Fate refers to the idea that certain things happen because they are meant to happen, whereas free will is the ability to act as one pleases without the interference of fate. Throughout Julius Caesar, Shakespeare discusses the battle between the free will and the fate of a person. By the ending of the play it is made obvious that he believes that free will and fate coexist. Shakespeare allows the theme of fate and free will to intertwine with, and take a role in, the assassination of Caesar.
The story of the play Julius Caesar is mainly focused on a circle of conspirators who plan on killing Julius Caesar. Cassius, a talented general and long time acquaintance of Caesar’s, fears that the new power will get to Caesar’s head and cause him to take actions that will negatively affect those he governs. He convinces one of Caesar’s closest friend, Brutus, that Caesar is on the path to becoming a dictator. Cassius even goes as far as blaming his and Brutus’ lack of will for allowing Caesar to gain so much power; he argues that the rise of Caesar cannot be an act of fate. When trying to convince Brutus to take part in Caesar’s murder,
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These stand to show that even though it may be his fate to die, he still had the ability to change the outcome by taking different actions. The first time, he is warned by a soothsayer who tells him to “Beware the ides of March” (I.i.18). Instead of heeding this warning, he instead dismisses it and calls the soothsayer a “dreamer” (I.i.24). He later even ridicules the soothsayer on the day of his death by stating “The ides of March are come” to which the soothsayer replies “Ay, Caesar; but not gone” (III.i.1-2). Caesar is basically saying that the soothsayer didn’t know what he was talking about, but the soothsayer once again warns him through this statement; telling him that before the day ends, something bad will have happened to