Essay On The Role Of Fate In Macbeth

A little white lie won't hurt a fly. Just telling half the truth is good enough, right? Does this sound like a simple truth or an elaborate lie. Deception, when reading Shakespeare’s famous play, Macbeth can agreeably be directed to the three witches. In every medieval story witches are notoriously known for their wicked works. It applies to Macbeth as well. The story also has a noble soldier known to be fearless in battle and loyal to his king and country; this main character of Shakespeare's play is Macbeth. His wife Lady Macbeth on the other hand has quite the opposite character of her husband. This makes the story a lot more suspenseful. Let's get more into the witches half truths and elaborate white lies and how they affect the main character and his wife.

Early on in the play, ¨Macbeth¨, Macbeth is seen as an honorable man toward everyone, especially toward king Duncan. When the witches tell Macbeth that he will be thane of Cawdor and soon king he says,¨I know I am thane of Glamis. But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives, a

In Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, Macbeth was a victim of both free will and fate. One

The theme of ambition is clearly seen from the several hallucinations that Macbeth experiences throughout the play. Moments before the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth imagines a bloody dagger with the handle pointing towards his hand, and said dagger guides him into Duncan’s room before vanishing. While following the dagger, Macbeth says to himself, “I see thee yet, in form as palpable /As this which now I draw. /Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going; /And such an instrument I was to use.” (2.1.47-50) The dagger strengthens Macbeth’s conviction to murder the king. The dagger prompts Macbeth to hold its handle, guides him to Duncan’s room, and splotches of blood materialize to confirm that the king will die. Therefore, the actions

The scene starts off with the witches talking about the mean things they do to people that offend them. When Macbeth enters the scene, the Witches begin to hail saying “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis. All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor. All hail, Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter.” (Shakespeare 17). Macbeth becomes startled and confused for he is the thane of Glamis, but not the thane of Cawdor and certainly not the king. The witches disappear and then Ross and Angus enter the scene also hailing Macbeth. They then state that he is the thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is speechless for the witches prophecies came true. This makes Macbeth think about him becoming king and all of a sudden develops the urge to kill the current king,

In fact, the first major influence of Macbeth is the shocking prophecy told by the three sisters. “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!/All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!/All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.149-151). This prophecy is what makes Macbeth begin to wonder about things he could do to end up king. Then the prophecy does start to take shape with Macbeth being named Thane of cawdor. During this time he goes through an internal conflict with himself. He argues with himself over whether or not to trust the prophecy and three witches, “This supernatural soliciting/Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,/Why hath it given me earnest of success” (1.3.243-245). Unfortunately for Macbeth the King’s son Malcolm is to named the predecessor of King Duncan. Macbeth recognizes that this means the prophecy cannot come true despite the Thane of Cawdor prediction becoming a reality. This displeases him greatly despite the fact that the king has bestowed upon him a great honor. He feels that because the witches said it that it must be true no matter what the consequences in the future are. This is a leading factor that causes Macbeth to decide to murder King Duncan. Macbeth consciously makes the decision to commit treason and knows that it will have consequences. He even ponders the fact that although he will have a prosperous life on

For Macbeth’s desire to know more about his future, the Second Apparition says: “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth… Then Macbeth responds, “Then live, Macduff. What need I fear of thee? / But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, / And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live…” (IV. i. 81-83, 85-87). Despite of the second apparition telling Macbeth that no one born from a Woman can defeat him, Macbeth still is not completely certain and satisfied with its assurance. This is why, Macbeth says that he does not need to fear Macduff, but still needs to murder him to satisfy himself about the fact that Macbeth is undefeatable. Macbeth is guaranteed to be undefeatable, but Macbeth wants to leave no doubt and chances for him being defeated by Macduff. Furthermore, when Macbeth promises Lady Macbeth to become the King of Scotland, Macbeth assures his developed corruptive mindset. Macbeth says, “I am settled, and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. / Away, and mock the time with fairest show. / False face must hide what the false heart doth know” (I. vii.

