Fate vs. Freedom Essay

Is one’s life dominated by fate or free will? Perhaps one’s future has been predetermined by some external force or perhaps one has the choice to pave their future. These ideas are further explored in the the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the play Macbeth by Shakespeare. Things Fall Apart is about a man named Okonkwo’s struggle between the changes that arise with the arrival of white missionaries in the villages of his home in Nigeria, the conflicts that arise between the arrival of the white men and Okonkwo questions whether his tragic death was due to fate or free will. Macbeth is about protagonist Macbeth whose ambition drives him to kill the king of Scotland to become king. The consequences of killing the king lead to

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

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

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.

In the story Macbeth, Shakespeare plays the puppet master. He uses witches as a connection between the supernatural and human world. Macbeth is initially described as a valiant and supposedly loyal warrior for his king Duncan. However this quickly changes as the plot unfolds. The witches show a mirror image of Macbeth’s future to Macbeth himself and this is when his true identity begins to emerge. The actions he carries out lead him to power as a king but also to his death. Through this Shakespeare manage to implant a key question in the readers’ minds: what determined Macbeth’s fate? As we learn from reading the book excuses seem to be Macbeth’s hobby and become increasingly more common the further

Fate always plays a dangerously important role in the lives of men, and knowing their destinies can make people do things that may be good or bad. Although Macbeth was a good general, fighting with the interest of protecting his country from invaders, his destiny forbade it and he was changed into cold, heartless tyrant. Even when he tried to resist his fate, the very thing he did, was what caused his death in the end. This illustrates the unsurmountable power of fate and the path set out for us. We can’t avoid it, and no matter what we do , we are always drawn back to what was meant to be. Often, this is what causes people to do unnatural (bad) things out of desperation.

Often times when we read stories or plays we notice that there is a spiritual or fictional side to the story that can predetermine the outcome of the plot before the main course of action has actually taken place. To name an author, or in this case playwright, William Shakespeare incorporates fatalism and existentialism in his play. The best example of such writing is Macbeth where a diligent and loyal soldier, Macbeth, comes across 3 witches that prophesied his future that said he would achieve many great feats. To accomplish such a future involved him to commit heinous acts for which ultimately lead to his death. This reason makes the readers to question, was he a victim of fate or was it free will that lead to such a demise? Existentialism is a commonly used word for the belief that one has complete control of his or her life. This means that all the things that occur in their life, good or bad, are based on their actions. Fatalism is the opposite of existentialism as it means the belief in a preordained future where everything is set in stone and that nature will run its course. Everyone has control over their own actions, nothing is set in stone and that is why the phrase “you can be anything you want” is very significant because there is no fixed future. Throughout Macbeth, Macbeth makes many decisions that clearly alter the course of his future. These actions may have been based on predictions of his future and

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

Free-will and fate often work hand in hand. However, when people take fate into their own hands, they are only using their free-will to manipulate their fate as see fit. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, after Macbeth is told his fate, he manipulates it in order to get what he really want; to be king. All the events that unfold in Macbeth are the result of free-will not fate.

Some people may not believe that destiny is something that truthfully exists in the world. These people doubt that there is anything that is actually meant to be, or supposed to happen, thinking that there is always a way around troubling predicaments, knowing that it is not necessary to turn out just one certain way. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event is laid out before them like a road map to life, in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial element which makes fate as important as any

Over the years, many authors have written about the eternal conflict of fate versus free will. This is a common theme in fiction, but it also permeates day to day lives. William Shakespeare, in the tragedy Macbeth, examines fate vs free will in order to demonstrate that free will is the most dominating force. Macbeth exercises free will throughout the play by surviving the war, killing Duncan, and listening to the witches. Via these and other plot elements, William Shakespeare provides examples of free will overpowering fate which ultimately leading to Macbeth to his certain doom.

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

The idea of fate, the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power, has been around for centuries and considered beliefs of many people. Many writers become intrigued by the compelling concept of fate and destiny, including William Shakespeare. With one of his most popular plays to date, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare decided to test his audience traditional beliefs on destiny. Throughout the play Romeo and Juliet try to come up with many ways that would end with them together, its depicted that their future is determined by their predestined fate. In which Shakespeare has shown throughout the play, their future out of their control. William Shakespeare