Theme Of Fate In Macbeth

To decide if the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is a tragedy of character or a tragedy of fate it is helpful to understand the definitions or implications of some of the terms as well as understand a little about the circumstances surrounding the creation of the play. First, a tragedy is an accident or mishap that causes personal suffering. Fate is an incident that is going to happen regardless of the actions or circumstances preceding or surrounding the event or people involved. Character defines a person by their personality, actions and values. Knowing how fate and character relate as well as being familiar with the play Macbeth can make deciding the nature of the tragedy very difficult. Next, it might be helpful to investigate …show more content…
This holds true in Shakespeare's writings as well. Whether the witches are believed to be real witches or merely three sisters, they still symbolize the supernatural and the casting of spells. The witches in Macbeth are the characters that create the fate and destiny. They present the destiny of the King Duncan to Macbeth. This by no means indicates that they do not know the fate of all the characters, including Macbeth. They most likely do know what will happen to all the characters, even themselves and quite possibly how it will happen. The witches only disclose what they want to and to whom they want to. Being witches it can be assumed and predicted that destiny has been created through the evil nature of the supernatural evil …show more content…
Character flaws a mass. It would appear at first that all of Macbeth's actions are granting a tragedy upon himself and his wife. Remember, however, that the witches have set the scene for the final destiny. By sharing the information with Macbeth in the manner that they did, they have guaranteed that he will go insane and act as thus. It is obvious that the witches were aware of the outcome of Macbeth's demise. Not sharing this information does not make it any less part of the overall destiny and the total fate of Macbeth. As Macbeth acted upon the little bit of knowledge he was given he went farther and farther to get what he desired as fast as he could. This involved more a more extremes such as killing all of the Macduffs. Had the witches offered any more or less information in any different manner it may have changed Macbeth's reaction. However, this fact does not make the story a tragedy of character because the witches disclosed the information exactly as it would guide events to the final