M. Johnson's Essay Period 2 - Team 4

In Macbeth’s world fate was a supernatural force that was unavoidable and applied to every person. Freewill at the time was considered a vehicle of fate. Even though a person felt he or she was making his or her own decision it was in fact set out before time began. In the play, the events in Macbeth’s life and eventually death came about not because of unnatural forces but because of his own decisions. The poor decisions that lead to Macbeth’s down fall, such as the murder of King Duncan, disregard of the warnings the weird sisters give him, and the murder of innocent people, came about because the witches and his ambitious wife’s influence.

When the weird sisters told him of his future at the beginning of the play he soon discovers that their first prophesy, becoming Thane of Cawdor was fulfilled without any action by him and his greed overpowered his conscience and ability to know right from wrong. Thinking you know too much about the future can distort a person. The first thought in his mind after he is named Thane of Cawdor was that he must kill the king in cold blood, even though the first prophesy came true without action and the sisters had not told him to act. He debates with himself over the idea of killing the king, and then chooses to listen to his wife, who wants him to be king even more then he does. After killing Duncan the king Macbeth was crowned and had complete control over everyone and he eventually went to the extreme to kill innocent people and good friends to protect his thrown. Banquo had no visible intentions of murder, and Macbeth pays by losing his sanity, which causes and his life to crumble. After his episode during that banquet he is unable to make rational decisions and eventually interprets new predictions of his future the wrong way, which caused him to slowly take steps that led him to his grave.

Because of his arrogance Macbeth miss interprets various warnings given by the witches later on in the play. He did not take the necessary precautions in order to protect himself from his enemies. This led to the storming of his castle, his death, and Macduff’s success. In Macbeth’s situation knowing too much makes him single minded, which destroys him in the end. Macbeth’s poor judgment and ignorance that came about because of his insanity and arrogance slowly paved a dark path. The events in Macbeth’s life do not occur from fate, but from his own actions. The decisions that he makes ultimately send him to hell.