Examples Of Free Will In Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, there is a question as to whether or not Macbeth is driven by fate or free will. The three weird sisters approach Macbeth with prophecies that will all come true in the end. It would appear that Macbeth is just following destiny at first. However, Macbeth always had a choice throughout the play to choose his own fate. Macbeth journeyed to his murderous doom through his own free choice.

Macbeth is not condemned to his fate exclusively by his decision to murder Duncan but continues to make choices that result in his undoing after this point. These later decisions can, in fact, be seen as being more definitively Macbeth's own will, as they are made independent of Lady Macbeth's influence and, unlike Macbeth's first murder, in an attempt to avoid rather than achieve a prophecies completion. Macbeth organises Banquo's murder to fight

In the beginning of the play, a group of witches prophesize that Macbeth would become king, and Macbeth decides to act on this and kill the king himself. After killing Duncan, he states that “There is none but (Banquo) whose being I do fear” and decides to kill him as well (3.1.59). He heard the witches say that Banquo’s sons would be kings, which threatened Macbeth’s position. Therefore, because Banquo and his family would likely become a threat, Macbeth killed them. This choice to remove Banquo was in order to protect himself, and was a result of the free will that he had. Similarly, in the final act when an army was rebelling against him, he told his staff to “Hang those that talk of fear” (5.3.43). He did not want fear to spread through his town because this would weaken his defense, and so this statement was another example of protecting himself. In fact, this command illustrates his free will even further because none of the supernatural had anything to do with it, showing that the decision was made completely by free will. However, some may say that these examples of removing his enemies were a result of the fated desires of the supernatural, such as when Macbeth said “Hear (the bell) not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell”

Throughout the story of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth acts in a much despised manner: he becomes a murderer and later, when king of Scotland, a tyrant. Many who have read or seen the play are left wondering how a man’s whole approach to life can change; how Macbeth turned from the hero whom all adored, to the tyrant who was hated and ended up a lone man, fighting for his life.

First off, Macbeth encounters the witches and gets a sense of his future of having power as a king. That information gives off a craving for his deepest desire and it influences his actions to deliberately make his future come true. (http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/does-macbeth-have-free-will-his-actions-why-why-336). But if fate is in control of him then fate would have make it come to him instead of Macbeth doing all the work. He even pondered himself that “if chance will have me king/why chance may crown me without my stir.” (1.3. 156-158). But after, it was clearly seen that his actions were not with his destiny. All the wrong deed that he has done is his fault. It should be himself to blame not Lady Macbeth’s strong persuasion when he decided that “I am settled, and bend up/each corporal agent to this terrible feat.” (1.7. 89-90). He had a long soliloquy about his rights and wrongs if he did this crime. If fate was behind his actions in this murder than why does he still kill King Duncan if he knew his consequences? To that scene

While Macbeth’s downfall is caused by his own decisions, fate still does play a role. If the witches had not given him the prophecy that he would become king, Macbeth may never have decided to murder Duncan, the act that caused him to continue his downwards spiral into madness and cruelty. Fate can also be considered to encompass the free will of other characters in the play, as Macbeth cannot control their actions or make decisions for them. If Lady Macbeth had not spurred Macbeth towards the murder of Duncan, Macbeth may have made a different decision when he heard the bell ring. If Macduff had not fled to England, Macbeth may not have been motivated to kill everyone residing at Fife, which led Macduff to seek revenge by killing Macbeth. However, Macbeth never lost the option to choose how he would react to each of these events presented to him by fate. He clearly was able to think for himself, as evidenced by his

Shakespeare shows during the play that choices made by people can ultimately destroy them, and that fate does not decide the future of Macbeth. Macbeth makes many terrible choices throughout his life, mostly brought on by greed. One of these choices that Macbeth makes is killing King Duncan, which he comes to regret when he can not safely be King: “To be thus is nothing, But to be safely thus” (Macbeth Act 3 Sc 1 li. 50-51). Fate does not decide that Macbeth will kill the King, rather, Macbeth decides this for himself. The witches tell Macbeth that he will soon become King, and this gets into his head to destroy his sense of morality. Macbeth becomes reliant on the gaining of new power through more bad decisions. In order for Macbeth to safely

Free will or fate, which rules the future? Fate by definition is the development of events beyond a person’s control. Free will is the ability to act on one’s own discretion. In Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth’s free will means he makes his own poor choices that leads to his downfall.

