Macbeth Fate Quotes

808 Words2 Pages

Makanda Lieberenz
Patrick
English II Honors - 7
21 November 2014
Macbeth: A Tale Determined by Fate or Freewill The idea of fate versus freewill has been a fiercely debated topic for years. In Macbeth, one of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, it can also be unclear whether Macbeth is the creator of his own downfall, or if his life is in the hands of fate. However, there are more facts proving that Macbeth does not make his own decisions, and is merely a puppet to the higher powers of fate. Near the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Banquo came across the three witches. In this encounter, Macbeth’s prophecies were revealed to him, and it is the inception of the idea that he could actually become king. When the witches first spoke, …show more content…

In this quote, Duncan is saying that by making Macbeth the King of Cawdor, he is also ensuring the start of Macbeth’s great career, and Duncan will help to make it grow. However, Macbeth already knew that he would be the King of Cawdor from the witches’ prophecies. From this evidence, the witches prove themselves credible to Macbeth. Now with Macbeth’s new confidence, he feels more entitled to the prophecy of being future king, and becomes arrogant. The witches told him he would become King of Cawdor, and he did, so he will become the future king as well. However, this characteristic is key to Macbeth’s fate. Even though he was aware of his prophecy, he felt he needed to kill all threats to the throne, like Duncan, for example. Macbeth got away with the murder of Duncan for a period of time. No one really tried to figure out the murder of Duncan, and Malcom and Donalbain conveniently fled the area, so Macbeth got off scot-free. Fate helped in this situation because otherwise, Macbeth would have had to kill Malcom and Donalbain, too. He would have gotten caught, and his life would have ended sooner. Although his ego pushed him to murder several people, fate did not allow him to be caught until it was

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