Children are taught, “ If you are good you will go to heaven, if you are bad you will go to hell.” Heaven is where we all want to be, but how do we get there? Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” Starting with Adam and Eve, the fate of our lives is known to change through choices and decisions made because of free will. When it comes to fate there are two types of people, those who believe in fate and those who don’t. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth change their fate with their actions. In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not Stop for Death”, the narrator regrets her actions and wishes she could have changed her fate. On the other hand, Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, fate is said to be predetermined. By exercising free will, in trying to avoid their inevitable downfall, these three unconnected works of literature encompass the two types of fate, that which can change and that which is predetermined. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the fate of several people are changed through the actions of individuals that exercise their free-will. In the beginning of this play Macbeh states, “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare). This bold statement is one in which he should have listened to. In the beginning of this Shakespearean play, Macbeth believes that he should allow chance to take it’s own course, but this philosophy is quickly forgotten.
In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the character Macbeth has an imagination that helps him commit a horrendous crime, but also makes it hard for him to commit it. First, Macbeth has an imagination that helps him by continuing to tell himself that he will be king. Macbeth is so blinded by being king that he loses sight of his life. In the play it is quoted, “If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.”
English Essay, Macbeth Shakespeare’s extensive use of symbols throughout Macbeth (1606) provides us with deeper understandings of the characters within the play. ‘The choices we make determine our destiny’ is the driving quote for this essay and is an ongoing motif throughout the play Macbeth. This quote signifies that the decisions you make within your everyday life will determine the outcome of your future and destiny. The releletivity of this quote can relate to every character in this play but the most relevent example of this saying would be the tragic hero of the story Macbeth and his partener Lady Macbeth.
From the beginning of the play, Macbeth's ambition takes center stage. In Act 1, Scene 3, Macbeth utters the famous line, "If chance has me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir" (1.3.143-144). This quote displays his willingness to let fate play its part. Macbeth's subsequent actions, such as the murder of King Duncan, are not the result of schizophrenia but rather the consequences of his unbridled ambition. The play vividly portrays how a desire for power and dominance can corrupt even the noblest individuals.
Then, when hearing of the potent prophecy that will change his life from the three weird witches, Macbeth has the resistible mindset that “if chance will have me king, why chance crown me without my stir” ( I, iii, 142-143). This quote means that, even
Sean Smith Mrs. Anthony Senior English 8 March 2018 The Danger of Ambition In Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, the author proposes a perpetual loop of struggle through his use of fate and imagery of the character’s deaths in order to express the consequences for one’s actions if they are foolish enough to make these decisions. “The Tragedy of Macbeth” is a uniquely portrayed concept of fate, internal struggle, and paradox; the story depicts a human with intentions to receive power.
As soon as Macbeth becomes than he realizes that if everything is going to be decided by fate he is just going to wait for it to happen. Shortly after he becomes very impatient saying “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/ On which I must fall down or else o’erleap,/ For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;/ Let not light see my black and deep desires./ The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be/ Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.”
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.
“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.
The urge to be seen as perfect is a desire commonly found among humans. However, even some animals are not immune to such desires. A bird trying to attract the best mate in the forest by creating a perfect nest will fight to the death for a twig that it believes will make its nest excel beyond the rest. The bird will even go so far as to break the incubating eggs in a nest if it contains an item that the bird wants as its own. Similarly, in humans, there are characters that strive for perfection primarily based on self-satisfaction, rather than the well-being of others so much so that they begin to weigh ideology above humanity.
But, Macbeth is stubborn and very strong-willed, so he has proceeds to have them killed. This decision is one that makes Macduff want revenge, and in turn shows the audience that the decision’s Macbeth makes all of his own accord are the ones that lead to his
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.
and obtains the title, which trigger an arrogant and self-absorbed thinking leading to madness and finally, death. The play seems to bring up the question, whether Macbeth is fully responsible of his own destiny, or under control of fate. In the first glance, the play seems to take rather fatalistic direction, meaning that we are powerless to make decisions as they are inevitably determined by supernatural power (Hugh 1)) It is due to the presence of supernatural forces throughout the whole play that systematically fulfills the prophecy; therefore the witches represent the idea of fate in the play. However, Shakespeare seems to rather intertwine fate with free will and perhaps even promotes the second philosophy as the play evolves.
Often, it is the responsibility of oneself to determine the outcome of your life, however there will always be influential people who either directly or indirectly affect the decisions made. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play believed to be written in 1605, focusing on the downwards spiral of Macbeth after he murders King Duncan in order to become King of Scotland, consequently developing feelings of guilt and paranoia. Through the establishment of atmosphere, comments on the actions of major characters, and foreshadowing events, Shakespeare develops the minor characters which include the Three Witches, Macduff, and the Murderers, to support and further prompt the development of the major characters, as well as to communicate essential moral truths and trite platitudes.
In conclusion, Macbeth’s fate was not predetermined; the decisions he made were fully his. While he might of been influenced by the prophecy, he still completed the actions of his own free
Macbeth is a play about freedom of choice and subsequently having to accept the consequences and responsibilities of one’s actions. The extent to which I agree with this statement will be discussed with close reference to Macbeth. Freedom of choice plays an important role in Macbeth and a good example of this freedom of choice would be the issue regarding the choice to commit regicide by killing Duncan. Macbeth had a choice in how he would become king.