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Macbeth Free Will Essay

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In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses side characters to amplify Macbeth's true ambitions, which lead him to kill the king. Leaving fate behind and only the will of evil Macbeth to display the consequences of disrupting God and the natural order. After a battle, Banquo and Macbeth encounter three witches who prophesy that Macbeth will become king. At first, he considers this fate, but eventually, his ambitions come into play, causing him to kill King Duncan. Macbeth's contemplation, "If chance will have me, king, why, chance may/crown me/Without my stir" (1.3 167-169), discusses the use of fate or free will. As Macbeth says, "If chance will have me, king," he initially believes fate will guide his actions. Macbeth believes "chance" or fate will crown him king "without my stir" or his actions. …show more content…

Macbeth's portrayal of fate is short-lived as he states, "I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/And falls on th' other—" (1.7 25-28) depicting his shift from fate to free will; acknowledging his ambitions are the force behind his intent to kill Duncan, not a used pawn, but the executor. His "Vaulting ambition" is so powerful that it allows him to disrupt God's natural order. Shakespeare uses this action to represent that God's doing should not be disrupted, leaving his paranoia, madness, and downfall as a repercussion. Shakespeare has Macbeth able to avoid his tragic fate, conveying that an individual duty is required to determine the course of oneself. The article, "Tanistry, the 'Due of Birth' and Macbeth's Sin," by Michael J.C. Euchero, delivers a distinctive view on the motivation of Macbeth relating to Christianity. He uses Christianity to discuss the complexity and guilt surrounding Macbeth's

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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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Following the witches’ prophecy, proclaiming that Macbeth shall be king, Macbeth is under the impression that “If chance will have [him] king, why, chance may crown [him] / Without [his] stir” (Macbeth, 1.3.145-146). Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is adamant “That [she] may pour [her] spirits in [Macbeth’s] ear / And chastise with the valor of [her] tongue / All that impedes [him] from the golden round” (Macbeth, 1.5.25-27). Although Macbeth wants to be king, he hesitates to take action and earn it. Lady Macbeth is aware of her husband’s inability to pursue his ambition; she is also aware that, with her persuasion, Macbeth will give in to his ambition and abandon the morals that hold him back.

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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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