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Examples Of Free Will In Macbeth

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In many circumstances it can be hard to understand why something happened, especially whether it was fate or free will. If it was fate then what was going to happen was already decided, and if it was free will then whatever the character chooses will result in a different ending. In Macbeth, a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, Lord Macbeth receives multiple prophecies that end up coming true which leads many to believe that all of his actions are a result of fate, but along the way it is shown that Macbeth tends to make his own decisions showing that it could also be a result of free will. Even though Macbeth wasn’t able to escape his fate or prove that the witches prophecies were false, Macbeth's downfall was a result of free will, seeing that he made …show more content…

As soon as Macbeth becomes than he realizes that if everything is going to be decided by fate he is just going to wait for it to happen. Shortly after he becomes very impatient saying “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/ On which I must fall down or else o’erleap,/ For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;/ Let not light see my black and deep desires./ The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be/ Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” (1.4.55-60) At this point Macbeth doesn’t feel that he could wait much longer to become kind because nothing was happening. He also knew that Malcolm was getting in the way, so he decided to do something about it, which lead to the murder of Duncan. Earlier on Macbeth thought that if the witches were right, he might as well let fate take its course. According to the prophecies "If chance will have me king, why, chance may/ crown me/ Without my stir.” (1.4.157-159) Macbeth doesn’t want to do something terrible at this point in order for himself to become king, so he’s decides to just wait it out. This decision though, ends up being an

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Macbeth knows that if he kills Duncan, he gets the satisfaction in being king. Once Macbeth receives the position of “Thane of Cawdor” for his bravery so easily. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my sir”(1.3.143-144). So he begins to think that since he received this higher position with doing nothing, then maybe doing nothing can crown him king. Although he was a very nice person, down deep he wanted to become king.

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implied that Macbeth was glorify violence and how hard he tried to against the fate, the outcome will efficiency internecine. In Act 1, scene 7, Lady Macbeth was trying to engage Macbeth ‘ to be a man’ and then to kill Duncan get the throne, Macbeth was hesitant however he said ‘I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none. ’ This demonstrates that Macbeth were obsessed with the power and to trust the weird witches, the fate. The line ‘If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.

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905 Words | 4 Pages

The quote shows Macbeth’s free will because he could have left or ignored the witches instead of demanding more information about his future. Another action that shows free will is Young Siward confronting Macbeth. As Malcolm is attacking Macbeth’s castle Young Siward goes and confronts Macbeth inside.

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742 Words | 3 Pages

Then, when hearing of the potent prophecy that will change his life from the three weird witches, Macbeth has the resistible mindset that “if chance will have me king, why chance crown me without my stir” ( I, iii, 142-143). This quote means that, even

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214 Words | 1 Pages

In the story Macbeth by William Shakespeare our protagonist Macbeth is in the midst of a sticky situation. He has been given an opportunity to become king, a feet thought not feasible. Unfortunately for Macbeth, the only way he can become king is to kill off the current king, King Duncan. If he decides to go through with the plan, he will become king. He will have a lot more power then he currently has as a general, but he will feel very compunctious if he does decide to kill him.

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Macbeth resolves to make choices to safeguard his power and challenge the fate the witches’ bestow upon him with an unsightly mix of arrogance and ambition, for he believes that his title as king means nothing if he is constantly in fear of losing it. “To be thus is nothing but to be safely thus….prophet like, they hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my grip, thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so, for Banquo’s issue have I filled my mind; for them the gracious Duncan have I murdered; put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them; and mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list, and champion me to th’ utterance” (III.

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900 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth believes that fate will not appoint him king as fast as he would like it to, he knows that to become king as fast as possible that he must intervene with fate. As a result, Macbeth begins to imagine himself doing this exact act, he knows it’s a horrific thought to be thinking, but that just shows how desperately he wants to become king; he would commit the greatest sinful crime a person can commit. As he stood aside Macbeth says to himself “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, / Against the use of nature?

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They reveal their prophecies to him, and let him know that he will succeed Duncan as king in the future. Macbeth goes back and forth trying to decide whether or not he should kill the king in order to take his place quickly, or let fate play out and allow everything to unfold organically. His original thought was “If chance will have me king, why, chance may/crown me /Without my stir.” (I.iii.157-159), so he continued being his loyal self.

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775 Words | 4 Pages

The events that take place in Macbeth are both the choices he makes and the witches prophecies. Fate and free will is what causes Macbeth to fall in the end. In Act 1, Macbeth is content with his future being led by “chance.” He says “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (I.iii.143-144).

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The story of Macbeth started out with Macbeth being a noble and righteous man but in the end he became a ruthless tyrant hated by all. Macbeth knew that if he didn't change his ways he would of never been king so he weighted being king, ruler of scotland or just a nobel that would had to quietly obey the king. Macbeth knew the consequences and even so being king to him seemed much better than a measly nobel. Even when Macbeth was told by 3 witches that he was going to indeed become him he was stuck with two choices either one wait it out however long it may be and become him or assassinate the current king, Duncan and seize his throne and become king in that instance. Macbeth had thought it through and then said “Now I’m decided and I will exert every muscle in my body to commit this crime”(Pg 47).

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Hail to you, You’ll be king one day!”(Shakespeare, 1985, pp. 30). Once he sees the idea of being king a possibility, he starts to take fate into his own hands; this way he knows the prophecies will come true (Moss & Wilson, 1997). Another example of this, is when the witches show Macbeth the three apparitions and provide him with a false sense of security (Shakespeare, 1985, pp. 138 & 140). Macbeth in reaction to this believed nothing could harm him and became careless with his rule ad king. He puts his defenses down and in the end it leads to his inevitable death, when Macduff beheads

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999 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth had another chance to change his outcome. his wife was consumed with the idea that he would become king, so much so that she pushed him to kill the current King. She said she couldn 't do it because King Duncan looked too much like her own father. Macbeth could have easily dismissed this and not listened to his mentally dwindling wife, “Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, to cry ‘hold, hold!’” He followed the instructions of his wife and killed the king.

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781 Words | 4 Pages

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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723 Words | 3 Pages

Fate Versus Free Will In Macbeth Fate versus free will is a theme well known throughout literature and in life as well. Is life controlled by fate, or are people’s lives dependent on the choices they make? In Macbeth, Shakespeare emphasizes the idea of fate vs. freewill, indicating that both elements play a role in the lives of individuals, as well as society as a whole. The main character, Macbeth’s, life is a combination of fate and his conscious decisions. The witches in Macbeth can control the fates of many, but only to a point.

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230 Words | 1 Pages

Macbeth faces an arduous decision of either murdering the king, so he can become the king or letting it happen naturally. The witches appear to Macbeth and say to him: “Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (Macbeth Act I Sc 3 li. 52-53). Macbeth is then informed that he will become king.

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