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Julius Caesar Fate V Free Wil

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Fate vs. Free Will in Julius Caesar The play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a timeless piece that highlights themes of one’s integrity and destiny. Scenes three and five in the final act are very significant because they truly reveal the fate and virtue of Cassius and Brutus. Both characters committed suicide in these scenes, but the way they each did it exposed their morals. Without the use of dramatic effect, the play would not have been as effective in developing its major concepts. Julius Caesar consistently provoked the question of whether fate or free will controls our lives. Ultimately the plot determined that fate and free will do not work individually, but in conjunction. In Act 5 Scene 3 after Cassius sends Titinius off to discover whose tents have been set on fire and Pindarus to watch uphill he declares,” This day I breathed first. Time is come round, / And where I did begin, there shall I end. / My life is run his compass.” (5.3.24-26). Cassius expresses that he will die on his birthday because his life has made a complete circle. Here the reader may infer that Cassius is just listening to his inner wisdom that he will die today. However, Cassius took it upon himself to ask Pindarus to stab him with his sword after being misinformed that Titinius has been captured by their opposing force. His actions are a complete contradiction because initially Cassius believed he was going to die because of his fate, but then committed suicide which is an act of free will. Cassius’ decision shows that he is a coward because he was too afraid to be killed the opposing army.
In Act 5 Scene 5 Brutus asked his old friend Volumnius to assist him in his suicide by holding his sword so he can run directly into it. Brutus reveals to his soldiers that he has seen the ghost of Caesar twice in his dreams and is considering it an omen. Brutus

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