Yanira Soto
English IV
Mrs. Crockett
February 3, 2016
To kill or not to kill The play, Macbeth, was written by William Shakespeare in 1606. This performance is one of the most fascinating plays by Shakespeare. It was a royal entertainment made to praise King James I. This enchanting play has many themes throughout the story. Fate vs. Free will is one of the many points faced in the theater piece. While Macbeth had the ability to ignore the prophecy, he chose to kill the king. In return, he became the ruler and suffered the same fate as his victim. Since the prophecies of the witches came true, Macbeth chose to murder those who learned of his skull doggery, and Macbeth was forced to kill them. Furthermore, fate is the events that are predetermined. In this play, Macbeth murders King Duncan and he later encounters his own death. (Cain, Murderous Thinking In Macbeth pg. 255-263). observes, “We know that Macbeth must be killed even as, at the end, we may find ourselves hoping that this murderer will escape the death he deserves.” In no other play does Shakespeare allow us to think like this of a murderer. In this case, Macbeth gets a taste of his own blood. He dies at the end, so he practically experiences his own destiny.
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On Act 2, Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth a coward. She tells him that he is not a man because he does not want to kill King Duncan. (Shakespeare, William. “Act 2 / Macbeth.” British Literature. pg. 306-394). observes, “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, / Without my stir”. This explains that Macbeth’s viewpoints changed dramatically because he thought he would not have to do anything to become king. In other words, he would have to go through a killing spree in order to become the king of Scotland. Furthermore, he became excited because he was going to become king so he decided to rush things. When this occurs, Macbeth then takes the action on murdering King
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, changes happen. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a well liked and good man of Scotland, who turns into an evil, cold hearted, murderer by the end. His rewards and punishments could have been predetermined by fate, but the actions he took to get to get those rewards and punishments were determined by Macbeth’s free will. In Macbeth, he attempts to control the future and hide the past by listening to other people and committing multiple murders of innocent people.
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
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
With attention to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth struggles with the morality of his actions. Before the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to believe that the murder will “be the be-all and the end-all” to his clear conscious and would risk him to eternal damnation (Act I, line 5). Yet, the murder would bring him power over Scotland and he “shalt be kind” as told by the Weird Sisters(Act 1, line 50). Macbeth goes off of his ambition to murder King Duncan. The internal struggle of choosing mortality over motives brought forth an intense shift of loyalty to betrayal. The murder caused for Macbeth to turn on Scotland and only care for his own selfish motives. The betrayal causes for the play to become horrific and have a double meaning. Macbeth must put on a face to hide his murder to become the king. The double meaning is how Macbeth looks like a hero to all of Scotland, but only the people on the inside know of his horrific actions. He had to murder to to get the position of King, but the
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.
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:
Decisions you make can lead to the death of innocent people. In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, examines the elements of fate and free will by the actions of others lead to the bloodshed of the innocent people in the play such as Banquo, Duncan and Lady Macduff and her child. Consequently even though Macduff's actions are for the greater good to stopping Macbeth, it comes at the ultimate cost of the life of his wife and child.
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
In Shakespeare’s Tragedy Macbeth, it is very debatable if fate, or freewill is what causes Macbeth to do the things he does through out the tragedy. Freewill is at work most through out the tragedy because Macbeth is convinced he can change or speed up the fate the three weird sisters prophesized for him at his own will. Throughout the play, Macbeth slowly begins to think he can modify his fate by using the prophecies told to Macbeth by the weird sisters and attempting to change them by his free will.
Lady Macbeth accused him of cowardice and dangled bright prospects of his future before his eyes so that Macbeth would kill the king (Foster). Macbeth really killed the King because he thought it would make him a powerful man. If he wouldn’t have killed King Duncan, I would have made him feel less of a man. Lady Macbeth had a nervous break down knowing she wasn’t going to kill anyone. She states “He could not miss ‘ em .Had he not resembled my father as he kept, I had don’t” (2.2). Lady Macbeth is just making up excuses because she know that she can kill anybody. She wanted somebody to do her work for her that’s why Macbeth stepped up as a man and did what he had to do. Macbeth showed that he was willing to do anything that came in this way for the throne. Lady Macbeth showed that she is no the true villain because she started acting crazy over the murder of King Duncan and she killed herself from the gilt of what she had
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.
Macbeth is a victim of his own self. He killed Duncan. He killed his best friend Banquo. He could've stopped and look at himself. Macbeth knows he is killing innocent people and becoming so paranoid that his own mind became clouded to the point of no return.
Shakespeare is one of the most influential and famous playwrights of modern times. A major reason his work is loved by so many is because of his insightfulness into the human mind, and one of Shakespeare’s greatest works demonstrating this is Macbeth. This famous play is about nobleman and military man Macbeth and how his tragic choices lead to his inevitable demise. The first and most trying choice that Macbeth has to make is whether or not to kill Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth has to make this decision while being pulled in different directions by two conflicting forces. The force pulling him away from murder is his loyalty and humanity towards Duncan. The other force pulling him towards murder is his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth
Macbeth strongly dislikes the idea of killing Duncan in the beginning of the play, yet as time goes on, he decides to ignore his conscience and kill him while he sleeps. With the assistance of others, Macbeth’s pride that he begins with leads to ambition, and his blind