The interrelationship of fate and free will in Shakespearean tragedy

Abstract

The plays of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) have been the subject of endless studies. Character development, dramatic techniques, sources, language, imagery, aesthetic development, profundity of thought, classical, biblical and other influences, Christian or non-Christian attitudes and references in Shakespeare's works, are only a few of the subjects which have been examined and re-examined. The request of Shakespeare's first editors, "Reade him, therefore; and againe, and againe", has been fully carried out, indeed much more than they could have possibly expected. One of the best proofs of the greatness and universality of Shakespeare's genius is that his works provide an extremely complex field for all these studies. As soon as a student begins to study an aspect of Shakespeare's thought in any one play, the result is generally so encouraging that he is tempted to see what Shakespeare said in the other plays. Then he will probably realize the complexity and versatility of Shakespeare's thought even from that single aspect which he happened to choose. Spurgeen's marvellous study, Shakespeare's Imagery and What It Tells Us, is an excellent illustration of this.