Fate and Freewill in Macbeth
Throughout Shakespeare's Macbeth the
central characters struggle to accept the concepts of fate and free
will, leading to Macbeth's ultimate downfall as the play's five acts conclude
The Renaissance in England witnessed a raging battle between
the sanctity, will and the power of the individual man and the divine will. In
the case of Macbeth, the notion of divine will got transformed into that
of fate, as is the case with many classical tragedies. The roles of fate and
free will in Macbeth ultimately led to Macbeth's downfall.
Though fate guides Macbeth's thinking, there is no doubt that he freely chooses
to commit the atrocities that he did. His reliance and trust in fate made him
overly confident in his standing; however, following this path drove away his
constituents, finally causing them to rebel.
Even throughout the final battle against the combined army
of Macduff, Macdownald and the King of England, Macbeth continues to rely on
fate to preserve his standing as king. He is too confident that fate is on his
side, though, making him vulnerable to attacks, including Macduff's. The battle
follows the prophecies of the witches, making Macbeth feel secure, but the
prophecies continue to come true, finally leading to Macbeth's death. Though
free will is used to accomplish the goals outlined in the prophecies, fate
drives the process.
This article ties to present a close scene by scene reading
on how fate and freewill dominate the action of the play.
Early in the play (Act I, Sc III) The witches tell Macbeth
and Banquo their prophecies:
- Macbeth
will be the Thane of Cawdor.
- He
will later become king of Scotland.
- Banquo
will be the ancestor of kings.
This prophecy is proven partially true when Ross, King
Duncan's messenger, tells Macbeth he has been given the title of Thane of
Cawdor.
The witches' prophecies indicate the presence of fate in
this situation. Macbeth believes in these prophecies because of Ross's arrival
and proclamation that Macbeth will be named Thane of Cawdor.
However, this prophecy leads him plot the potential
overthrow of King Duncan. Though Macbeth thinks that fate is leading him to
this, it is actually his own free will. His choices lead him to plot Duncan's
downfall.
By Scene V of the opening act Lady Macbeth receives a letter
from Macbeth explaining the witches' prophecies. She is hopeful at the prospect
of not merely Macbeth becoming the King but more so she herself becoming the
queen of Scotland. At the same time, she knows that Macbeth will have to work
to achieve these goals; she is not confident in his skills. Upon Macbeth's
arrival, she encourages him to make a move against Duncan. Lady Macbeth clearly
understands that Macbeth cannot depend on fate to make the prophecies come
true. She prods him to make the first move himself, signalling to the audience
that she believes free will must lead him to commit the murder of Duncan. Clearly,
fate here needs to be worked through as Lady Macbeth seems to suggest in no
uncertain terms.
Scene VII of the same act begins with Macbeth pondering over
his plot to assassinate Duncan. He does not wish to have to kill Duncan but
feels that he must to be able to climb the ladder to kingship. His guilt gets
the better of him, leading him to tell Lady Macbeth he will not commit the
murder in this scene. Lady Macbeth, however, coerces him into recommitting to
the crime. The duo plan the murder to be committed the very same night. Both
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth use free will throughout this scene while plotting
King Duncan's murder. This is illustrated in Macbeth's admission that he has
"no spur to prick the sides of [his] intent," indicating that he
feels human guilt and knows what he is doing is wrong and that it is his
choice. However, both approach the issue with different beliefs; Macbeth is
still convinced he's carrying out the roles of fate while Lady Macbeth
comprehends that free will is predominant.
The second act opens with a conversation between Macbeth and
Banquo; Banquo praises Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's hospitality towards King
Duncan. Banquo breaches the topic of the witches' prophecies, which leads
Macbeth to deny his motivations and ask for Banquo's loyalty. Banquo responds
ambiguously and the two part for the night. Macbeth descends into a
hallucination about murdering Duncan but is pulled out of it by the ringing of
Lady Macbeth's bell, meant to signal that Macbeth should be free to murder
Duncan. Banquo hints throughout the opening scene of the second act that he
knows of Macbeth's plan and does not approve; he knows that this stems from
Macbeth's own will and believes he has a choice in the matter. Macbeth's
hallucination indicates that he personally does not want to commit the murder
but that he feels he must. He sincerely continues to believe he is being guided
by fate and cannot stop its processes.
