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What Is The Role Of Prophecy In Macbeth

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In the play Macbeth, the lead role “Macbeth” was given a prophecy. Part of the prophecy stated that Macbeth would be king. Macbeth made decisions to make the prophecies come true, rather than believing that his actions were predetermined. Shakespeare, the author of Macbeth, probably believed that fate is never predetermined. I believe Macbeth’s actions were the cause of his own decisions, and that he did what he could to make his prophecies come true. Macbeth did not consider becoming king until he receives his prophecy. This prophecy is given to him by the Weird Sisters. As a reader, this poses the question, “Would Macbeth have considered becoming king if it were not for the Weird Sisters?” For example, soon after seeing the three witches, Macbeth decided to kill the present King at the time, Duncan. It is fairly clear that Macbeth receives these ideas from the weird sisters. However, Macbeth makes the decision to kill Duncan on his own without fate being responsible. …show more content…

He was the one who became paranoid and killed many innocent people, including: Banquo, Fleance, MacDuff’s family, and Siward’s son. These were all of Macbeth’s free will, but his actions proved the prophecy to be correct. Macbeth fulfilled the prophecy because he had prior knowledge of it. This idea is a paradox in itself because it can never be known if Macbeth would have fought for the throne without previously knowing his prophecy. In conclusion, Macbeth’s fate was not predetermined; the decisions he made were fully his.While he might of been influenced by the prophecy, he still completed the actions of his own free

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In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare a character Macbeth was told he was going to be king and he did everything in his power to make it happen. Macbeth tries to control the future by listening to lady macbeth and takes matters into his own hands to become king he did unspeakable things to make sure his prophecy came true. Macbeth allowed Lady Macbeth to convince him to not wait around to be king and take action to make certain that he will become king. Three witches told Macbeth that he would soon become king and when lady Macbeth heard she knew she would become queen so she became adamant on it happening she couldn't wait for the prophecy so she fed Macbeth terrible ideas for the prophecy to come true sooner than

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Macbeth’s knowledge of the prophecies told to him by the weird sisters, causes him to take fate into his own hands, even though he expects his actions to be pre-planned by fate. Macbeth’s first encounter with the weird sisters is when they tell him about the first prophecy and he starts his journey to power. The first witch says, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter! (1.3.53).”

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The question of if humans are truly responsible for their own actions has sparked a debate in humanity throughout history. In the non-fiction article, “Freewill and Determinism” written by Saul McLeod, he compares the different aspects of freewill and determinism. Throughout the article, McLeod explains how freewill and determinism, while very different, go hand in hand with each other. To go with that, in the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, many of the explanations in the article as to why people do what they do can be helpful when trying to figure out Macbeth's poor decision making. To begin the story, Macbeth was a trustworthy and loyal warrior for King Duncan.

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Fate, destiny, prophecy all important pieces of tall tales, stories, and legends, that give everything and everyone an unchangeable path. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the lives of man are once more played to the tune of a mischievous master. Though throughout the tale, Macbeth seemingly has free will, but in the end, realizes that he was just a pawn in someone’s game to be thrown away at a moment’s notice. As shown throughout the Book many times the witches tell Macbeth of his demise showing that he had truly no control of what was to come. In this case as in all cases the creator is at fault for creating Macbeth to bring horror, pain, and death to all those he betrayed.

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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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