Macbeth Fate Vs Free Will Essay

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Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy play written in the early 1600s. In 1971 the play was adapted to a movie that was directed by Roman Polanski. The Roman Polanski version of Macbeth is very similar to the original play. The movie allowed you to follow Macbeth’s path to destruction. It ultimately touches base with two major themes, fate and free will. According to Wikipedia “free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded”. Humans, unlike other animals, have free will, which leads to the question as to whether Macbeth chose to take the path of destruction of his own free will or because he was fated to do so. Themes of fate or free will are established in Act 1 scene 3. When the three witches Although Macbeth is fated to become king he was not told how he will become king by the three witches. His decisions were purely his own. The fact that he was fated to become king doesn't put him In the wrong and we cannot blame him for it, but the actions he took to become king were purely his own free will which he is to be blamed for. The themes of fate and free will can be seen in the dramatic change of the characters as the play progresses. Macbeth for instants is seen as someone who is respected by all and is greatly loyal to the king (Duncan). However, Macbeth changes as he is told his prophecies, making him succumb into his ambitions and take fate into his own hands murdering Duncan in the process. These actions change his fate for the worst as he becomes paranoid which even leads him to murder his best friend Banquo. This, however, doesn't satisfy his paranoia as he begins killing innocent women and children, not by his own hands however as he makes others do his dirty work. His free will in killing Duncan has led him to a fate of being an evil king by the end of the play, that ends up being killed by Macduff who fulfills the remaining prophecy because Macbeth murdered his

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