In the next scene (Act II Scene II) Macbeth goes to kill
Duncan and Lady Macbeth worries that he will fail. He says the deed is done
when he comes back but is shaken and forgot to plant the daggers. Lady Macbeth
tells him not to think about it so much or he will go crazy. She then takes the
daggers from Macbeth and plants them on the chamberlains herself. The choice to
murder Duncan was the free will of Macbeth. He thought that fate wasn't enough
for him to become king and thought it was necessary to secure the crown
himself. However, he was convinced at the same time that he was following fate
at the time. Ironically, he thought that murdering Duncan was not his choice
but it actually was.
By the beginning of the third act Banquo begins to suspect
that Macbeth is behind much of the evil that has happened throughout Scotland
recently. As the prophecy continues, Macbeth begins to panic. His last resort
to save his spot on the throne was to kill anyone that posed a threat to his
kingship. Macbeth felt uneasy when Banquo was alive, so he convinced three
murderers that Banquo was the cause of all of their woes and to kill him and
his son, Fleance. Fate says that Banquo's descendants will inherent the throne.
This thought leads Macbeth to encourage the murderers to kill Banquo and
Fleance. However, it was actually his own actions and free will that committed
the crime and made him decide that they needed to die. Macbeth is being
persuaded that fate is a necessity when it is hardly so reality.
As the action unfolds in the second scene of the third act Lady
Macbeth and Macbeth decide that "'tis safer to be that which we destroy
than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy," but since they planned on
having guests over soon they must act "bright and jovial" for their
guests. They are confident that the murderers will not let them down, but they
don't want to become too confident yet; "be innocent of the knowledge,
dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed." They await word of Banquo and
Fleance's murders. We find Macbeth using his free will to hire the murderers to
alter fate instead of doing it himself. They assume the job will be done
correctly and Macbeth will have the throne secured. Macbeth again believes that
they are following the desires of fate, but Lady Macbeth still knows better.
The planning that they have done is an act of free will rather than fate.
During the banquet (Act III, Scene
IV), the murderers return to report their actions back to Macbeth. It is bad news
to Macbeth, considering that half of their mission failed; Fleance fled before
he could be killed. Soon after, the Ghost of Banquo enters the scene and takes
Macbeth's place at the table. His hallucinations and odd actions, being
affected by the Ghost, scares the guests and forces Lady Macbeth to try and
explain her husband's actions. At the end of the scene, Macbeth decides on his
own that from now on he needs to act before thoroughly thinking about his
actions, so that he won't back out. It is fate that Fleance fled. The prophecy
said that Banquo's descendants would inherent the throne and this could only
happen if Fleance escaped the murderers. This is the primary reason that
Macbeth chose to have Fleance murdered; fate led Fleance to escape but Macbeth
freely chose to make the attempt on Fleance's life. This leaves a chance that
Macbeth will still lose the crown to Banquo's sons, which succeeds in making
him even more paranoid than ever before.
The first scene of the fourth act opens with the three
witches were in a cave, conjuring a spell. Macbeth joins them shortly and
demands that they give him more information regarding the prophecy. The witches present a dumb show of three apparitions. The first apparition is the disembodied head of a warrior who seems to warn Macbeth of a bloody revenge at the hands of Macduff. The second is a blood-covered child who comforts Macbeth with the news that he cannot be killed by any man "of woman born." The third is a child wearing a crown, who promises that Macbeth cannot lose in battle until Birnam wood physically moves toward his stronghold at Dunsinane. These horrid apparitions appear to give Macbeth information that soothes his fears,
making him more confident about the upcoming battle. At the end of the scene
Macbeth is told about Macduff's absence and then decides to murder Lady Macduff
and her children. Macbeth trusts in the role of fate as he demands to hear
about his future from the three witches. However, he has become more confident
in himself and demands that they "call 'em, let me see 'em," instead
of solely trusting the witches' word. The three apparitions represent the fate
that he so desires, but his choice to have Lady Macduff and her children
executed is an act of free will.
