Macbeth is an bloodthirsty fiend who turns into a serial killer after learning his prophecy. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth, the main protagonist of the play, fights a battle between fate and free will. He is constantly playing a tug of war between choosing his own path or letting fate lead him. Macbeth’s ultimate fate is predicted by the witches’ prophecies at the beginning of the play. Macbeth also took matters into his own hands and exercised his free will throughout the play. Overall, fate and free will worked together to lead to the unfortunate murders of many of the characters. Macbeth’s fate is laid out for him at the beginning of the play when the witches predict his future. From there, Macbeth learns that he will become king and he states, “If chance will have me King, why, / chance crown me, / Without my stir” (Shakespeare 1.3.141-143). If fate thinks that being king is …show more content…
He exploits his powers of free will and takes issues into his own hands, usually solving them with the gruesome punishment of death. After tugging the strings of yes or no, Macbeth collapses under Lady Macbeth’s pressure and decided to kill King Duncan. Subsequently, he vows to put all his strength into murdering the king. “I am settled, and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat” (Shakespeare 1.7.79-80). However, Macbeth’s overstepping of his bounds does not stop there. Upon learning that Malcolm was named Prince of Cumberland, Macbeth exclaims, “The prince of Cumberland! That is a step / On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, / For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires” (Shakespeare 1.4.48-51). He once again plots a murder, for he will have to give up if he does not kill Malcolm. Macbeth blames his growing addiction to murder upon his right to exercise free will, for he does not wait for fate, instead the takes matters into his own
It is obvious that Macbeth is constantly enacting his free will on his life. His fate does not entirely dictate what transpires in his life. Macbeth would never have become King, killed Banquo, descended to madness, and be killed, without choosing to commit the actions ...
In the play Macbeth, Macbeth hears a prophecy from the three witches telling him he will be king. After hearing the prophecy Macbeth said, [Aside] “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir,” (1.4.146). At first Macbeth was planning on just waiting until he was crowned king by chance, he was not going to intervene at all. This shows how humans have control over their fate. He could have just waited until he naturally became king which would have made God happier. Later in the play though, Macbeth hears news that Malcolm has been crowned the Prince of Cumberland. After hearing this Macbeth says, “[Aside] The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done...
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson describes Macbeth’s character. He decides to do evil acts and crimes, consequently, he was killed. By deciding to be an awful, evil person, Macbeth’s destiny was doomed to be disastrous all along, and ends with him beheaded. The characters in the play only influenced him to do certain wrongdoing, but they could not change his destiny, only he could do that by changing his own actions.
Macbeth’s decision that had the greatest impact on his life was his choice to murder Duncan. He makes this decision entirely on his own. Macbeth already was hoping something would happen to Duncan as soon as he names Malcom as the Prince of Cumberland (1.4.48-53). He is already thinking about the possibility of taking the throne by some form of intervention. Macbeth knows that when Malcom was named as the heir that he will not become king, but he decides to intervene without anyone convincing him to kill the king (1.4.48-50). It can be known that Macbeth was already high in the
How much of an influence does fate have on the ideals of a person? Is Macbeth acting out the selfish desires of his own accord? Fate is thought to be unavoidable, and all the paths of life lead to a destiny that is inescapable. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, not only is Macbeth’s hand forced in committing a murder, his fate is expedited in the process. Macbeth is in control of his own destiny, but is spurned into decisions by the Witches and his wife. Although Macbeth believes he is controlled by fate, a more thorough inspection reveals his control over all his actions.
In the tragedy “Macbeth,” written by William Shakespeare, Macbeths free will is shown as he tries to take what is his. “Macbeth” is about a Scottish troop (Macbeth) and his friend Banquo. Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches whom tell them about a prophecy that involves Macbeth and Banquo’s son. One of the prophecies was that Macbeth would become king. The prophecy makes Macbeth’s mind corrupted making him pursue dark actions to overthrow King Duncan. Macbeth’s free will is exhibited by the way he has the inspiration to control what he does throughout the tragedy. People may say that it is fate because the prophecy states that Macbeth will be king, but it also states that Banquo’s sons will be kings in
Macbeth’s blind ambition leads him to surrender to his dark desires that taunt him throughout the play. Macbeth is frequently tempted to result to the wrongful methods that seem to roam inside of him. In the beginning however Macbeth tends to ignore these desires and depends on chance. He declares “if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare, act 1, scene 3, 143-144). This declaration by Macbeth shows his initial stand, which is reliant on fate and sin free. Yet as Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, he moves farther from his dependence on chance and closer to his darker desires. Eventually his blind ambition to become king overp...
However, Macbeth again undergoes a change of heart in scene four, at the announcement of Malcolm as the Prince of Cumberland and as successor to the throne of Scotland, the same throne upon which Macbeth had his eyes set upon. The effect of the King's proclamation on him can be seen through his reaction: The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step, On which I must fall down, or else o'er-leap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires; The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see .
