Shakespeare's Macbeth: Fate Or Free Will?

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Fate or Free Will?
Free will is most known as the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate. It is the ability to act at one’s own discretion. What this means is that only a person’s own decisions can impact the outcome of their life; that there is no set destiny. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, free will plays a very substantial and powerful role in the fate of Macbeth. In one of shakespeare's more famous plays, three witches give a prophecy to Macbeth, at the time a soldier serving under King Duncan, that he will one day become King himself. In the play, the witches give macbeth an unexpected prophecy. “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Nfs.sparknotes.com, 2017). Here the witches are calling Macbeth the …show more content…

Macbeth was brought down by his ambition, but it was ambition that was exploited by the witches. Macbeth was never forced into any actions that occurred; he always had free will to choose his actions. His prophecy merely fed a desire that was already inside Macbeth. He corrupted his own ideas of fate by using his free will. He thinks that his fate is something he is able to control, and continually takes steps to ensure that. While he may think what happens to him is fate, it is not. He completely takes his life into his own hands, and makes it his own. After killing king duncan, Macbeth and his lady realize that they must now eliminate Banquo if the witches prophecy were to come true. In order for Macbeth to get away with such a deed he took it upon himself to hire men to kill Banquo and his son for him. In act 3 scene 1 Macbeth tells the hitmen, “Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour at most I will advise you where to plant yourselves, Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' th' time, The moment on ’t; for ’t must be done tonight, And something from the palace; always thought That I require a clearness. And with him— To leave no …show more content…

Fate is a concept that not everyone accepts, but something that Macbeth takes head

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