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Fate And Free Will In Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

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As long as man controls the fate or destiny of others, confirms that there is no natural way of living.In the play Macbeth, man have controlled each other's fate of destiny by commands. During the murder of King Duncan, Banquo got commanded awake,”Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit,”by Lenox, (2.3.88.92) meaning wake up death is here near us.Throughout the book Banquo has gotten commands from other people but this command was telling him to stay awake because of the death of a king and not just any king, but king Duncan and when that happened Banquo now knows what the the future of his destiny would be.Later in the book Banquo talks about,“There’s husbandry in heaven;/ Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.A heavy
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Can someone force you to commit an act they believe is wrong? Here are two aspects of our lives that we control. You have control of yourself you choose what you want to do in your life no one chooses it for you. You also have control of the decisions you make it can be good or bad. If you do something good you choose to do that no anybody else.

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The last thing that the witches predict is that macduff will kill macbeth, which happens. So the real question is did Macbeth have free will or was it fate that ended him? It is very easy to predict the fact that Macbeth was controlled by fait. Macbeth was easily controlled by fait. At the beginning of the story he had no idea he would ever be king.

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In the play Macbeth, Macbeth’s fate is what drives him to his decisions for both power and greed. This is portrayed when Macbeth when he kills Banquo and his son because his greed sees them as a threat to his throne, killing the king for power above all mortals, and his fate ultimately leading to his death and freeing time. Macbeth has done countless sins in order to keep his rightful position as king, though his greed for power has led to him killing his best friend Banquo because the witches have predicted that Banquo’s descendants will be king. “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.”

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Does Macbeth acts upon fate or does he have free will towards his decisions? Many argue that Macbeth is not genuinely responsible for his evil actions; on the other hand, they excuse him with the assumption that he is just a victim of a dark fate he can’t escape from. I do believe the witches, who stated the prophecy regarding his future, played a really important role in his decision-making. However, from a personal perspective, I dare to say that Macbeth is definitely the real one to blame in relation to all of his evil decisions. The witches never really forced him to do anything he didn’t want to, it was his own free will to act upon his decisions, once the witches stated his prophecy about him obtaining reign and power, the idea about ambition got stuck in his head, leading him to terrible choices and causing his own downfall.

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Throughout life, most people have the chance to make their own decisions. With these decisions, there will either be good or bad outcomes. In the case of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, these decisions lead to a very grave consequence; a tragedy. The main character in the play, aptly named Macbeth, makes some choices that do not match with the morals of mankind.

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Romeo And Juliet is a universal and timeless story that can be connected to any day and time. Also, the story has a certain touch that leaves you wanting to read it over and over again. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet were caused by free will because Romeo and Juliet were not being forced to be together although they still ended up together that leads up to both of their deaths. Romeo and Juliet did not have to be together, they clearly made bad decisions and ended up being together. There were several points in the story that show how these two children did things that ended them both to be with each other.

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Macbeth murders his lifelong friend for his own benefit, exercising his free will. Consequently, Macbeth is met with a manifestation of his guilt, Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth reassures himself of his sanity with the old saying, “[b]lood will have blood” (Shakespeare 3.4.123). Macbeth’s moral descent denies the lack of ethical decision-making in the murder of Banquo. As a result, Macbeth reinstates the cycle of violence, ignorantly justifying that his actions are ones of destiny and not free

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“If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare 144). Macbeth, a loyal subject to his king has an encounter that will change his fate with an ultimate effect on his free will. They claim three predictions, Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor and later crowned King but Macbeths lineage will not maintain the throne. After this supernatural confrontation, Macbeth questions this loyalty which will ultimately lead to his new fate carried out (LitCharts 1). Fully capable to act upon his own free will, Macbeth instead is driven by fate to his destruction which gives further insight of his character advancement.

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Culture Affecting the Idea of Fate and Freewill Most people today no longer have beliefs in prophecies but Macbeth and Oedipus do just that. The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare and Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles both introduce the idea of fate and freewill. Although Oedipus is influenced by fate and Macbeth is influenced by freewill, both cultures, Ancient Greece and the Elizabethan Era, influenced their belief in prophecies. Oedipus did not purposely choose to murder his father or bed his mother, he was purely oblivious to these facts. His fate was already established by his true parents.

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Fate is a prediction of someone’s life and the internal and external forces playing a role in that person’s destiny. In Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth”, Macbeth is a victim of his prescribed destiny. Three witches, the people closest to Macbeth, and most importantly, his own ego and actions, determine his prescribed destiny. Three witches appear to Macbeth after King Duncan finds out he is betrayed by the Thane of Cawdor.

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The ideas of fate and freewill have been debated on for years. Citizens of the twenty-first century often believe that life is a combination of fate and personal choices. The truth is, the question has gone through all of our minds whether we know of it or not. Are our lives predetermined or do we pave our own paths? To this day, when something goes wrong in my life, my parents often tell me “it was meant to be.”

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One of the most critical ideas surrounding tragedies is fate and destiny. The idea that an individual’s life is predetermined is associated with many great works of Shakespeare, and transcending through stories, if human beings have free will. If all humans carry free will, does that mean that all humans are responsible for their crimes and inhumanities. Undoubtedly, both topics are explored through the play, but Macbeth corrupts himself with his own destructive actions. The Tragedy of Macbeth stems from the fearless, hero of Scotland who then turned into a ruthless king who will kill anyone he sees as a threat.

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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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On many occasions, people can be given half truths, like Macbeth was by the apparitions in Act 4, Scene 1, but it is the individual’s job to take from it what they will as Macbeth did, and make their own destiny. Another character that fate vs. freewill affected in Macbeth, was Malcolm, the rightful heir to the Scottish throne. It was Malcolm’s fate to take over when his father Duncan died, but it was his free will that led him to flee Scotland when Duncan was murdered in Act 2, Scene

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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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