Journal 9

Free Will - The power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will.  

Iago: “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our 

           gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3).

Determinism - The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.

Othello: “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like        death” (3.3 313-16).

Using the above definitions, write a paragraph that argues in support of each of the terms.  In your paragraphs, use specific examples from Othello to support your ideas.

The argument about free will that could be used is that we are the only ones who can decide what we do which can completely change our destiny. Many times throughout the play, the free will of other shown by the choices they make determines there outcome and if a different decision had been made on their part everyone’s destiny could completely change. For example, if Cassio had used his will and not got drunk when he should have been patrolling, he never would have fallen from Othello’s good graces. This event in the play lead to many changes because Iago used this against Cassio and it also is what led further suspicion to the idea that Cassio and Desdemona were having and affair. The free will of the character in the play directly influenced the outcome of the play because it was their choices that they made based on the information they had that led them to make them and change the story instead of some kind of divine inspiration or influence and Iago’s quote describes this very well.  

The argument for determinism could be made based on certain events in the play that would lead the reader to believe that everything that was happening is based on outside forces and past events and the choices of others was irrelevant. Evidence of this can be found in part of the play including the destruction of Othello and Desdemona’s love because of all the environmental influences instead of the will of either of them. The argument can be made that the environmental influences caused all of the problems in the play instead of the human will because of the times and past events that had occurred which shaped each character and led to all the events in the story.