ENGLISH PAPER 1 NOTES
We are the cause of our own downfall
Shakespeare formulated his tragedies around the central idea that an inherent flaw in the personality of the main character would ultimately lead to his downfall. Thus we have Julius Caesar Hamlet; great men toppled by their own doing.
Nowadays psychologists are split
between two theories – nature and nurture.
The nature camp believes, as Shakespeare did, that those traits that can
cause our downfall – homicidal tendencies, psychosis, arrogance – are
inborn. The nurture camp believe that
“all men are created equal” so to speak and that these character flaws are
moulded in childhood through abuse, neglect, dominant parents etc.
There is certainly an abundance of
evidence to back up both theories.
Statistically, for example, a killer is more likely than others to have
suffered neglect or maltreatment in childhood.
And yet there are others who are victims of acute psychosis.
This division of theories
permeates through to everyday life in which it becomes the two adages of “pride
always comes before the fall” and “fate”.
It seems that not even old sages can rule in their wisdom over what
exactly the cause of our downfall is.
Consider for example the following
situation: a young couple meet one balmy summer’s evening and fall passionately
in love. They vow to remain devoted to
each other for all eternity. However,
within several months “love’s young dream” shatters and both are abruptly
shoved back to the life of solitude from which they came. “Star cross’d lovers” or incompatible
characters?
Likewise; a young, successful
businessman driving flashy cars, enjoying an extravagant lifestyle at an
extravagant price. Suddenly the market
collapses, his business folds and he is lift in a crumpled heap in a gutter
without a penny. Was he solely the
victim of an economic downturn or was he, through his lavish expenditure, the
cause of his own downfall? Here, again, opinion would be divided. While some might feel that had his business
continued to flourish the young man could have maintained his playboy lifestyle
with financial ease, others might argue that anyone who acts in such a flippant
manner deserves and, indeed, engineers his downfall.
So, while it would appear that
while outside factors can and do cause our downfall, this goes no way to
proving or disproving that we are the cause of our own downfall. Either our actions are the excuse fate uses
to intervene in our lives, or they have no effect, being merely the stick guilt
beats us with after the event. Although
Shakespeare, 400 years ago, decided that we are the cause of our own downfall,
he may have been premature in reaching his conclusion, seeing as, approaching
the 21st century, psychologists have yet to devise a neat formula
for this. Until that time one thing is
sure. The human race will continue to
play the snakes and ladders game of life, climbing some ladders and then
tumbling down some snakes, afterwards staring ruefully upwards at where they
were and wondering; “How?”
