Perception, or the lack thereof, plays an overwhelmingly large part in forming characters’ decisions in Shakespeare’s Othello, Hamlet, and Macbeth. Misperception is born from careful manipulation of the protagonist’s pre-existing flaws, or their tragic flaws. The decisions evolving from misperception cause their downfalls. Though just a children’s series, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter contains many of the same elements of a Shakespearean tragedy and can be read in the context of this genre. In both these authors’ works, the argument of fate versus free will is called into question. I argue that it is the character’s decisions that create the situations that many have read as fate.
About the presenterMary S. Edward
I’m 20 years old, currently a senior in college, and I love to explore new ideas, places,and things! Literature has always been and will always be a big part of my life.