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.

Material for Further Reading


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