Macbeth and Oediups Rex are great tragedies from two very different time periods. Even though such different writers wrote them, and in such different times, the similarities that exist between the two are remarkable. Shakespeare and Sophocles both understood exactly what it took to write great tragedy. By comparing how fate plays a part in each play, it is better seen that perhaps Sophocles and Shakespeare were on similar wavelengths. Are the tragic heroes of each play doomed to live out their fate or is there an element of free will that causes each of their downfalls. Surely, it may be a little of both.
Oedipus tells the story of a young boy named Oedipus, who, when he was born, was given up to be adopted by his mother and father. Later when Oedipus was growing up, he asked his adopted parents who his mother and father really were. When he was told that they were a King and Queen in a far off country, Oedipus decided to go look for them. He started by crossing the desert but when he met a man in the desert he got in a fight with him and killed the man. He finally reached a new country and found out that their King had been tragically killed. Oedipus went to the queen and she immediately asked Oedipus to marry her, for he was young and handsome. Later Oedipus found out that the woman he had married was his mother and the man that he had killed was his father.
William Shakespeare's Macbeth follows a similar suit as he shows how the witches' prophecies, Lady Macbeth's desire for power, and Macbeth's yearning to be king, affect the fate of the play. In Act I, the witches' chant show how Shakespeare gives the fate of Macbeth, "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," "that shalt be King hereafter" (Macbeth, Act 1 scene 3, lines 48-50). He has no other choice, but to believe them because there first two predictions were true. They call him the Thane of Glamis, which he is at the present time. Then they call him Thane of Cawdor, which he finds out shortly after that he is the new Thane of Cawdor. Lastly they call him King hereafter, which he realizes is his fate. Macbeth sees this fate in his eyes to be very unlikely and almost impossible because of the current circumstances. His reaction to the witches is "stands not within the prospect of belief"(Act 1 scene 3, line 74), which tells the reader that the witches' prophecies are a far reach from reality. Macbeth begins to think if he ever had the chance to become king that it would be a great honor that he would accept, "If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me"(Act 1 scene 3, line 143). The prophecy of Banquo's son having power in the future effects the actions of Macbeth later in the play too. The thought that Banquo's child might take over the thrown from Macbeth makes him feel the need to get rid of him. Fleance, Banquo's son, gets scared as his father is being killed and flees, "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!"(Act3 scene 3, line 18). After his talk with the witches Macbeth starts to think about their predictions, and how he will have to kill the king. This frightens Macbeth to think about killing his great king, so he decides to let fate lead him into the future.
Oedipus believed that the prophesies of Apollo may full well come true and in an effort to outfox fate, he fled his home and vowed to never let the prophecy come to pass. In doing so, he played right into the hands of Apollo and set off a chain of events that would eventually lead to the prophecy being fulfilled. But was it fate that led Oedipus to commit these horrid acts or was it Oedipus' own strong will and determination to prove it wrong that caused his downfall? Could it be Oedipus' own bullishness that led to his imminent demise? Could it have been Oedipus' ego that forced him to kill his father, then a stranger, on the road?
Lady Macbeth actions play a huge role in the fate of play by pushing him into killing the king. The instant she reads the letter from her husband that explains the prophecies Lady Macbeth wants to make her husband kill the king, "to catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great"(Act 1 scene...
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