Comparative Essay Sample: Romeo and Juliet vs. Pyramus and Thisbe

Hundreds of names have been written into history books for fighting for freedom. However, did thousands of years of fighting ever really give society freedom? In the physical world, freedom may be attainable, but metaphysically, fate controls one's destiny. Two popular stories; William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, and “Pyramus and Thisbe” by Ovid, both show that one's destiny is determined by fate. Romeo, Juliet, Pyramus, and Thisbe, were all individuals whose actions were influenced by fate, leading them to their untimely deaths. One can assume that their destiny is determined by fate because of reductionism and the fact that the choices one makes are caused by a physical state which has already been identified as deterministic.  

Everything is interconnected, and one thing that happens is caused by another, similar to the Circle of Life. This is an element of reductionism, where something that has happened can be reduced back to a singular thing. Reductionism can be applied to Ovid’s; Pyramus and Thisbe. The death of the two main characters was caused by the long chain of mistakes and events that took place at the very beginning. The whole tragedy took place because Thisbe had accidentally left her cloak when she was running away from the lioness; “This is what Pyramus saw when he appeared a few moments later. Before he lay the bloodstained shreds of the cloak and clear in the dust were the tracks of the lioness” (Ovid). Had Thisbe not left her cloak, it would have never been torn up and bloodied, and then left there for Pyramus to find. All of these events came together to create the misfortune that motivated Pyramus to commit suicide.  

Determinism can be backed by numerous sciences, such as biology and psychology. Choices are made, but some factors happen inside of one's mind, which is biological and physical. These factors influence the decisions that you make. One's brain does several things that influence the decisions that one makes and that is a brain state, which is then a biological state. A biological state is considered physical, and physical states are deterministic (Crash Course). Countless stories, myths, and legends, all tell tales about fate and how they determined the lives of the main characters. Even in the real world, fate continues to define one's destiny. While the idea of having free will is comforting, biology and psychology both support the idea of determinism. 

Libertarians would argue that one could have the free will to choose their destiny. For example, in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, one could argue that Romeo and Juliet chose to marry each other, regardless of the troubles they knew they would face because of their families; “If that thy bent of love be honorable/ Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow” (Shakespeare). Romeo did indeed send Juliet word that he wanted to marry her and went to the utmost lengths to make it happen. This made them make a choice, the very foundation of free will, and therefore kickstarting the main plot of the story. This whole event of them choosing to be married to each other could have been because of agent causation, and fate did not pertain to the matter. Juliet chose to ask Romeo to marry her out of the love she held for him (or because he was handsome), and he said yes, out of the love he held for her.  However, the whole event of them being able to find each other, to confess was propelled by fate, or rather event causation. There was a multitude of events that caused Romeo and Juliet to confess and marry each other; “Shall I hear more, or shall I speak of this' ' Romeo accidentally stumbling upon Juliet’s balcony in Capulet's Orchard allowed him to find out that she loved him back. This is most certainly an act of fate. The only reason he was able to confess his love was because of their destinies. Event causation was responsible for the love of Juliet and Romeo. Not to mention, fate caused Romeo to meet Juliet right after he was heartbroken and desperate for love, making him much more vulnerable. Furthermore, Juliet was a very beautiful woman, so even if he didn’t love Juliet, he would still have a beautiful handmaiden at his side. He was immediately offered a replacement for the hole he was experiencing in his life because of Rosaline. While one might say that Romeo and Juliet are prime examples of how one can beat fate with free will, their whole decisions were influenced by aspects in their life that CAUSED them to make those decisions. Agent causation means that Romeo and Juliet simply decided to marry each other. One could question what prompted them to do so, and by finding out what the motive was, one is reinforcing that their decision was caused by something, rather than the idea that it was done out of free will.  It was their temperaments, desires, and beliefs. This means that their actions were caused, and therefore was fate. They would not have chosen anything else, because in their minds at that time, with what they knew, it was the option they would be most happy and satisfied with. Romeo had the option to refuse to marry Juliet but rather decided to rush into it because Juliet was beautiful and loved him back when his other love didn’t.  

Free will is something that everyone has fought for since day one, however, no one experiences free will as one's actions are determined by fate, as is our destiny. One will always choose what they chose in the past, and that is unchangeable. Reductionism, biology, and event causation, all come together to prove that free will is simply a delusion. While some may argue that agent causation is a reasonable approach as to why free will determines one's destiny, psychology in itself disagrees and finds the idea unable to be argued because at the heart of a choice is many different factors that are causing you to make that decision. This idea may be uncomfortable to many in the outside world and may throw away the idea of personal responsibility. Unfortunately, one cannot change the fact that fate determines our destiny, and one's life has been laid out in front of one. Free-will, as ideal as it sounds, is simply a myth created by the society that everyone has been raised in.