Theme Of Freewill In Macbeth

As the first scenes unfold we immediately get the sense of courage, bravery and nobility from one of the main characters, Macbeth, because he has just taken part in a battle and won. Following the battle he and another character, Banquo, come across three witches that have prophecies for the both of them. Macbeth’s ultimately states he will become thane of Cawdor and Banquo’s states that although he won’t rule, his sons will. The two men are skeptical once they leave, that is until Macbeth’s first part of the prophecy comes true and he is in fact named thane of Cawdor. With this new information that he believes to be true and a sense of hope, we see how the once brave warrior’s actions set up the rest of this gruesome play and his own death.

It was his own free will, his own actions, that caused him most of the trouble he went through. Macbeth told his wife that he was uneasy about having to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth was very manipulative and caused Macbeth to quit questioning himself and follow through. Macbeth went into Duncan’s sleeping chamber with the dagger and killed him. That was all Macbeth. Yes, he did have his wife urging him to do so from the side but it was Macbeth stabbing and killing Duncan that caused the chain of events to unravel. Macbeth also ordered murderers to kill Banquo because he fears his family taking over the throne. Although Macbeth himself did not kill this time, he ordered people to do it on his behalf. He is then haunted by Banquo’s ghost and the guilt. Macbeth begins to fear Macduff who is an heir to the throne, so to fix it he orders another killing. Macbeth has Macduff’s family executed and when the word reaches Macduff he sets out for his revenge. As all of this is happening, Lady Macbeth is full of guilt due to the murders her husband has caused and so she kills herself. Macbeth basically caused his wife’s death along with many others through this

As soon as he commits his first murder he is overcome with grief. He is afraid of the blood on his hands. In this play blood obviously represents blood but also guilt. Macbeth can’t get over his guilt and begins to go almost mad. He is constantly worrying about who will be taking over what throne and trying to have them killed because he is so greedy and wants to rule. He is haunted by Banquo, the man he had killed, at a dinner with nobility and others of high power. In the end he falls into a despair because his wife has just committed suicide, it causes him to lose his hope and will. After the first murder he is just constantly guilty, haunted or sad and it doesn’t end for him at any point. The more he attempted to gain more power, the greater the loss it was causing