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Fate And Free Will In Macbeth

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Macbeth is a drama that was written by William Shakespeare in 1606 during the reign of James I after the death of Queen Elizabeth. The play is set in Scotland , which is also the homeland of James I, who was on the throne. There are a lot of historical events that serve as pretense for the plot of Macbeth. For example Queen Elizabeth obtained the throne by playing an instrumental role in having her cousin Queen Mary beheaded, as a dea. Macbeth also obtains the throne by overthrowing the current power. The play was reconstructed a threat to an anointed King and the perceived evil behind the threat and this alluded to the Gunpowder plot of 1605, which was plotted against King James 1. In Shakespeare writing this work he alluded to a lot of historical events that happened close to his time as a playwright. The question I raise in this essay is rather fate, fortune, or free will takes precedent when deciding someone’s …show more content…

The witches in the story represent fate, the murders and cover ups represent free will. It is possible for both to co-exist within this Shakespearean tragedy and here is how.
The witches’ prophecies represent fate, they describe the end result, which is evident throughout the play because everything happens as such. Everyone has a path in life and the story of Macbeth very well showed this observation. How you obtain your path is where free will comes in. Good decisions lead to an easier smoother sailing to your fate. As we seen in Macbeth the wrong decisions lead to a tragic path to your fate.
That first step down the wrong path leads to a series of events that are undesirable, this is a demonstration of where free will leads to your fate. Macbeth taking that step in killing Duncan led to more murders, paranoia, and his subsequent demise. If Macbeth had just waited his turn he may have found a different

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