Existential Hero In literature, authors often embrace the philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. This is the view that a human can define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe - otherwise known as Existential Heroism. This applies to the protagonists in the works The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The protagonists, Meursault, Offred, and Hamlet, question the morals of themselves and society, thus choosing to substantiate a life of their own outside of the world in which they exist. Meursault is psychologically detached from the world around him. Events that would be very …show more content…
Camus portrays freedom and choice in The Stranger through Meursault's many acts against the society he lives in. He chooses to be an atheist and stray away from god. The magistrate converses with Mersault, “... drawing himself up to his full height and asking me if he believed in God. I said no. He sat down indignantly. He said it was impossible; all men believed in God, even those who turned their backs on him.” (Camus 69). Meursault follows his own belief system rather than conforming to that of society. He does as he pleases without any thought of the laws in place. Coinciding with this, in the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s life is planned out for him from the day he was born. He has little freedom due to being a member of a royal family, explained by Laertes, “His greatness weighed, his will not his own For he himself is subject to his birth” (Shakespeare 41). Hamlet falls in love with Ophelia, which puts them in a difficult situation as a spouse is meant to be decided for him. He chooses to love Ophelia, which in the end causes more problems than expected. Freedom of choice comes at a cost for all involved in the