In William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, two interesting forces, fate and free will, are shown competing for importance over each other. Destiny was illustrated in the many prophecies and omens that the characters saw throughout the play. Free will was the character's ability to overcome and defeat their destiny. Many characters struggle against the power of their free will to overcome their destiny, including Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus. Although in the end all three of these characters succumb to their fate, Shakespeare shows that there is a delicate balance between the two forces. Of the three men, Caesar's fate seems most obvious to him and to the reader. However, Caesar used his free will in many cases to largely ignore his destiny, which fate presented to him. On one occasion, early in the play, a soothsayer warns Caesar to "beware of the Ides of March" (I. i. 23). Caesar pays more attention to the appearance of the soothsayer than to the warning; and, finding the appearance which did not please him, Caesar ignored the warning and passed him off as a dreamer. Later, on the Ides of March, he confronts the soothsayer and says that "the Ides of March have come" (III. i. 1). Caesar was convinced that the soothsayer was wrong and he didn't even think about what the rest of the day had in store for him. Earlier in the day, Caesar had almost chosen to heed the omen of his destiny presented to Calphurnia in her dream. However, his pride presented itself...