Free Choice In Macbeth

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 purpose of this essay is to examine Macbeth’s choices and show how he is driven by choice and not by fate. I believe that the witches who sent Macbeth the idea of having this beautiful life as a king what made him wants to be king and to kill Duncan.Macbeth was manipulated from the three witches but he still hadn’t to do it. Besides that Macbeth wives, Lady Macbeth, always forces him to keep trying his best to be king shows that it’s not all his free will and he maybe doesn’t really feel like doing it. But through the play at the end you can realize that he got no problems with killing these people and that he actually wants it and wants to reach his

Throughout this tragic play by Shakespeare, Macbeth is faced with the question of fate or free will. While fate is a force or power that predetermines events, free will is the ability to decide actions according to oneself (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Throughout the play, Macbeth’s choices were influenced by many other characters which in turn alter his future. In the opening of the play, there were the 3 witches who sparked his initial interest to become King. Then came Lady Macbeth who, by telling him her opinion and persuading him, gave him the idea to kill King Duncan. But in the end it was his own ambition which resulted in his death, because as the play progressed Macbeth’s character took a drastic turn from good to evil. Even though the witches and Lady Macbeth also played a great role in his decisions, they didn 't force him to commit any of the crimes, and so ultimately it was his own choices that led to his downfall.

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.

- which attributes his actions to ambition, both his and Lady Macbeth's, alone. While it is also possible to interpret fate as guiding Macbeth's decision supernaturally, as when he envisions a dagger that ‘…Marshal'st me the way that I was going' (2.1.42-44), this is just as easily interpreted as being Macbeth's often imaginative decision making process. Furthermore the guilt that Macbeth feels after the murder indicates that even he finds himself, and not an irresistible force of fate, responsible for Duncan's murder, which precedes and is largely responsible for his own death.

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.

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.

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.

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

People have two paths to choose from in life: the right or the left. The decisions that lead up to and decide that path are what decides their fate. Each decision a person makes changes the course that is set for them. Whether it be substantial or subtle, one decision can alter fate. In Things Fall Apart, the tragic hero, Okonkwo, is constantly battling with the fear of being compared to his irresponsible father which drives Okonkwo to do inhumane things. While in the tragic drama, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth’s fate is revealed to him by three “Weird Sisters’ which drives him to do all in his capability to ensure his fate transpires. While Okonkwo and Macbeth make different decisions in power, their similar characteristics drive them to

Human beings are unique in the world because humans have the power to tell between right and wrong. Some believe that this is simply a special instinct while others believe that it is divine creator that gave to man what is known as conscience. In the tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare develops the idea that when an individual makes a choice that is against his conscience, he and the larger community will suffer the consequences of his choice. Shakespeare uses three main characters: Lady Macbeth, Macduff and Macbeth to illustrate the importance of following the human conscience.

Shakespeare shows that free choice is what is responsible for the destruction of Macbeth through the witches telling Macbeth things, and giving him the opportunity to do things that he would not have done had he not known some of the things they told him. Macbeth was making decisions based on what the witches told him. “Macbeth shall never vanquished until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” Macbeth took this as meaning he cannot be defeated unless Birnam Wood were to travel 12 miles to Dunsinane hill where his castle is located. He thought he couldn’t be defeated, because that would be impossible. “for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” Macbeth thought that nobody could hurt him. After all, he thought that

In the eyes of the world, Lady Macbeth was the devil incarnate with a vicious heart. People think Macbeth killed all of those innocent people because Lady Macbeth compelled him to do that. However, I state that Macbeth made his own choices. Lady Macbeth just made it faster to happen. Lady Macbeth had power first, then Mcbeth took it. After that, they lost their power in the end of play. We can see that their struggle for power shifted throughout the play.