The role of fate in Shakespeare's Macbeth and John Gardner's "Grendel", a retelling of the Beowulf story from the monster's point of view.

Fate plays a significant role in the Old English epic poem Beowulf and William Shakespeare's play Macbeth.. The major events of the poem, such as the three killings by Beowulf and his own death, are said to have been predestined. In Macbeth, fate is so significant that it is personified by the Weird Sisters, who drive the action of the play. But if predestination exists, then there must be an agent that determines destiny. In …

… kill, which is certainly against God's will In Grendel, fate is a significant motivator for the protagonist, thanks to his seminal encounter with the dragon. We no longer accept fate as the ancients did, and this is one of the traits that separates us from them. Yet sometimes, we resign ourselves and allow fate to take its course, and then we are not as distant from the ancients as we would like to believe.