Journal 9

Journal #9 - Free Will vs. Determinism


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.

Free will was demonstrated throughout many of the characters’ actions throughout Othello. Iago was often looked at as the villain who was the cause of the fallouts in relationships between characters as well as the deaths that occurred in the end. This could be argued as free will instead. Iago may have been a force in putting ideas in Othello’s head but Othello had the choice to believe what he was being told or not and further, act on the things that he had no concrete proof of. In reality, the proof Iago gave to Othello was very broad. Othello played into Iago’s plan without doing much thinking on his own. He chose, with his free will, to believe Iago. He took this even further to do what Iago suggested to him and kill his wife to get rid of problems that never really existed.

Determinism could also arguably be the cause for different situations in Othello. The first situation that comes to mind is the initial relationship between Othello and Desdemona. There was no solid answer throughout the play of whether the two were actually meant to be, which would be the explanation of determinism. Determinism would argue that fate brought Othello and Desdemona together. This could definitely be the case as they were both aware of the differences between them when they met but did not let that stop them from moving forward with a relationship. They went off of fate until free will came into play between their relationship.