Often times, people go through rises and downfalls in their lives that they themselves are responsible for. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, both main characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, himself, are responsible for the downfall of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is responsible for the tragedy because she convinces and manipulates Macbeth into doing the deed. However, Shakespeare accomplishes in showing that Macbeth is more responsible for his own downfall than Lady Macbeth because he listens to the witches and follows his ambition rather than his conscience.

In the start of Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays the character Macbeth as a well respected brave warrior. Macbeth is a general who fought victoriously in battle for Scotland and his king. Macbeth’s brave and impeccable deeds don’t go unnoticed by King Duncan, who verbally praise him and grant him the new title “Thane of Cawdor.” Unhae Langis, author of Shakespeare and Prudential

Of all the failures human beings experience none are as crushing as those that are a result of following someone else’s desires. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist self-destructs because of his external forces as well as his own poor choices. An external force that influenced Macbeth includes Lady Macbeth’s strong goals, which she forced on her husband. Additionally, the witches impacted Macbeth’s choices by offering him their tricky prophecies. The blind greed that took over Macbeth’s life also impacted his choices. Macbeth’s failures are the direct result of the poor choices he makes when influenced by outside forces. The external influences of Lady Macbeth’s forcefulness, the witches’ prophecies, and his own blind greed conspired to ruin him. This demonstrates that people can be easily manipulated into self-depriving choices.

Have you heard of fate? Do you believe in fate? Well in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, fate plays an important role in Macbeth’s life. Fate is something that unavoidably befalls a person. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the witches informs Macbeth of his fate that he will become the king in the future. Macbeth believes the witches words and Lady Macbeth persuade him to become the king and murder all the people that get in the way. Shakespeare shows us that fate is complicated by our actions, Macbeth will do anything to meet his fate that in the end lead him to his death because of his greediness.

The idea of fate or free will is something that is often linked to human nature and is reflected in many pieces of writing. They poke and prod the reader of these two beliefs, and allow them to determine the reasoning behind each character’s actions. Examples would include the play Macbeth, Oedipus and the film The Adjustment Bureau, as the main characters make decisions based with or against the newfound knowledge. Overall, it is considered that fate often dictates the influential choices, while free will consists of everyday life activities.

“If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare 144). Macbeth, a loyal subject to his king has an encounter that will change his fate with an ultimate effect on his free will. They claim three predictions, Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor and later crowned King but Macbeths lineage will not maintain the throne. After this supernatural confrontation, Macbeth questions this loyalty which will ultimately lead to his new fate carried out (LitCharts 1). Fully capable to act upon his own free will, Macbeth instead is driven by fate to his destruction which gives further insight of his character advancement. This fate and option of free will, is seen throughout the play yet shows itself prominent in Macbeth.

Two main examples of people who made choices that eventually led them to their downfall despite the good fate they may have had are former U.S. president Richard Nixon and athlete Tonya Harding. Although both could’ve been successful where they stood, their ambition for power and desire to eliminate all enemies that may come in their way led to their own demise. Macbeth clearly starts off in a high place in the military and in society as is proved by Duncan’s words in Act 2, Scene 2 when he says “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!” as well as “our captains Macbeth and Banquo.” Likewise, Richard Nixon, the thirty-seventh president of the United States was born into a fairly wealthy family. He was elected president and was living a good life. Nixon’s desire to maintain the power and gain the liking of citizens led him to making a decision without court approval when he was criticized for moving too slowly in disengaging from a war. He ordered for the phones of several government officials and reporters to be tapped. Voters began to distrust Nixon and, as a result, he became the only president to resign from office. Richard Nixon was very much like Macbeth in that his excess ambition and desire for power led to bad choices being made. Regardless of his choices, he did become president, which can be thought of as his fate, but because of the bad choice he

In the play Macbeth, the lead role “Macbeth” was given a prophecy. Part of the prophecy stated that Macbeth would be king. Macbeth made decisions to make the prophecies come true, rather than believing that his actions were predetermined. Shakespeare, the author of Macbeth, probably believed that fate is never predetermined. I believe Macbeth’s actions were the cause of his own decisions, and that he did what he could to make his prophecies come true.