Theme Of Free Will In Macbeth
The play Macbeth is a tragedy, written by William Shakespeare. Macbeth wanted to become king so bad, that he did not care what he did in order to get what he wanted. He never thought about what he was going to do, he just did it. Throughout the story, Macbeth developed 4 main themes: ambition, free will, fate, and power. Throughout the story, Macbeth could relate to these themes because of his decisions and actions he portrayed throughout the play: ambition for becoming king, free will for being independent on his thoughts, fate for making the witches’ prophecies become true, and the power of having everything under control. He portrayed all of these themes just so that he could get all the things he wanted. Throughout the story Macbeth developed
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Once he was given the title Thane of Cawdor, he could not believe that the witches’ prophecies were becoming true and that after all he could actually have a chance to become king. Macbeth could not think clearly, he thought that the only way he could become king was to kill King Duncan. “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?” (I, iii, 138-141) Macbeth only thought about his fate of becoming king. When Macbeth chooses to kill King Duncan it was his free will, not his fate. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decided to do this independently and fate did not control this. Once, Macbeth was king, his free will started to take control of himself. Macbeth could not stop thinking about Banquo’s prophecy and the fact that he knew too much. Macbeth’s free will decided to kill Banquo. Toward at the end of the play, Macbeth’s free will also decides to kill Macduff’s family and anyone who got in the way because he was not loyal to him. “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.” (IV, i, 157-160) At the end of the story when the English were coming, he thought he was not going to be defeated and that Birnam wood was not going to walk, Macbeth’s own free will let his Thane side with the English. Macbeth’s free will took control of him because he took the witches prophecies literally without actually thinking about them. Macbeth’s free will and fate battled throughout the whole play because of the decisions and actions he made. He thought that in order for his fate to become true, he had to do things that were not intended to happen, instead of letting fate control
Once he was given the title Thane of Cawdor, he could not believe that the witches’ prophecies were becoming true and that after all he could actually have a chance to become king. Macbeth could not think clearly, he thought that the only way he could become king was to kill King Duncan. “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?” (I, iii, 138-141) Macbeth only thought about his fate of becoming king. When Macbeth chooses to kill King Duncan it was his free will, not his fate. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decided to do this independently and fate did not control this. Once, Macbeth was king, his free will started to take control of himself. Macbeth could not stop thinking about Banquo’s prophecy and the fact that he knew too much. Macbeth’s free will decided to kill Banquo. Toward at the end of the play, Macbeth’s free will also decides to kill Macduff’s family and anyone who got in the way because he was not loyal to him. “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.” (IV, i, 157-160) At the end of the story when the English were coming, he thought he was not going to be defeated and that Birnam wood was not going to walk, Macbeth’s own free will let his Thane side with the English. Macbeth’s free will took control of him because he took the witches prophecies literally without actually thinking about them. Macbeth’s free will and fate battled throughout the whole play because of the decisions and actions he made. He thought that in order for his fate to become true, he had to do things that were not intended to happen, instead of letting fate control