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Examples Of Pre-Determined In Macbeth

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Macbeth: Free Will or Pre-Determined? If you have read any of William Shakespeare’s plays, you may have wondered if the characters’ destinies have been pre-determined or are being altered by the characters’ actions. For instance, when you read “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, you may have wondered if Macbeth’s destiny is pre-determined or if it is self-altered. Some people believe another force controls Macbeth’s life, and that everything is pre-determined. While the other side believes his destiny has been pre-determined. The book supports both sides but one side outweighs the other with the amount of evidence it has. Let us take a look at the first side, the people who believe that Macbeth’s free will is deciding his destiny. The main claim of the first side is that Macbeth’s destiny is being altered as he makes decisions throughout “The Tragedy of Macbeth” instead of being …show more content…

They may have evidence about Macbeth’s destiny being altered and determined by his decisions but they are not seeing the amount of evidence that the other side has. The side that believes that Macbeth’s destiny has been pre-determined outweighs the other side with the amount of concrete evidence it has. A quote that supports Macbeth’s destiny being controlled by something else is “First Witch: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Glamis!/Second Witch: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!/Third Witch: All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”(1.3.51-53). This quote tells us that the three witches are making a spell and making a prophecy that Macbeth will become ruler of Glamis, Cawdor, and Scotland. They are controlling his destiny in this quote by creating a prophecy that tells us what is going to happen to Macbeth in the end. We know that they are writing his destiny because we have seen them use their supernatural powers earlier in the

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Macbeth cannot control his paranoia and hallucinations, but he can control his actions towards the prophecies he 's given in the beginning. By the end of the play, his paranoia led to his lonely demise which showed how he believed in the prophecies. Macbeth’s control over his destiny reflects on what the play is teaching us overall. A way Macbeth is in control of his destiny is when he believes in the prophecies.

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719 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the play, the witches’ control over Macbeth developed into a strong tie with his choices. By prophesying to him, the witches essentially planted the seed that grew to dominate Macbeth’s mind. This is shown when Macbeth says, “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (1.3.70). Once Macbeth notices the prophecies becoming a reality, he starts to think about becoming king, thus fulfilling all the prophecies. Aside, Macbeth says,, “Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme” (1.3.128-129).

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984 Words | 4 Pages

Importance of control elsewhere in the play • How control is shown • Reasons for control within the play Control is a recurring theme in the play "Macbeth" as it warns the audience of the repercussions of trying to control your fate. The first key event where control features in a significant way is the witches' prophecies. They tell Macbeth that he will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland which establishes the importance of fate. Shakespeare conveys the witches as agents of evil that are deceptive and dangerous, "oftentimes to win us to our harm/the instruments of darkness tell us truths," showing that they use truth itself to influence a horrible outcome (Macbeth's tragic demise.) Their message is compelling and attractive and we

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1064 Words | 5 Pages

Firstly, the witches could have complete power over Macbeth’s destiny while he has no control whatsoever. On the other hand, there is also the argument that Macbeth carves his own path due to his ambitious nature. However, the witches cannot control the fate of Macbeth because we control our own fates, and our own actions in the present are what shapes our future. Macbeth is seen as a very ambitious character from the start of the play while fighting against the rebels, to the end when he is slain. How he decides he uses his ambition

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340 Words | 2 Pages

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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497 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the story, Macbeth is haunted by visions that symbolze his guilt and fear of punishment. these visions are a result of his own choices and actions, which lead him down a path of destruction. Although the witches prophecies do set Macbeth on a certain path, it is his own actions that lead him to murder and ignore the moral and ethical considerations that would have stopped from doing so. The prophecy may have played a role in his initial decision making, it was ultimately Macbeths own choices that determined his fate. The prophecy delivered by the 3 witches was the driving force behind his

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714 Words | 3 Pages

Despite this, it is important to acknowledge that he has complete control over his actions in response to these two external factors. The witches predict that Macbeth will become King of Scotland, but they do not force him into acting towards their sayings. In fact Macbeth goes out of his way to contact the witches again to ask for more information. Similarly, Lady Macbeth pushes for murder but does not force him into following through with her desires. She herself even had second thoughts and did not go through with the murder.

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765 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth sees these apparitions to be sweet omens. Well, he deceives himself when he says that. The witches plan to make these apparitions seem like sweet omens to Macbeth yet at the same time the truth. And it consequently comes true for Macbeth.

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381 Words | 2 Pages

" In other words, the witches may have laced their prophecy with truth in order to make Macbeth sin. Furthermore, when the witches

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893 Words | 4 Pages

These three significant apparitions “beware Macduff” and “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” and “Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him”. The apparitions are not the important things in this specific argument, it is Macbeth’s responses to these apparitions that are vital factors. Macbeth’s response to the first apparition shows how he clearly believes he is a slave to their words by saying that is fear was “harped” and he also thanks them for having “good caution” which shows that he is relying on their predictions instead of his own instinct and believes that he is doing the right thing to survive, he believes that doing as the witches say will lead to his survival. The second apparition Macbeth responds by saying, “what I need fear thee?” and saying that he will “take a bond with fate” and saying that this person “shalt not live”.

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655 Words | 3 Pages

The tragedy of Macbeth is a complex of events that leaves you wondering who is responsible for the choices and actions of Macbeth. There are external influences that cause Macbeth to take the actions he takes. The main influences of Macbeth 's choices are two, and the first are the prophecies of the witches, the second is the advice that he receives from Lady Macbeth. However, it is my opinion that the decision and actions that he takes are completely dependent on him despite the pressure he gets from his wife and the prophecy of the witches.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

At the start of the play, Macbeth visits the witches with Banquo at the closing of the battle. The witches speak to Macbeth and Banquo and get the idea of a prophecy in Macbeth’s mind. “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis./ All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor./ All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (1.3.46-48). When the witches get the prophecy in Macbeth’s mind, he believes it will come true and misunderstands the prophecy of the witches. Although the witches make Macbeth believe in the prophecy of becoming the King, Macbeth is responsible for his downfall because they do not recommend Macbeth to kill Duncan.

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1427 Words | 6 Pages

This quote conveys that Macbeth understands that he is 5.innate member of the throne from his father, but can not believe he can become the thane of Glamis. He demands them to tell him more about the future. However, he does not accuse the witches predictions as fictitious, but rather questions it because he is interested in becoming king. Macbeth seemed to have developed a temptation in the supernatural forces, later on when the two things the witches told him came true. He does not see a reason why to 6.impugn the witches predictions.

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781 Words | 4 Pages

If Macbeth had not have his own free will, they wouldn’t have all of these trouble. “Hell is murky!-Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?-Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him” (5.1.30-34). Murder of Macduff’s family and Banquo has weigh heavily on lady Macbeth mind and become mentally ill and no doctor can cure her.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

and obtains the title, which trigger an arrogant and self-absorbed thinking leading to madness and finally, death. The play seems to bring up the question, whether Macbeth is fully responsible of his own destiny, or under control of fate. In the first glance, the play seems to take rather fatalistic direction, meaning that we are powerless to make decisions as they are inevitably determined by supernatural power (Hugh 1)) It is due to the presence of supernatural forces throughout the whole play that systematically fulfills the prophecy; therefore the witches represent the idea of fate in the play. However, Shakespeare seems to rather intertwine fate with free will and perhaps even promotes the second philosophy as the play evolves.

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