Macbeth Essay-Siena Palm p2 asher

Siena Palm

Period 2

Macbeth Essay

Man’s perception of fate is that some external force or divine power has set one’s path in life. These outside forces thus serve as the decision maker’s of man’s actions. In the case of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s fate is that he is to be King. All of his actions made towards becoming King are affected by the Witches’ prophesies which are essentially the determinants of Macbeth’s fate. Shakespeare characterizes Macbeth in such a way that shows he is a noble man, yet a man who will let fate take over his actions, making them ones that are not so noble.

In Act One Scene Three, the Witches predict that Banquo “shalt get kings”, in other words, it will be Banquo’s heirs who will get the throne one day. This prediction is essentially what beings the action of the play. Macbeth commits evil acts off the notion that others are in the way of him becoming ruler. Also in Act One Scene Three, Macbeth is informed by Ross that King Duncan has named him Thane of Cawdor, proving that the Witches’ prophesies are indeed true. Because Macbeth believes the Witches’ interpretation of the future to be accurate, Macbeth then further believes that it is his destiny to become king. It is at this point in the play that Macbeth conjures up the idea that he must murder Duncan in order for the Witches’ prophecy of him becoming king to come true.

Although Macbeth mostly believes that his fate is to kill Duncan, on the contrary, we see that his idea of destiny is also determined by chance and he seems to accept this idea; “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,
 without my stir”. Macbeth accepts that “chance” will determine whether he is king or not, and if chance is the determinant of his future, then killing Duncan may be completely worthless and unnecessary. One of the best examples of Macbeth believing in fate is when he sees the imaginary dagger in Act Two Scene One. The imagines the dagger pointing in the direction of King Duncan’s room and takes it as a sign of fate that the future of him becoming king depends on killing Duncan. Act Four Scene One exemplifies fate as the witches know precisely the future fate of Macbeth, predicting everything that is to come for him.

One’s actions are always influenced by some greater force. The force in Macbeth is the constant theme of fate and man’s perception that it determines a person’s decisions. Macbeth, an otherwise noble man, commits evil acts because fate is “telling him to do so” and it is his destiny to become king.