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Examples Of Free Will In Macbeth

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Many wide and controversial themes are covered in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. This includes such things as greed, temptation, guilt and remorse, and the struggle of good and evil. But clearly the most important, and the one most discussed in the play is the subject of Fate versus Free Will. Can one really control how their lives turn out, or is it all predetermined by a greater force? The witches are a prime example of the fate versus free will aspect. When the witches and Macbeth originally meet, Macbeth is not seeking prophecies and answers. He only asks who they are, and that is when they give him the three infamous prophecies; that he will be the thane of Glamis, the thane of Cawdor, and ultimately, king. As he coincidentally becomes …show more content…

“What do these crimes have to do with fate and free will?”, one may ask. Well, this ties back in with the previous subject of the witches. Although they did inform Macbeth that he will be king, they never once said that he must kill the current king (Duncan) in order for this to come true. As previously mentioned, the prophecies end up being actually false. So, this points to Macbeth and solely his choices molding his untimely demise. He could’ve stopped himself, he obviously shows guilt and hesitance before doing the deed, as shown in the following quote “...Besides, this Duncan hath borne faculties so meek, hath been so clear in great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet tongued, against the deep damnation of his taking off” (Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 16-20). He, regardless, didn’t stop himself. Other murders that occur during Macbeth’s time in power are the slaughter of Banquo, and the brutal murders of Macduff’s family. But, even with all of this violence occurring, we can’t argue that these ruthless events all lead up to each and every prophecy coming true. Once again, we must ask ourselves, are we really in control of our own

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Macbeth’s Own Controlled Demise All throughout the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the main characters play with the thought of predestined fate and their own free will. Macbeth, a great war hero, destroys his own conscious and future trying to fulfill the prophecy three mysterious witches gave him. After Macbeth was given the prophecy from the witches, all of his actions from that point forward were to achieve fate, but if the witches would have never crossed his path Macbeth would have never killed Duncan or become king. Macbeth would have never killed Duncan or have tried to become king, if the witches had not painted a picture in his mind that he was chosen or predestined to take Duncan’s position as king.

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Many people have the ability to choose between different courses of action throughout their life. Along with everyone else, Macbeth had the same opportunity to make choices out of free will rather than letting fate carve a path for him. In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is aware of his fate due to the prophecies of the three witches, but he rather take matters into his own hands to challenge his fate. After Macbeth recognizes his urge to become king he kills Duncan with the help of his wife, Lady Macduff. After killing Duncan, Macbeth has a guilty conscience that is taking over him.

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This specifically occurred when Macbeth hired murderers to kill both Banquo and Fleance. At that point in the novel, his ambition was shining through and his free will was the only thing causing him to make those decisions. Perhaps the witches’ prophecy would have still come true had Macbeth not murdered several people. If it was truly fate it would have happened regardless; meaning Macbeth did not have to make his fate occur by committing such terrible actions. However, because Macbeth had free will, he chose to take that specific route with little influence over anyone else.

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Shakespeare’s Macbeth, expresses the universal truth that one’s life is not determined by fate, but rather the choices that one makes; furthermore, how choosing poorly can lead to overwhelming feelings of guilt. The most prominent and underlying theme of Macbeth, is the concept of fate vs. free will, most clearly seen through the rising in power and eventual downfall of Macbeth himself. Early in the play, the Three Witches prophesied that Macbeth will become king of Scotland; however, the prophecy ends there. Macbeth exercises his free will and makes the decision to kill King Duncan and ensure his appointment to king.

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The debate of fate vs free will controlling our decisions has gone on for centuries. It is also a prominent subject in William Ernest Henley 's poem Invictus, which strongly promotes the idea of free will in the midst of challenges, and in William Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy Macbeth. In the play, Macbeth goes through a mental deterioration, due to his actions in his quest to become king. At first, Macbeth meets three witches who give him a prophecy that he would be king, with some uneasiness and some help from his wife he kills the king and takes the throne and then continues to kill all of his threats. Fate can not be a reasoning for his actions; the idea of fate is rather a disguise for one’s results.

