Macbeth Free Will Research Paper

The main instance of Macbeth’s free will being shown is in his murder of Duncan, to become king. Macbeth heard the prophecy from the Weird Sisters that he was to be king and immediately began to plan the murder of the present king. Many would scoff at hearing such a claim, but Macbeth used it as justification for murder. It was clear that being King was something that Macbeth desired, and would do anything to achieve it. It became impossible to tell if Macbeth becoming King was as a result of fate, because he took the matters into his own hands. Right after hearing the prophecy, the first thing Macbeth does is write a letter to Lady Macbeth telling her of his plan. He did not let the statements run their course. Macbeth and his wife planned out the actions necessary for Macbeth to become king. He may have eventually become King if he never did anything, but there is no way of knowing what would have happened.

   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.

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.

But despite Macbeth’s desire to take the throne, he does not want to kill Duncan. What pushes Macbeth over the edge is Lady Macbeth. She tells Macbeth to follow his ambitions and kill Duncan. She says that murdering Duncan is not a sin, and that it is all worth it for the crown. These words from Lady Macbeth’s mouth are what made Macbeth decide to follow through and commit murder. “I am settled and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat.” (1.7.92-93). Macbeth will do the act, but he is very reluctant to do so. In conclusion, Macbeth’s ambitions and his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth are huge factors for why Macbeth was torn, and why he decided to kill Duncan.

During Duncan’s visit to Macbeths home he begins to change his mind about the deed, “We will proceed no further in this business.”(W.S. 41) But Lady Macbeth does anything to keep him from evading the task, “Art though afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life And live a coward in thine own esteem.”(W.S. 41) Lady Macbeth encouraged Macbeth to kill which made Macbeths mindset to continue on with the

After the witches tell Macbeth his prophecies, Macbeth starts to act upon himself to make this fate happen by murdering King Duncan. Macbeth creates these “present fears” that are stronger “than [King Duncan’s] horrible imaginings” of “murder yet is but [what is] fantastical” (I.iii.137-142). In his own interest, Macbeth takes his own turn to change the prophecies in order to become king. During plotting Duncan’s murder, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth uses both their free will to carry out the deed thinking it’s the only way to achieve his fate. Later when Macbeth also kills Banquo, the two chamberlains, Lady Macduff and her children, Macbeth, along with his wife, begin to lose their insanity. Soon war between Scotland and England break out, and Macbeth states “I’ll prove the lie thou speak’st./ Thou wast born of woman./But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn” (V.viii.10-14). After given the apparitions, Macbeth thinks he is indestructible. Whether or not the witches’ prophecies and apparitions were true, it was Macbeth free-will to believe them and act upon them. Born unnaturally, Macduff kills Macbeth altering the apparitions. During the whole play, Macbeth puts his fate in his control which leaves his life going in a spiral

Macbeth had his reasons to not kill Duncan: committing violent crimes teaches other people to commit violence and the violence of students will come back to plague teachers (1.7.8-10); he is his kinsman and his subject, so Macbeth should always try to protect him (1.7.13-14); people will shed a flood of tears that will drown the wind like a horrible downpour of rain (1.7.25); and many others. Macbeth goes along with the plan of murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth had made a plan of getting the servants drunk enough to forget what has happened that night and blame the death of Duncan on them. In addition, Lady Macbeth had influenced Macbeth to continue with the plan when she questioned his manhood, and calls him a coward. The importance of this event is that it there was a huge, sudden change in Macbeth's character. At first Macbeth had felt guilty of killing Duncan as stated "One cried, "God bless us! And "Amen" the other, … List'ning their fear I could not say "Amen," when they did say "God bless us!" (2.2.24-27). However, his guilt of killing Duncan vanishes briskly when he decided to kill his best friend, Banquo, without hesitation. Macbeth grew more bloodthirsty, barbarous, violent and ruthless. All due to the murder of King Duncan.

Examples of this are when Macbeth kills Macduff even though the witches tell him he would not be a problem, when he puts his armor on even when Seyton tells him he does not have to, and finally Macbeth killing Duncan and his guards. The evidence proves that he did not act on fate but on free will. Even when Macbeth went to see the witches and heard his prophecy, he still acted on free will instead. Macbeth’s life was not predestined, Macbeth’s life is chosen by him and only

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.

Macbeth essay test Shakespeare is one of the most talked about writers throughout history. The way he mold words into sentences and stories is truly astounding. Within many of his writings fate and destiny contribute to the plot.

Some people would argue that MacBeth’s fate includes his homicidal actions, and his will cannot change the witches’ prophecy. Others contradict that belief by saying that MacBeth’s own will leads to his fate, and ultimate death, coming sooner than predicted. “Which fate and

Throughout Macbeth, Macbeth makes many key decisions that impact on his destiny in the play. But are the decisions Macbeth makes from his free will or the fate the three witches have chosen for him. Upon the opening of Macbeth, we encounter these three supernatural women discussing Macbeth, we can assume that these women have an interest in Macbeth and are going to be involved later on in the play. The fate of Macbeth is first discussed upon Macbeth's first meeting with the three witches. The comment "so foul and fair a day I have not seen 

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, fate and choice is a recurring theme. Throughout the play it is evident that while something may be fated to happen, it is the character's own free will that choices that make this happen.

If he had acted on free will then Macbeth would have had no problem killing Duncan because that was the most necessary step that needed to be completed if he wanted the throne. Due to his regret after the deed was done, it was easy to see that Macbeth was internally forced to complete this act and had little control over the situation. The Witches are definately to blame because Macbeth not only felt bad for killing Duncan but, voiced his opinion of the late king openly. He highly respected Duncan and saw him as a great man and noble leader who had done no wrong. Killing someone whom you hold this high of a reguard for is definately the result of outside forces clouding the sane judgment of this