It was Macbeth's free will to have Macduff's family killed.
This gives Macduff motivation to murder Macbeth and help Malcolm save Scotland.
All of this leads to Macbeth's fate, which is his murder by a man not born from
a woman, only when the Birnam Wood moves. It's Macbeth's free will to let these
things happen; if he had not treated so many people cruelly, they would not be
threatening his reign or trying to take his crown.
Macduff fled to England in order to garner support to raise
a rebellion against the ‘tyrannical’ Macbeth. When he meets the rightful heir
to the Scottish throne Malcolm, the last mentioned lies to Macduff by telling
him he is unfit to be king, but he is actually just seeing if Macduff is
trustworthy. Macduff says Malcolm would still be a better king than Macbeth but
eventually his loyalty to Scotland leads him to agree that Malcolm would be an
unfit king. This proves to Malcolm that Macduff is trustworthy and loyal and
promptly tells him that he was lying. The two become allies. Ross then enters
and tells Macduff his family is safe along with convincing Malcolm to return to
Scotland. Eventually Ross breaks down and tells Macduff his family was murdered
and Malcolm assures him that he will get his revenge on Macbeth.
On the other hand, because of the recent news that Macbeth
heard from the witches, Macbeth is not preparing for battle as he should be. He
says "'till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane I cannot taint with
fear," and then proceeds to "fight 'till from my bones my flesh be
hacked." Macbeth is hesitant to listen to the cautious advice of others
until his servant, Seyton, tells Macbeth that there are more soldiers coming
than they originally expected. Later on, the doctor tells Macbeth of his wife's
troubles and "frequent hallucinations," but Macbeth is too rooted in
his own war issues to give much consideration to the treatment of his wife and
tells the doctor to heal her himself. Clearly, Macbeth's free will led him to
have too much confidence. In saying that he will not be affected by fear, he
does not well enough prepare himself for the war. This is his own choice even
though he was told he could not be killed by a man born of a woman; it is his
decision to acknowledge the prophecy and rely on its validity. Because of this,
Macbeth is ill-prepared and therefore not ready for the battle. Macbeth is
bringing his own downfall upon himself by relying too heavily on the
prophecies.
Macbeth's choice to ignore Lady Macbeth's illnesses
ultimately led to her death (Act V, Scene I). However, after the revelation of
her death, he gets word that Birnam Wood is moving. He allows this to
intimidate him, beginning to lose confidence in his ability as King. However,
he allows this to intimidate him, which is a choice of free will. Since he
chose to do this, he could have prevented the ultimate loss of confidence and
weakness that he experiences by choosing to believe in his own power instead of
conceding that he may lose because of the prophecies that he has received. The
closer the fighting gets, the more confident and bossy Macbeth's actions
become. Screams from inside came from Lady Macbeth, and she is found dead
shortly thereafter. Macbeth is so busy and preoccupied that he is slightly insensitive
but concludes that life is "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and
fury, signifying nothing." As if destruction was a catalyst for even more
destruction, Macbeth was told about "a moving grove." The prophecy
was coming true, seeing that the Birnam Wood was coming to Dunsinane, but this
definitely was not something that Macbeth wanted to happen.
In the eighth scene of the final act Macbeth and Macduff
finally come face to face and battle while exchanging words. Macbeth realizes
that Macduff was born from a Cesarean section, not naturally by his mother. He
then believes that Macduff will be the one to kill him and no longer has
confidence: "I’ll not fight with thee." Macduff then murders Macbeth
and cuts off his head. Malcolm becomes king after Macbeth is killed,
effectively completing Macbeth's downfall and decline as a ruler. It was fate
for Macbeth to be killed by a man not born from a woman. When he finds out that
Macduff meets these requirements, he loses hope. It was his free will to
believe the prophecy and lose the confidence needed to win the battle against
Macduff. Ultimately, his choice to believe in fate leads to his downfall and
demise as King of Scotland.
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