Oedipus Research Paper

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“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds” says former President Franklin Roosevelt. In short, people have the opportunity to make the best of their situations but unless they strive for their goals, they cannot. There are many instances where choice is paramount. For example, one studies to pass exams. One works to make money. One sleeps early to stay healthy. All of these are choices that one makes to improve one’s lifestyle. While one can make choices to an extent, it is shortsighted to ignore the effect that fate employs on an individual’s life. As humans, fate is something that many believe in, partially due to the idea that literature, culture, and religion tend to emphasize the importance of fate and …show more content…
One prominent literary example would be “Oedipus the King”. In this play, Oedipus fulfils his prophecy that Teiresias said “This day will bring your birth and your destruction”, foreshadowing Oedipus’ birth revelations, marriage of his mother, and killing of his father. No matter how persistent Oedipus was in attempting to avoid his fate, it would be of no use. In fact, Oedipus moved to Thebes solely to avoid his prophecy, but instead met his father, Laius at a crossroads, killing him. In addition, because Laius’ wife was now a widow, Oedipus married his own mother. This emphasizes the idea that sometimes even in situations where it seems as if an individual has complete control, but in reality that situation is dictated in part by fate and chance. Another example of literature with a theme of fate, would be the play “Othello”. In this play, Othello gets married to the daughter of Brabantio, with the antagonist, Iago, wanting to take revenge on Othello for taking the role of general, while Iago remained a lower ranking soldier. Due to fate, Othello was born of nobility, which allowed him to climb the military ladder, and in addition, he was black, which made him less of a man in the eyes of a few. One example being Iago, who states “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”, to convince Brabantio that Othello is an unsuitable husband for Desdemona, Brabantio’s daughter. …show more content…
Fate can have a very negative effect if an individual only believes in it and not free will as well. Because fate is predetermined, one can get carried away with this notion, and believe that everything is predetermined and that would lead to major disruptions to their destiny. Those who believe only in fate will suffer from a lower level of motivation and a lower level of seriousness. As a result of this, the work and accomplishments that could have occurred, might not, because the individual did not believe that their actions and choices had any effect on their
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