Children are taught, “If you are good you will go to heaven, if you are bad you will go to hell.” Heaven is where all people want to be, but how do they get there? As shown throughout much of history and literature, the key to obtaining the elusive goal of heaven or suffering a terrible downfall may be linked to fate and its ability to be overcome. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” This can be seen starting as early as with Adam and Eve, who illustarted that the fate of our lives is known to change through choices and decisions made because of free will. When it comes to fate, the eternal question much of literature seeks to answer is whether fate can be changed or whether …show more content…
In the beginning of this play, Macbeth states, “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare). This bold statement demonstrates Macbeth’s belief in fate through his use of the word “chance” and his belief through fate he will be able to achieve his goal of becoming king. As evidenced by this statement from the beginning of this Shakespearean play, Macbeth believes that he should allow chance to take its own course, or “without [his] stir”, but this philosophy is quickly forgotten. Thus, after hearing the prophecies of the three witches, Macbeth arduously tries not to be hubris and does not seek the glory of becoming the Thane of Glamis, the Thane of Cawdor, and, eventually, the King, which had been the prophecies. However, after being taunted by his wife, Macbeth begins to act on the prophecies and attempts to take control of the fate with which he had previously foregone interfering, by killing the current king and taking the throne for …show more content…
The narrator of this poem explains her regrets and her desire to change her fate. Dickinson starts the poem by stating the inevitability of death, with this theme even being expressed within the title of the poem itself: “Because I could not stop for Death” (Dickinson). Emily Dickinson personifies death by describing him as a well-dressed, polite man who is said to be riding in a chariot. Death is so charming he causes the speaker to forget about everything else. The reason for this personification is to show the reader that death surprises and kindly takes you away from the world. Because death is bound to happen, there is nothing to fear. Because the speaker is not afraid of death and knows that death is coming, she calmly welcomes him. Thus, just as the speaker is not afraid of the charming, gentlemanly death, she does not fear reaching her inevitable fate of death. Through death’s personification and the speaker’s acceptance of death, Dickinson is telling the readers that the fate of everyone is death. She also demonstrates that immortality is required in order to die, as evidenced by the line “The carriage held but just ourselves – And Immortality” (Dickinson). Dickinson adds immortality to the chariot because without it death may try to override an immortal person. Yet, despite the speaker’s acceptance of her fate of death, she shows a desire to
In the poem “Because I could Not stop for Death”, Emily Dickinson describes death as an experience that she is looking back on. Dickinson uses a variety of elements, such as personification, imagery and irony to get her point across that death is not a dreadful event, but actually a pleasant experience. Although death is often perceived as being depressing and frightening, it should be viewed in a positive way realizing that it is the beginning of eternity.
The ensuing line states, “He kindly stopped for me” (Line 2). From this, the reader could possibly deduce that the narrator was glad to see death. Dickinson was known throughout her life to have been oddly fascinated with death and immortality, so it’s not out of the question to assume that this fascination was reflected in the narrator’s personality and was why death was welcomed. However, a more likely conclusion is that Dickinson was merely being ironic. Death is ominous as it is a leap into the unknown; we simply cannot fathom the eternity of afterlife. Taking us without consent from our lives (which we already have no power over), and thrusting us into an incomprehensible eternity is not exactly a kind act to commit, thus irony was used in this case. This further strengthens the idea that our lives are out of our control because with or without consent, death will choose to take a life whenever he pleases.
William Shakespeare wrote in his play Macbeth, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.” In many ways throughout this play, Shakespeare was giving the warning of ambition to the audience. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was a simple man. Respectful and obedient to his King, Macbeth wanted nothing but to please. When three witches came to him and his good friend, Banquo, and told them their destinies, this began something ghastly. Mysteriously, they informed Macbeth he was to be king. This sparks something in Macbeth that is dangerous and eventually leads to his demise, ambition. Wickedly, Macbeth and his wife plan to murder the king during the night so that Macbeth may be crowned sooner. The driving force of this accord
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play in which the main character, Macbeth, makes horrible choices, including murder, to become and remain a powerful ruler. Three witches tell him his fate: he will become the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and the king. Because Macbeth believes in the supernatural, he takes matters into his own hands with becoming king. He personally murders the current king and hires people to murder several others.
