Examples Of Free Will In Macbeth

Fate vs Free Will is one of the most oft used literary techniques in writing. It is never more evident than in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The major theme of the story Macbeth is whether or not the story is fueled by the free will of Macbeth, or by his fate. Are the events in Macbeth a result of his mentality and outlook on life, or were they going to happen no matter what? Almost every major event that takes place can be traced back to this question. It can be viewed in different ways, and most people have their own opinions. Dissecting this question is a part of what makes teaching Macbeth still have so much value to this day. But there is a clear answer to this question upon further dissection. The story of Macbeth is fueled by his free

   Destiny "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." (William Jennings Bryan) Are we in control of our own destiny, our own fate, or are our lives really already planned and mapped out for us? Does Macbeth willfully choose evil in order to achieve his "destiny"? Or, is his "destiny" doomed by the witches' prophecies? Macbeth may not have made any of his same choices, if the three Weird sisters hadn't come to him. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Macbeth is no pawn of fate. Although Macbeth was destined to become king, the path he chose to take to achieve his aspiration of obtaining the throne was of his own free

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.

In many stories fate is said to determine the paths that people lead in their lives. However, even though some events can seem like fate to the people experiencing them, these people always made their own decisions that led to them. Although some of the events in the tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare may lead readers to believe that fate determined many of Macbeth’s actions, the truth is that Macbeth made all of the decisions in the story through his own free will.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, is a brave and loyal subject to the King of Scotland, but as the play progresses, his character begins to change drastically. Evil and unnatural powers, as well as his own passion to become king, take over his better half and eventually lead to his downfall. The three main factors that intertwine with one another that contribute to Macbeth’s tragic end are the prophecies told by the three witches, Lady Macbeth’s influence, and finally, Macbeth’s excessive passion and ambition which drove his desire to become king to the utmost extreme. The prophecy told by the three witches was what triggers the other factors that contribute to Macbeth s downfall. In the first act, the witches

In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, we see the effect the white missionaries had on an African tribe and the antihero Okonkwo. The main character Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Achebe depicts Okonkwo as a Shakespearean hero with a tragic flaw, that tragic flaw is the fact that he will do anything in his power not to be a weak man like his father Unoka. Okonkwo did what he did because he hated his father and would do anything in his power to be the exact opposite of his father.

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

Even if he was fated to become king, he made the decision to murder Duncan to obtain that fate. Macbeth walked down fate’s path and chose which fork in the road he would follow. Macbeth even admits that he could leave his kingship up to fate, stating that “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.” (I, iii, 47-48) Macbeth is aware of the fact that if his destiny is determined, he does not need to take any action at all for it to come true.

Free will is a gift that everyone is born with, but what people do with it can determine our fate. In Macbeth, Macbeth is a perfectionist who believes that he has a deal with fate, which is that it will give him a good life if his choices in life are for good, and this deal makes his life driven by free will to make sure that his fate treats him well. Macbeth violates his own deal and has a physiological crisis, causing him to gain violent tendencies. He is overwhelmed with fear and self-hate after realizing that he broke the deal. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth receives his prophecy from the witches, which he sees as a contract with fate to himself, which he signs, leading to his ambition growing.

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

It is a characteristic of individuals to have a desire for wealth. This demonstration of avarice brings individuals to a downfall. Like different characters, this same experience occurs in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. The witches and Lady Macbeth have an essential part in the play, they control Macbeth and his activities, however it is his decision to acknowledge the supposition of others. He is mindful of the moves he makes.

Free will, by definition, is “the power of acting without the constraint of fate.” Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the question brought up is whether the future of Macbeth is determined by free will or fate. Macbeth has his future prophesied for him by three witches. Although Macbeth’s future is predetermined for him, the first fulfilled prophecy of the witches is a result of Macbeth making his own decision to murder Duncan and become king.

In conclusion, Okonkwo exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. His character has many tragic flaws, including, fear of weakness, hubris, and his work ethic, which in the end lead to his death. His life and death provoke pity and fear for the audience. Okonkwo becomes noble and is a great leader overall in the story. In the end, Chinua Achebe has shown an expressive character that evidently can be called a tragic

“Macbeth”, one of William Shakespeare’s many famous plays, and the story that it follows is one that is quite unfortunate. The protagonist, Macbeth, is a thane in Scotland who after a battle meets three witches who grant him three prophecies, one is of the title that he already held, another is of a position he would receive moments later, and the last most lofty one is that Macbeth shall become king. The first two predictions create credibility for the third, and with this third prediction made it would seem that Macbeth has been stripped of any decision and is forced to assert himself as king through murder. The third prediction in particular creates the greatest evidence that Macbeth is acting on the witches’ prophecies because he must, but when the situation is further inspected it becomes clear that the evil acts he commits are of his own free will, and examples of this can be found in three murders he either commits himself or hires murderers for: the murder of the king, the murder of one of his friends, and the murder of a man’s entire family.