People in this world today make their own decisions every second of the day. There are two things that can happen in life situations. Either Fate is in control, which is when something happens because the event is being controlled by some kind of a power or it can be free will, which means you made the decision to do what you did. I feel like there’s more free will than fate because more people in the world today make decisions on their own. It is really rare that someone can be controlled by some sort of a power, which causes them to make decisions. Free will is more of a realistic way of viewing life’s choices.
To begin, we look at the first prediction of the witches. They call him by the names of ?Thane of Glamis?, which he already is, ?Thane of Cawdor? (a title he does not know he has been given), and "King hereafter." As a result, the first two things the witches tell him aren?t prophesies because they have already happened. Look at the third and most important prophecy. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become ?King Hereafter?, there?s knowledge that this actually happened. ?If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.? (1 3) Did it happen because of fate or did Macbeth make it happen? The witches tempted Macbeth to kill the King, however, it was his own ambition that led him to do that terrible thing. Macbeth, even though he was uneasy, he chose to kill King Duncan and ascend to the throne of Scotland. ?Nothing is
In Macbeth, free choice, not fate, is to blame for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s actions. Firstly, the witches never say that Macbeth must kill Duncan in order to be king. When the clairvoyant witches give Macbeth his prophecy, they say, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Macbeth Act I Sc III li.51). Since the witches do not say that Macbeth will kill the current king in order to claim the throne, one could argue that Macbeth’s decision to murder Duncan was of free choice. Another line proves that free choice undid Macbeth. After Macbeth receives the title of thane of Cawdor without any action on his behalf, he decides, “If chance will have me king, why, chance/ may crown me/ without my stir” (Macbeth Act 1 Sc 3 li.47-49). This
In addition, Shakespeare lets Macbeth’s inner character flaw of greed show through as Macbeth debates killing Malcolm, prince of Cumberland, in order for Macbeth to hold the throne himself. As Macbeth comes to the realization that he must murder in order to get what he wants, Macbeth pleads “stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.52-53). In this scene, Macbeth realizes his thoughts are wrong, but his greed is beginning to influence not only his thoughts, but his actions as well. Another key point, is when Shakespeare portrays Macbeth greedy as he thinks of murdering King Duncan in order to take the crown for himself. Macbeth questions “why do I yield to that suggestion”(1.3.137) as the thought of murder crosses through Macbeth’s mind. This recurring theme of greed shows Macbeth’s true character of selfishness and the want for power. The greed shown in numerous locations throughout the play shows Macbeth’s ultimate character flaw that ultimately leads to his self destruction. As a result, Macbeth indirectly kills himself by being greedy with power and only thinking of
In the context of the fictional story of Macbeth, it is hard to argue that fate was not controlling his life and actions. Many prophecies were made that seemed impossible at first, but each one came true and things happened as expected, though maybe not in the exact way or at the exact time that they were thought to. It is pretty clear throughout the narrative that the concept of fate prevails in the context of Macbeth, but once these beliefs are placed into the realm of the real world, there is a lot more room for argument. Things in real life are less certain, and there are many variables that can affect a person’s opinion on this matter. Ultimately, it comes down to a personal decision that everyone exercises their freedom of choice on to establish what they believe.
No matter what choices he makes, it is still his fate and will happen regardless. The first test Macbeth had against fate was when he was pondering whether or not to act upon the fate given to him by the weird sisters, when Macbeth announces to the audience “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown/ me/ without my stir” (I.3.143-144). The situational irony is that after Macbeth stakes such a claim that he has to do nothing, the audience thinks that he will not do anything out of the ordinary. However, that is not the case, because afterwards he goes out and kills the King in order to obtain the throne. Towards the middle of the play, he starts to take action to prevent bad parts of his fate .After Macbeth hears from the witches that he is to beware Macduff, he tells a lord, Lennox, to kill Macduff’s “wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls/ that him in his line” (IV.1.174-175). Shakespeare uses dramatic irony here, because the audience knows that Macduff had left to try and help Malcom gain the throne. Therefor, he was not there to be killed in the massacre of his family. The massacre caused him to need to avenge all those Macbeth killed. Macbeth makes Macduff have a need to kill him, which led to Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth cannot seem to prevent any aspect of his fate from occurring, and fate is something that will not change no matter how hard one
In Macbeth, the playwright known as Shakespeare expresses that life is governed solely by one’s own conscience of right and wrong through his main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This enlightenment approach of conscience means that everyone gets to decide their own fate, rather than letting fate choose for them. In the beginning of Macbeth, Shakespeare writes Macbeth to decide to let fate chose his path. “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without my stir” (1.3.157-159), this line that Macbeth says is a paradox the play’s main idea of choices. Macbeth is making his own choice to let “fate” make a decision in his life. Saying that if the Witches are correct about his reign as king then he shouldn't have to do anything to