Fate and prediction have played a big part of Macbeth and has persuaded him to become evil and the “Brave” Macbeth had died out as soon as he meets the witches’ and they tell him that his fate is to become the thane of Cawdor and soon become king; “All hail, Macbeth hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”. Macbeth does not know yet that the Thane of Cawdor had betrayed the king and went against him also he is being stripped of his Thaneship and is being executed, so he was surprised when the witches’ said that. Macbeth at first did not believe in his fate but when he gets the rob to be Thane of Cawdor he starts to believe his fate and then his mind skips to becoming king and killing Duncan this shows
Death is inevitable; it should not be feared but instead accepted, and this is the main idea and theme explored in Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death.” In the poem, Death is personified as a gentleman who “kindly stopped [stops] for me [her]” (Dickinson 2), “slowly drove [drives] … know[ing] no haste” (Dickinson 5), and with whom she stops at a “house that seemed [seems]/ A swelling of the ground” (Dickinson 17-18) or in other words, her grave. To begin the poem, the fact that Death is represented as “if he were a human being” (Evans 15) implies that it is humane. This contributes to the idea that death is not to fear. Later on, it can be concluded that this person has control over her as she describes how she “had put away / My [her] labor, and my [her] leisure too, / for his civility” (Dickinson 6-8), which implies that “everything that had once seemed so important and distracting now recedes in importance” (Evans 17), and how he “slowly drove [drives] … know[ing] no haste” (Dickinson 5), which gives “no clear sense of the underlying purpose of the journey or its ultimate destination” (Evans 16) and thus implies that only Death knows the path and destination of the journey. Both of these examples contribute to the fact that Death completely controls a person against its will and that it is inevitable. Finally when “we [they] paused before a house that seemed / A swelling of the ground” (Dickinson
Yet after his encounter with the witches, his mind was going back and forth trying to figure out how he should act upon the prophecy of becoming king! It was by then that the idea of fate had been planted into his head, and with such good title to come with it, why wouldn’t he want to believe his ‘fate’? Something that I found very interesting about the witches was that looking closely at line 24-25 when one of the witches says, "Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tossed." From what I seemed to understand, these lines seemed to really show the limitations to the witches’ powers, because they were basically saying that they could only make life rough for the clueless captain, but they could not kill him. I think that this is really important to all the people who thought that the witches had ‘written out’ Macbeth’s fate because in the same way as the previous stated scene they can tempt Macbeth with predictions about his future, but they cannot make him choose evil. Meaning that in this scene, one of the conflicts is obviously fate vs. free will! All the witches really did was find a way of stirring up evil, by tempting Macbeth into choosing to opt for evil instead of good. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.” (Act 1. Scene iii. Line 10). Here, Macbeth seems content to leave his future to "chance." If "chance" will have
Throughout “Because I could not stop for Death” readers encounter Dickinson’s uncertainty regarding death. From the first line, she is timid about “Death” and cannot allow herself to stop for him. Therefore, “He kindly stopped for [her]” (Dickinson 2). Not only to readers see this doubt, but also here readers become aware that Death is personified. Dickinson represents death as a person so that readers will understand the gravity of the subject. In the following lines, Dickinson writes, “The Carriage held but just Ourselves –/And Immortality” (Dickinson 3-4). Here the carriage is the chauffer to the grave, and is given important notice. Although immortality is mentioned, it seems to be more of a suggestion of Heaven or Hell to insinuate the author’s faith. In the next line,
After his encounter with the witches, Macbeth says “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Act 1 Scene 3 Line 147). Here, Macbeth seems content to leave his future to chance and not attempt to influence it. However, this approach is quickly disbanded as Macbeth thinks “The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap” (Act 1 Scene 4 Line 50). Before this notion Macbeth wanted to leave it to chance and not play a role in what were to happen.
“The idea of death as a suitor is a powerful one, … In "Death is the supple suitor," Dickinson returns to the ideas of the earlier "Because I could not stop for Death” (Priddy). “The drive in "Because I could not stop for Death" symbolizes the movement through life and into death. In stanza three, the carriage passes from childhood, past the "Gazing Grain," which in its ripeness might be seen as representative of maturity, and finally past the "Setting Sun," symbolic of endings” (Priddy). All these images that the author set up throughout poem is just all leading to the end where Dickinson reveals the fact that all life comes to an end and how each image gives a more saddened feel to the poems. “Despite her seclusion, she was in correspondence with many of the prominent intellectuals of her time, including Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican, and Higginson, editor of the Atlantic Monthly. Many of her poems were included in letters or were mailed as messages. She wrote, particularly, in times of illness, death, or other hardship” (Priddy). She always had a spot in each of her poems whether it be to family friends or others it had the introduction of the saddening qualities that prevailed during this time of
Death is an aspect of life that everyone becomes acquainted with sooner or later. The poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” by Emily Dickinson, is seen as a reflection of the passing of time in one 's life while living. No one knows when it is their time to die, and we live everyday as if tomorrow it promised. Dickinson is saying that since we as humans tend to live on the expectation for tomorrow, we don 't think about the end of our life or when it will be. That time will stand still when, and only when, life draws to a close, yet it will no longer matter.
In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death “ (448), the speaker of the poem is a woman who relates about a situation after her death. The speaker personifies death as a polite and considerate gentleman who takes her in a carriage for a romantic journey; however, at the end of this poem, she finishes her expedition realizing that she has died many years ago.
It is important to realize that fate is not something that is predestined, it is
Dickinson’s use of figurative language in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” contributes to the meaning of the poem. With the use of personification, symbolism, and examples of vivid imagery, she composes a poem which is both unique and captivating. The title and first line of the poem, “Because I Could
In Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for Death" the main theme seems to be the acceptance of Death. Emily gives reference to the theme by using "death" in the first line. The poem is unique and interesting because she presents Death in a different way by referring to it as an escort taking her on a journey towards eternity rather than making it seem like something frightening. Each stanza of the poem breaks down the journey through the stages of her life that leads to the end where the speaker reaches eternity and she finally realizes that she is no longer living. In the fifth stanza when she refers to the coffin as her "house" gives the impression that she's comfortable with death