The Influence Of Fate In Macbeth

The enigmatic influence of fate, fortune, and free will on the lives of human beings forms a compelling theme in Shakespearean drama, especially in Macbeth. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare plays around with the idea of fate, placing Macbeth’s future before him, yet allowing his own ambitions and wants to drive him insane in order to achieve it. Critics have long argued over whether Macbeth is following fate or if he is making his own destiny. Macbeth is the most morally reprehensible character Shakespeare has made; Macbeth’s actions are what destroys his future, it is not because of fate. Although he received the prophecies from the witches, Macbeth made his own decisions and created his own path which brought destruction and tragedy to everyone, including himself.

Macbeth was never under a curse; he paved his own path of evil by himself. The potential for Macbeth to decide his own fate appeared the moment he choose to stop and listen to the witches. He choose to hear what the witches were saying in Act I when he said, “Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (qtd. in McDougal 355). Later, in that same scene, Macbeth mulls over the witches prophesy and muses to himself, “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me” (qtd. in McDougal 357). This thought implies that he does not consider the prophecy as fate, but as chance. The weird sisters are not necessarily controllers of fate, but “merely devilish spirits whose function is to plant seeds of temptation into the souls of people already inclining toward sin and despair” (Cohen Web). The witches did not force Macbeth to murder the king. They enticed him, but it was his own ambition and choices that lead him to usurp the throne. Although Macbeth's desires started from...

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...must beware of Macduff. At this point in the novel Macbeth is using the witches as a guideline to his life. He soaks up their words and believes everything they say. Macbeth is still deluding himself into believing fate controls everything. This scene gives “a tragic and horrifying glance into the imagination of a man who, having murdered once only to be ravaged by guilt, resolves to think no more” (Lynn Web).

In conclusion, Macbeth was never a victim of fate. He was the victim of his own interpretation of prophecies and of his own selfishness. He forced the prophecies to come true by his own murderous methods. There is no true conflict between divine omniscience and free will in the tragic play. All of the responsibility of Duncan’s death, Lady Macbeth’s suicide, Banquo’s death, Macbeth’s descent into madness, and the war in Scotland lies on Macbeth’s shoulders.