between Laertes and Hamlet, Hamlet reassures his friend Horatio who is skeptical about the risk of the match:

“Not a whit. We defy augury. There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come — the readiness is all. Since not man of aught he leaves knows, what is ‘t to leave betimes? Let be.”

— Hamlet 5.2

The line “There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow” suggests the influence of a divine power on human affairs. It’s reflected in all the tragedies I’ve read — specifically through the soothsayer in Antony and Cleopatra and the Fool in King Lear. His tragic heroes are impotent against the workings of fate.

Shakespeare’s plays have always been a humanist endeavour. Although fate is a notion humans may never understand, Shakespeare’s tragedies offer a convincing perspective on the workings of fate against free will. It is in our nature to resist what’s meant to be if it doesn’t work in our favour, but through his tragedies, Shakespeare shows us the way a human life is performed is left to the stars.