Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Macbeth - Important Role of Fate

Fate versus free will is a huge theme in the play Macbeth. It is Macbeth's fate that leads his free will to act the way he does. When the witches say "All hail Macbeth the future king" (I.iii.51) it leads Macbeth down a road of death and self-destruction. If Macbeth hadn't known

The first idea of “Fate” is brought about with the line from the Weird Sisters “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, thou shalt be king hereafter! (1.3.6). ” To Macbeth this seemed like a two-part prophecy of things to come, although in actuality he had

Throughout life, many of us will find ourselves in some of the worst situations that leave us wondering who’s to blame. The truth is that the misfortunes that befall us are due to our own actions and sometimes due to fate or bad luck. Fate is one person's destiny and it can not be understood by simple mortals but a greater power beyond human comprehension. Fate is so powerful that it can control a person's outcome on life before it happens. Many people tend to become victims of fate in which they catch a glimpse of what their future is going to look like, but do not totally take hold of the outcome. Macbeth can not fully realize the possible outcome of his fate because he is human, and therefore is a victim to his power driven

Throughout the play, Macbeth proves that there is a destiny, it just a matter of how one chooses to attain it. Destiny is a thing to be achieved, through choices. Fate has no bearing over what choices are made. Yet, Macbeth may not have made the same choices

Fate has sundry meanings. One of the meanings of fate: power that predetermines events. Destiny’s definition suggests that events will occur and do not change. Whatever unravels in life cannot change by mankind. The statement has undivulged meanings; fate has the opportunity to change if the person wants events to end differently. However, wrong decisions will only seal fate. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, The fate becomes confirmed through Lady Macbeth wanting more power, Macbeth’s inner conflict, and the three witches tricking Macbeth and leading him to his demise.

During several soliloquies and asides Macbeth expresses his "black and deep desires" (1.5.51) to become King and gradually overcomes his moral reluctance and foreboding long enough to kill Duncan. The independence of Macbeth in this decision is best described when he states:

Despite the common association between the supernatural and fate, Macbeth made all of his decisions throughout the play with his own free will, including choosing to fulfill the prophecies of the supernatural. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth stated that “If chance will

Fate is one person's destiny, it cannot be understood by mere mortals but a greater power beyond human comprehension. Fate is so powerful that it controls a person's outcome on life before it happens. Many people become victims of fate in which they catch a glimpse of what their future is going to look like, but do not totally grasp the outcome. Macbeth cannot fully comprehend the possible outcome of his fate because he is mortal, and therefore is a victim to his power driven quest and his ultimate fate. Many have been said to agree with this statement. For example, as stated in Shakespeare A to Z, "The Witches are an enactment of the irrational. The supernatural world if terrifying because it is beyond human control, and in the play it is

Shakespeare’s Macbeth represents how the burdensome decisions made by characters in the play during their pursuit for power determines their destiny.

Throughout the play “Macbeth” Shakespeare uses multiple examples of strong diction, paradox, metaphors, and imagery to demonstrate the theme that fate is inevitable. These examples also help emphasize that the witches are in control of Macbeth's severe and hostile actions throughout the tragic play. Without the witches prophecies the idea of murder would have never crossed Macbeth’s mind. After the witches informed Macbeth that he would soon become king he was willed to do anything to make sure this bizarre prophecy would come true.

The prophecies understood by the witches are the basis for Macbeth’s weakness of insecurity and in turn is one of the flaws which contribute to his downfall.

Yet after his encounter with the witches, his mind was going back and forth trying to figure out how he should act upon the prophecy of becoming king! It was by then that the idea of fate had been planted into his head, and with such good title to come with it, why wouldn’t he want to believe his ‘fate’? Something that I found very interesting about the witches was that looking closely at line 24-25 when one of the witches says, "Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tossed." From what I seemed to understand, these lines seemed to really show the limitations to the witches’ powers, because they were basically saying that they could only make life rough for the clueless captain, but they could not kill him. I think that this is really important to all the people who thought that the witches had ‘written out’ Macbeth’s fate because in the same way as the previous stated scene they can tempt Macbeth with predictions about his future, but they cannot make him choose evil. Meaning that in this scene, one of the conflicts is obviously fate vs. free will! All the witches really did was find a way of stirring up evil, by tempting Macbeth into choosing to opt for evil instead of good. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.” (Act 1. Scene iii. Line 10). Here, Macbeth seems content to leave his future to "chance." If "chance" will have

In the Elizabethan Era, society was highly suspicious of the power of supernatural forces and it was commonly accepted that one’s life was governed by fate and was predetermined. Shakespeare’s Macbeth challenges the Elizabethan ideology of fate by privileging that although Macbeth was a victim of his “vaulting ambition” (1:VII 27), he was ultimately responsible for his villainous actions. Shakespeare has foregounded certain events to privilege that a person has free will and a concience and the cosequences of going against one's conscience, thus challenging the assumption of the Elizabethan Era. The audience is invited to sympathise with the protagonist, Macbeth, and see him as a tragic hero. Before his descent into evil, Macbeth

Some people say that a person’s fate is pre-determined. That nothing they do in life is by accident and everything that one does has been decided by a higher power. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare explores the theme of fate by allowing the audience to be party to his characters’ destiny. In the opening lines of the play the audience is told what is going to happen to the lovers, “a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” Throughout the story, the audience is put in an omnipotent, god-like position from the start encouraging them to think about fate and to what extent our actions are free. In Macbeth, the idea of one character becoming both victim and villain is introduced. Macbeth falls prey to others' deception, and is supplanted

In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth, a once honored and valiant Thane, abandons all virtue after three meddling witches prophesize his ascent to the Scottish throne. Consumed by his ambition and encouraged by his malevolent wife, Macbeth sets forth on a downward spiral of murderous treason and tyranny that subsequently leads to his own demise. This Shakespearean tragedy explores betrayal, manipulation and the blood lust that adjoins a relentless climb for power. Hovering behind the narrative are various supernatural forces and visions that seem to be present during each terrible act. Subsequently, a question prevails whether Macbeth’s downfall is result of his own flaw or if these forces possess a vice-like hold over