Examples Of Free Will In Macbeth

William Shakespeare, a globally renowned playwright who is known for over thirty plays, wrote everything under the sun: from comedic and romantic to historic and dramatic. Shakespeare was particularly skilled at writing tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, and most notably Macbeth, to name a few. Macbeth focuses on the character Macbeth and his rise to the Scottish throne in a blood-thirsty, heinous fashion; the death count rises to double digits, an astounding ten people—Macbeth included. While not all of these deaths were at the hands of the Scot, an overwhelming amount was (over five!) causing great debate over who is to blame and whether or not the death toll was of Macbeth’s free will. For many critics, blaming others for Macbeth’s wrongdoings

Macbeth makes clear and conniving decisions to claw his way to the top and stay there. Throughout the tragedy, Macbeth demonstrates critical thinking and awareness proving his actions were within his own will. A clear point of contention in the free will debate lies with Macbeth’s state of mind where many see him as crazed or demented prior to and after the murders; if that was the case, Macbeth could more than likely plead not guilty on the basis of insanity and would thus be absolved of all wrongdoings. One key scene people bring up when proving this case has been dubbed “the Dagger speech”. In this scene, Macbeth questions the reality of the world around him and even sees a dagger in front of him that is not truly there. And, although this may seem like damning evidence that he is not mentally stable, parts of this scene showcase the

The Weïrd Sisters are the keepers of Fate and as such play a large role in Macbeth’s rise to power; it was the Weïrd Sisters who told Macbeth of the original prophecy beginning Macbeth’s yearning for power. On Macbeth’s second visit to the Witches hoping to learn more about his future, they give him a warning about his downfall, “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/Shall come against him.” (4.1.105-108). Due to the wording, Macbeth believes that an entire tree must be brought to the castle, and feels confident that he will never be vanquished, “That will never be.” (4.1.109). Afterward, Macbeth considers himself untouchable and his ego grows massive—in his mind no one can stop him! Immediately following this scene, Macbeth decides to kill again out of pure spite; knowing that he is unstoppable, he easily gets his killing goons to do his bidding. His target, the Macduff family, were casualties as a result of his ego, he had nothing to gain politically from killing them. His actions, no doubt, resulted from him realizing his invincibility which emboldened him to kill even more. Someone who is deranged or insane would kill on impulse just to kill on impulse, they wouldn’t take their time to double-check that there will be no repercussions