The Role of Fate and Free Will in Macbeth
In the opening scene of William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth
encounters three witches and receives prophecies suggesting he will become king. It seems as if
Macbeth’s heinous acts are driven by the prophecies and his wife, Lady Macbeth. However, in
reality, it is Macbeth himself that decided to believe the prophecies and allow others to influence
him. Thus, the prophecies are the initial cause of Macbeth’s continues murder and rise to
kingship, but it is Macbeth’s free will and ambition that allows this prophecy to propel him to
murder. In summary, free will determines Macbeth’s destiny and eventually leads him to his
11downfall, Macbeth allowing Lady Macbeth to influence him and murdering King Duncan and
Banquo all contribute to his demise.
Lady Macbeth emotionally manipulates Macbeth into killing King Duncan and Macbeth
allows himself to listen to his wife’s persuasions. Lady Macbeth learns the prophecies from the
letter sent by Macbeth, she then questions Macbeth’s masculinity,“What beast was’t then when
you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; ” (Shakespeare
1.7.45-47). She claims that Macbeth has sworn to kill Duncan and he is breaking the ‘enterprise’
when he refuses to kill King Duncan. Duncan is seen as a noble and respectable king and he
would praise Macbeth for his loyalty. However, the thought of regicide begins to develop when
Macbeth encounters the witches. It is Macbeth’s greed for accomplishing his fate that leads to
the murder of Kinf Duncane.Therefore, Lady Macbeth can not be blamed for the death of
Duncan. Finally, although Macbeth is influenced by his wife, he still acts according to his free
will.
The choice of murdering King Duncan is the free will of Macbeth. When Macbeth first
hears of the prophecy he thinks chance would crown him king and he does not have to make any
actions. However, when King Duncan names his son, Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland and
heir to the throne. Macbeth realizes that fate is not enough for him to become king and it is
necessary for him to make actions to secure the throne. “The Prince of Cumberland!! That is a
step On which I must fall down, or else o’er-leap, for in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires, Let
no light see my black deep desires.” (1.4.48-51). In this quote Macbeth suggests that in order for
him to become king, he must “fall down”, to give up or to “o’er-leap”, to jump over and claim
the crown. Macbeth is faced with two choices, to let Malcolm be the rightful king or to follow
the prophecy he was given. Drawn by his ambitions and desire he chooses to kill King Duncan
and claim the throne himself. He then convinces himself that he is following fate, but in reality
he is making decisions following his free will. Macbeth chooses to believe in the prophecies and
the thought of murder can only be blamed on Macbeth himself.
Macbeth’s attempt to assassinate Banquo also exemplifies Macbeth’s conscious descent
to evil. The witches foresee Banquo’s descendants as king and Macbeth fears this prophecy,
threatened by Banquo and his son, Macbeth then hires assassins to murder them. Macbeth kills
Banquo but Banquo’s son, Fleance escapes. Macbeth feels guilty about killing Banquo and when
he sees Banquo’s ghost Macbeth says to him “Thou canst not say I did it: never shake Thy gory
locks at me” (3.4.48-49). Macbeth knows it is morally wrong to kill Banquo and Banquo did not
deserve to die, his guilt about killing Banquo manifested in the form of a ghost. Macbeth is the
only one that can see Banquo’s ghost therefore Macbeth is responsible for Banquo’s murder.
Macbeth believes he is fated to be the king and his ambitions continue to drive him to commit
heinous crimes. Macbeth acts independently and freely while he eliminates his threats. Unlike
the muder of Duncan, Macbeth is not influenced by anyone while planning the assassin of
Banquo, demonstrating his downfall. Thus, Macbeth is an agent of freewill and responsible for
the death of Banquo.
Some argue that Macbeth’s death is mainly caused by the witches with their prophecies
and Lady Macbeth, however, it is Macbeth who freely chooses to let them affect him. The
supernatural elements in the play also represent fate therefore fate only provokes Macbeth’s
ambition. It is Macbeth’s obsession with fate that creates his own tragedy and eventually leads
him to his demise. In summary, Macbeth tries to control fate by allowing his wife to influence
his actions, killing King Duncan and attempting to murder Fleance. Macbeth’s death is
dominated by both fate and free will, fate enhances his desire for power and free will causes him
to commit crimes and continues to murder which enventually leads him to his demise.