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Generally speaking, in the play "Macbeth" which is written by Shakespear, Macbeth’s tragic downfall is absolutely caused by his own free will. According to his personalities, his original guilty and cruel mind caused him to murder the king. His plan foreshadows his deepest desire and what he will do to reach his goal. Macbeth’s failure is not caused by his fate simply because he has made the final decisions by himself. Without the decisions on his own, Macbeth won’t believe those prophecies or persuasions from others or murder the king.

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In the book Macbeth the witches came to Macbeth to tell him about a prophecy of him being the next king of cawdor. Now this is where free will comes in, it was Macbeth 's choice to listen to the witches or not, if he didn 't listen to them the whole story

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Fate, destiny, prophecy all important pieces of tall tales, stories, and legends, that give everything and everyone an unchangeable path. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the lives of man are once more played to the tune of a mischievous master. Though throughout the tale, Macbeth seemingly has free will, but in the end, realizes that he was just a pawn in someone’s game to be thrown away at a moment’s notice. As shown throughout the Book many times the witches tell Macbeth of his demise showing that he had truly no control of what was to come. In this case as in all cases the creator is at fault for creating Macbeth to bring horror, pain, and death to all those he betrayed.

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It was his own free will, his own actions, that caused him most of the trouble he went through. Macbeth told his wife that he was uneasy about having to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth was very manipulative and caused Macbeth to quit questioning himself and follow through. Macbeth went into Duncan’s sleeping chamber with the dagger and killed him. That was all Macbeth.

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Macbeth uses fate as an excuse to execute his plan to fulfill his desires. His prophecy is to become king but it does not say how. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Without my stir.” When he took matters in his own hands it is hard to tell if being king is the result of fate. His prophecy did not require him to do anything to be king, but the fact that he did do something shows that he freely decided on his decision.

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For centuries, there has been lots debate on whether or not there is such thing as fate or free will. To this day, people are trying to decide if one’s life is already laid out for him/her and that if no matter what he/she does that it will still unfold in a preset way, in which that they cannot change, or if one has free will and the ability to completely change his/her life. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, is not doomed by fate, but by free will. In particular, Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrates that it is not fate that determines one 's life as it is one 's flaws and choices.

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In the play Macbeth, By William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, is heavily influenced by evil witches and his own greedy wife; it seems at times that Macbeth does not make his own decisions, however, Macbeth thinks thoroughly about his actions both before and after. Macbeth shows his free will in the beginning of the play by contemplating his destiny after hearing a prophecy from the three weird sisters. The three weird sisters hail him as thane of Glamis and Cawdor and also as the future King. Since the weird sisters were right about the first two parts of the prophecy Macbeth knew the last one would come to pass as well.

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Ethan Smith Mr. Flanagan College Prep Literature 19 September 2015 Free Will in Macbeth In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare free will determines the outcome of the events. Free will is having the ability to make your own decisions. Macbeth shows free will by deciding to interfere with the witches prophecy for him.

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As described before, In Shakespeare’s time, in the Elizabethan era, it was almost unanimously believed that life is predestined and is controlled by impersonal forces (Letterpile, 2011). This point raises a very important question that relates to how Shakespeare explores fate and human will in all of his plays. In Act I Scene III, Macbeth tries to reject the witches’ prophecy that he will be king hereafter, and says that he will leave everything to chance. He says that “if chances will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir” (I.iii.143-144). In the beginning of the play, Macbeth rejects the witches’ prophecy and says that he will not do any actions to achieve this position.

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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the witches informs Macbeth of his fate that he will become the king in the future. Macbeth believes the witches words and Lady Macbeth persuade him to become the king and murder all the people that get in the way. Shakespeare shows us that fate is complicated by our actions, Macbeth will do anything to meet his fate that in the end lead him to his death because of his greediness.

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