During Shakespearean times, Elizabethans believed that fate was the main factor of events that cause things to happen. However, when one believes in fate, it does not mean that it is actually involved in an event. In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, the outcome is determined by fate, not Macbeth’s free will, which is portrayed through the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s greed, and Banquo’s murder. The witches are the main cause of Macbeth’s path towards an early death. Since the witches use their prophecies to convince Macbeth to do horrible things to become king and have his own royal lineage, he is able to be convinced that doing those deeds can help him earn what he desires. A prophecy that the witches give reveals that Macbeth will
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Trying to use Macbeth’s ambition to kill Duncan and take over the throne, Lady Macbeth urges that “[Duncan] must be provided for; and [Macbeth] shall put this night’s great business into [her] dispatch.” She claims that killing Duncan benefits them a great deal since being royal can give them spontaneous amounts of power. Macbeth, on the other hand, does not get any say in this plan, therefore he cannot stop himself from killing the king. He has no choice but to go with his fate to become a tyrant king that will be eventually be murdered. With an ambitious characteristic, he is easily motivated even though he still has the caring, afraid personality. The amount of ambition Macbeth has determines how he will live, which becomes uncontrollable for him. The article from CNN states that “[people] whose achievements failed to match their ambitions live less happily and died earlier” (Hume). Macbeth manages to use loads of his energy on becoming king. However, he later becomes depressed since everything that he has start to disappear. He is later murdered by Macduff who is trying to help Malcolm, the rightful king. Therefore, Macbeth was not fated to be the owner of the throne. From the time when Macbeth sends Lady Macbeth a letter on the witches, he goes on a fated path of destined …show more content…
Macbeth decides to kill Banquo because of the prophecy related to Banquo’s son becoming king, including his son and his son’s son, etc. The witches’ show Macbeth a lineage of Banquo’s king which results in Macbeth stating that there is “a third [king] like the former,” “a fourth” and a few moments later “[an] eighth appears who bears a glass which shows [him] many more” (iv.i.127-135). Since Macbeth does not have a child of his own, he is worried that the throne will not be passed to his child but instead to Banquo’s, which would later lead to his entire family having a royal heritage. Since he does not want this to happen, he is driven by his ambitious inner self to kill Banquo. He cannot stop his greed because he is fated to protect his unfairly earned throne with all of his power. One can tell that Macbeth did not exactly want to kill Banquo. After the killing, he suffers, realizing that he misses Banquo and that he did not mean to kill an innocent person. Banquo did not think much about the prophecy, but Macbeth killed him just to be sure. However, Macbeth does not stop killing after the murder of Duncan and Banquo. According to Malala’s speech, he should have “[taken] stock of all that [he has] accomplished and be happy with that” (Malala). Macbeth did the opposite of this since he is trying to protect his title and fulfill his
Trying to use Macbeth’s ambition to kill Duncan and take over the throne, Lady Macbeth urges that “[Duncan] must be provided for; and [Macbeth] shall put this night’s great business into [her] dispatch.” She claims that killing Duncan benefits them a great deal since being royal can give them spontaneous amounts of power. Macbeth, on the other hand, does not get any say in this plan, therefore he cannot stop himself from killing the king. He has no choice but to go with his fate to become a tyrant king that will be eventually be murdered. With an ambitious characteristic, he is easily motivated even though he still has the caring, afraid personality. The amount of ambition Macbeth has determines how he will live, which becomes uncontrollable for him. The article from CNN states that “[people] whose achievements failed to match their ambitions live less happily and died earlier” (Hume). Macbeth manages to use loads of his energy on becoming king. However, he later becomes depressed since everything that he has start to disappear. He is later murdered by Macduff who is trying to help Malcolm, the rightful king. Therefore, Macbeth was not fated to be the owner of the throne. From the time when Macbeth sends Lady Macbeth a letter on the witches, he goes on a fated path of destined …show more content…
Macbeth decides to kill Banquo because of the prophecy related to Banquo’s son becoming king, including his son and his son’s son, etc. The witches’ show Macbeth a lineage of Banquo’s king which results in Macbeth stating that there is “a third [king] like the former,” “a fourth” and a few moments later “[an] eighth appears who bears a glass which shows [him] many more” (iv.i.127-135). Since Macbeth does not have a child of his own, he is worried that the throne will not be passed to his child but instead to Banquo’s, which would later lead to his entire family having a royal heritage. Since he does not want this to happen, he is driven by his ambitious inner self to kill Banquo. He cannot stop his greed because he is fated to protect his unfairly earned throne with all of his power. One can tell that Macbeth did not exactly want to kill Banquo. After the killing, he suffers, realizing that he misses Banquo and that he did not mean to kill an innocent person. Banquo did not think much about the prophecy, but Macbeth killed him just to be sure. However, Macbeth does not stop killing after the murder of Duncan and Banquo. According to Malala’s speech, he should have “[taken] stock of all that [he has] accomplished and be happy with that” (Malala). Macbeth did the opposite of this since he is trying to protect his title and fulfill his