Examples Of Free Will In Macbeth

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.

   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

WITCH: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! SECOND WITCH: All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane Cawdor! THIRD WITCH: All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!" Macbeth doesn't know what to think,because to his knowledge, the Thane of Cawdor is still alive. MacBETH:

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

Who determines ones path? One’s self has the power to determine the outcome of their future. Macbeth is in control of which road he desires to follow. The outcome can be changed by his decisions throughout his journey and though there will be obstacles that will interfere, it’s his choice to determine his fate.

In Macbeth, Shakespeare demonstrates how free choice is the cause of the downfall of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. There are many examples showing this in the play. The first example shown in Macbeth is when Macbeth decides he must kill King Duncan. The three witches tell him his original fate, that he would become the Thane of Cawdor, and the King “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter” (Macbeth Act 1 Sc. 3 li. 56-57).

Macbeth was driven by his own free will, because the witches were not the cause of his choices, his ruthless ambitions ruled his mind, and he was the direct cause for his downfall. Every prediction made by the witches proved correct, yet they did not determine Macbeth’s fate. The witches took advantage of his curiosity by leading him to do things he normally would not have. When Macbeth heard the predictions it inspired him to pursue is given “fate”.

Throughout William Shakespeare's famous tragic play, Macbeth, Macbeth is torn between letting fate take it's course, or using free will to help speed up the prophecy. In this tragic play, Macbeth is presented w/ two paths to take to act upon. He has th option to listen to the witches prophecy & let fate lead him to his destiny or to use his own free will & actions get where he is destined to be. After Macbeth hears the prophecy, he chooses free will when it comes to fate, the murders, and the guilt.

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.

When he heard these things, it caused him to be extremely paranoid. As a result of his excessive paranoia, his downfall had begun. In Act One, Scene Three, the witches proclaim: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glalmis!” , “All hail, Macbeth!

This becomes a major influence to Macbeth and his desire for power. Instead of waiting to see if the prophecy turned out to be true, he took matters into his own hand. He

When the three witches delivered the prophecies in the first act they hailed Macbeth is “Thane of Cawdor”, “Thane of Glamis”, and also claimed that shall soon become king. While Macbeth is bewildered and

way / With such prophetic greeting. Speak, I charge you." (1.3.75-76). The way Macbeth demands for more information emphasizes his desire for power. Macbeth sees himself as king of Scotland, which in turn makes him speaks to the witches as if weaker than him. Thus, Macbeth's willingness to believe the witches about how he will be king is what encourages him to demand more information on his prophetic power. Also, due to Macbeths willingness to believe the prophecies he disregard's his loyalty to Duncan. After Macbeth is informed he will be thane of Cawdor he says in his aside, " My

The play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare largely toys with the opposing notions of predestination and free choice. However, there seems to be some correlation between the choices which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have made and the consequences which they were forced to face. One of the most pivotal decisions made was the one to believe the witches. Without the conviction that the witch was telling the truth, neither Macbeth nor Lady

Macbeth's feels that his destiny is to become King and rule with all the power that goes with kingship. The three witches on his way back to the kingdom, prophesied that he would rise to kingship. They said "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis" (I, 3, 48), and then as the thane of Cawdor "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" (I, 3, 49). At this point in the play Macbeth had just become thane of Glamis, and the thane of Cawdor is still alive. Then, the witches greeted Macbeth as the King of Scotland saying "All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter" (I, 3, 50). This is the point in the tragedy where Macbeth starts to think as a villain. If the witches had never greeted him as King on Scotland, then he would probably never have contemplated killing Duncan in the first place. At first, he believes that he will need to kill King Duncan. Though at the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king saying "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.", showing he is a man of honor and morals. Then, Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy in his letters and decides immediately for him that King Duncan must die, showing Macbeth's doubt. An