Macbeth’s Free Will The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is about a Scotsman who, after hearing a prophecy from three witches, decides to murder the king of Scotland so that he can gain power and become the king. After he does this, he kills many people in order to preserve his reign. Since Macbeth kills so many people, many people do not like Macbeth, two of which are Macduff and Malcolm. These two have had their families killed and seek revenge on Macbeth. To do this, they build an army from England and fight Macbeth eventually leading to Macbeth’s death.

Whether it be the choice of what breakfast cereal to eat in the morning, what college to attend, or what career to pursue, choices are a fundamental part of the human experience, and they have been written about since the inception of literature. Jean Nidetch once wrote, “It’s choice - not chance - that determines your destiny. The concept of destiny and free will has been argued throughout history, and this concept is exemplified in the story of Macbeth. Macbeth perfectly exemplifies this maxim, as his conscious choices throughout the story determined his destiny. Macbeth’s fate was not set in stone, he made the conscious choice to commit the atrocities he did.

The gruesome and supernatural play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, captures the audience's attention in the very first scene and does not let it go. Through countless murders and arguably psychotic main characters the play conveys a mystifying message which has drawn people to it for centuries. The play, which includes mythical aspects such as prophecies, fate, and the three witches, details the antagonist Macbeth's actions and the prophecies given to him. The idea of fate and it’s ability to control the whole plot of the play is brought into question but free will can also be argued as a controlling factor of the characters. Throughout the play, the idea of fate versus free will is a prominent theme; however, ultimately Macbeth controls his own actions and little fate is involved in his downfall.

In the play, ‘Macbeth’ the playwright, William Shakespeare depicts many examples of free will which cause Macbeth to suffer under the decisions that he made. Macbeth uses his free will to make multiple decisions to gain full control by becoming king of Scotland. Macbeth’s decisions that he makes in the play cause him to suffer in numerous ways. His decisions of listening to the witches’ prophecies, his wife Lady Macbeth and his will to kill many to fulfill the prophecies make Macbeth suffer physically and mentally. Macbeth suffers from the death of Banquo, the loss of loyalty from the people of Scotland and Malcolm becoming king. This causes Macbeth to suffer when he decides to give up as he has nothing left to go back to and fight MacDuff until death. Each and every decision he makes, causes him to suffer the consequences that lead him to his tragic ending.

Many would say that fate and free will are two opposing ideas. Though from a philosophical standpoint, they could be the same thing. Maybe free will has an affect on fate, or fate on free will. Or perhaps, everything is a self-fulfilling prophecy, where one believes in free will and acts accordingly, only to fulfill his own fate. In reality, anything that occurs could be considered fate, and not a result of free will, despite that only free will has tangible evidence of causation; choices made.

In Macbeth, Shakespeare presents a theme of free choice dictating the path life follows, rather than predestination or fate. This concept is highlighted in fall of Macbeth and his wife from greatness, dignity, and, of course, the cliché grace. Macbeth’s descent from a respected thane of Scotland to a power hungry, bloodthirsty maniac may seem to be completely orchestrated by the witches; however, though the witches may play a hand in starting Macbeth down this dark path, a closer look shows that what ensues falls solely up to Macbeth. The witches’ prophecies have a tendency towards classically self-fulfilling. Without their promise that Macbeth would one day become king, Macbeth would never have dreamed of killing anyone off of the battlefield; however, the witches never once mentioned murder.

Macbeth before finding out what his "fate" was, was a kind man who was loyal to his king. Throughout the play, Macbeth allowed "fate" to justify the actions he was taking of own free will. His own free will caused Macbeth to murdering Duncan, leading Malcolm to raise an army against Macbeth; his own free will also lead MacDuff to turn the Thanes of Scotland against their own king, both these actions made by Macbeths' own free will led to his own downfall, not "fate" as he thought. This represents that all actions and decisions should not be done in the name of “fate” as you have free will to make those