Fate and Free Will

One of the main themes that Shakespeare has been trying to portray throughout Macbeth was whether Macbeth was a victim to an already predetermined fate, or if his life was determined on his poor decision making. From the start of the play Macbeth has overcome the supposed fate of death that should have come his way during the battle against the traitors of the king “But all's too weak; For brave Macbeth -well he deserves that name- Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, (1.2.1)”. This showed that perhaps Macbeth was in control of his life; going against all odds, yet as the story progressed the supernatural beings showed Macbeth otherwise. The three witches gave Macbeth prophecies that foretold his future, Making Macbeth believe in fate. By the end of the play Macbeth began to rely on the prophecies given by the witches to reassure him that his fate made it almost impossible for him to be killed, yet this would lead him to a false sense of security as he finds himself dying early. Nonetheless, it is widely believed that Macbeth’s fall was not due to the already predetermined fate, but instead his ambition, which forced him to make the wrong decisions at the wrong times, thus destroying the noble Macbeth into a dark tyrant. The three witches gave Macbeth an illusion that much of his life was already predetermined, yet Macbeth the one that truly determined how his life turned out by listening to the supernatural witches.