Sample:We are the cause of our own downfall
From ZuluNotes - Free Leaving Cert Notes
| Sample:We are the cause of our own downfall | |
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| Subject: | English |
| Paper | 1 |
| Section | The Essay |
| Question | 3 |
| Level | O/H |
| By | source |
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?”
