Free Will In Macbeth

Improved Essays
Fate and Shakespearean tragedy go hand in hand, in that things never work out in the favor of the main character. Be this fate met by the characters own action or the affect of another, it stands true that their destiny is not one to be desired. This remains the case in the unfortunate story of Macbeth and the play follows the main character in his fall from grace. Through the influence of the three sisters, Macbeth is awakened to his fate as King; however, Macbeth’s free will ultimately allows the audience to recognize that Macbeth was never meant to be idolized as king, but as a murderous dictator.

In the beginning of act one Macbeth and Banquo are given prophecies that state that Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor and king and that Banquo’s children will be kings. Both are excited and shocked by the news, and Macbeth squashes the murderous inclinations that first arouse at the news, choosing instead to revel in the news of his eventual promotion. However, once his wife Lady Macbeth receives this new she has no such qualms about the regicide and pushes her husband to commit the act. When he does, he begins his descent into darkness in killing king Duncan, his friend and the one who gave him the opportunity to become a Thane. In this his choices push him towards the fate he was made aware of, not allowing himself to explore more options in his destiny and the way it progresses.
…show more content…
His madness is also growing, with him seeing things and losing sleep. To try to thwart the fate of another, his best friend Banquo and his descendants, Macbeth orders that his dearest companion and his son are killed. The killings of Banquo and his son are not the only familial murders sanctioned by Macbeth as king, he also commands that the family of political adversary Macduff be killed while he is away seeking help to end Macbeth's reign of terror from

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Free Will In Macbeth

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages

    seeing Shakespeare’s Macbeth is why Macbeth falls into such depths of evil. It almost seems as if Macbeth is a pawn of fate, with influences his choices, like the witches and his wife pushing him towards murder and evil. However, in reality, Macbeth is not a pawn of fate. Although, he freely chooses to let fateful factors influence him to murder and then chooses to keep on murdering. Although the witches and Lady Macbeth influenced Macbeth, he ultimately acts as an agent of free will. The witches…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Free Will In Macbeth

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages

    beings really have free will? Or do people influence our so called ‘free will’? ” This question is brought up in Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in 1606, is a play about good versus evil as well as power. I will be talking about how the witches aren’t the most powerful characters in the play and aren’t the catalyst to all of Macbeth’s crimes by using the witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself. The witches and Lady Macbeth are influences to Macbeth’s acts, but Macbeth himself is the reason…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    in life. The idea that the choices in a person’s life are not of their free will, but of the choices dictated by an outside force, is extremely controversial and has shaped beliefs in such areas as religious life. Others believe that they have the ability to shape their own destiny through the decisions they make at their own discretion, also known as free will. The Shakespearian play Macbeth uses the ideas of fate and free will through its characters and how they develop throughout the play.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays