The Consequences of the Struggle Between Fate and Free Will
By: Asra Azam
Fate and free will are often considered opposites, two parallel concepts that will never meet. However, in reality fate and free will are heavily reliant on each other. Shakespeare 's ‘Macbeth’ shows us how man is often in a constant battle between fate and free will, and yet how those two forces rely on each other for either of them to function properly. Macbeth shows us how any person can be easily drawn in by what fate as in store for them, yet man also considers himself above fate and works to defy it. Although, those two ideas seem different, Macbeth shows us how man is always on the path to reach a single destination but he may also make the choices of how he …show more content…
Macbeth’s ambition and pride results in his demise. Fate and free will feed into each other however, humans chose to pit them against each other because we often see as one working for us and the other against us. However that is not always the case as we see from Macbeth, without realizing it we often act to fulfill our destiny and other times we act to change it, but what we do not realize is that fate is the final destination but how we get there is up to us. Macbeth does not see this, and that is what the knowledge of our fate does to us, we become blinded by ambition and pride that our ability to think clearly escapes us. He thinks that he can only have one or the other; Fate or free will, but truly we have to use both for either of them work in our favour. Macbeth knew he would be king, and he could have let that play out, yet he chose to murder King Duncan to increase his chances. Macbeth also knew his reign would not continue however pride blinded him and he believed that he would be able to defeat fate by having Banquo and his son murdered. Even in his last moments, when he has lost everything he continues to be arrogant and tries to defeat the ultimate fate; Death. The struggle between the knowledge of fate and free will leads to Macbeth 's insanity, and then his eventual demise. Humans, under the right conditions will do anything for control, however in the end we all a similar destination but how we chose to get there is up to
By: Asra Azam
Fate and free will are often considered opposites, two parallel concepts that will never meet. However, in reality fate and free will are heavily reliant on each other. Shakespeare 's ‘Macbeth’ shows us how man is often in a constant battle between fate and free will, and yet how those two forces rely on each other for either of them to function properly. Macbeth shows us how any person can be easily drawn in by what fate as in store for them, yet man also considers himself above fate and works to defy it. Although, those two ideas seem different, Macbeth shows us how man is always on the path to reach a single destination but he may also make the choices of how he …show more content…
Macbeth’s ambition and pride results in his demise. Fate and free will feed into each other however, humans chose to pit them against each other because we often see as one working for us and the other against us. However that is not always the case as we see from Macbeth, without realizing it we often act to fulfill our destiny and other times we act to change it, but what we do not realize is that fate is the final destination but how we get there is up to us. Macbeth does not see this, and that is what the knowledge of our fate does to us, we become blinded by ambition and pride that our ability to think clearly escapes us. He thinks that he can only have one or the other; Fate or free will, but truly we have to use both for either of them work in our favour. Macbeth knew he would be king, and he could have let that play out, yet he chose to murder King Duncan to increase his chances. Macbeth also knew his reign would not continue however pride blinded him and he believed that he would be able to defeat fate by having Banquo and his son murdered. Even in his last moments, when he has lost everything he continues to be arrogant and tries to defeat the ultimate fate; Death. The struggle between the knowledge of fate and free will leads to Macbeth 's insanity, and then his eventual demise. Humans, under the right conditions will do anything for control, however in the end we all a similar destination but how we chose to get there is up to