Macbeth
Some people are convinced that each person's life is pre-determined by an outside force such as fate which has already decided every event in that person's life such as the time of death, but others are antithetical and may argue that a person's life is determined by each individual choice the person makes. Some people take the in-between route and believe that lives are sketched out, but can be slightly altered with each choice. William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" is a tragic play that details the rise and fall of King Macbeth of a once placid Scotland, and the momentum for the play's dark progression, along with the source of Macbeth's status as a tragic figure, is an encounter between Macbeth and three witches which leads to his rise to the throne, his intrinsic descent into tyranny, and his ultimate demise. Some may consider the fulfillment of these witches' captious predictions as a clear sign that Macbeth's path is a fated one, destined to happen, but instead, the witches' manipulations of Macbeth, his own self-doubt, and his mordant conflicting thoughts of ambition all leads to proof that it is Macbeth's exorbitant free will, not fate, that determined the course of the play. While some may consider the witches' prognosis o
The unbridled witch admits that she cannot completely destroy the ship, but can only wish it to be "tempest-tost." The witches enact this same kind of power to affect the course of events; this shows that the life of Macbeth is not fated to occur, but is directly influenced by the will of specific individuals. Free will's influence was paramount to the story of Macbeth, and even though the callow witches did have influence on Macbeth, they did not directly see the future events. The witches' manipulations of Macbeth, his own alacrity, and his conflicting thoughts of ambition all leads to proof that it is Macbeth's free will taking a toll on his life. Macbeth's own wavering constitution showed his lack of faith in fate, and his active participation in the fulfillment of the witches' prophesies showed that it was free will, and not fate, which led from Macbeth's crowning to his rampant beheading. The meaning of life is very moot, and the patterns of life are beyond the knowledge of humans. However, it is evident that in "Macbeth" there is no determined fate for any person but just a series of choices that lead to the rise into tyranny and the unpleasant downfall of Macbeth and the obviously predicted outcome. Each person has a unique view as to the results of life and what leads to those results, and the answer is an inscrutable one. Perhaps it is the lack of knowledge about determined and undetermined events in a lifetime that manipulates so many people like Macbeth. If Duncan's death was meant to happen and was intended to be done by Macbeth, then he could not be held responsible for his own actions. Also, in his conspiring with his wife, Macbeth asks the question, "If we should fail?" (Act I, scene vii, 59), which is a question that would be unthinkable if it was indeed fated to happen. The witches themselves possess no real power to ensure that their predictions come to pass, and evidence of this is seen during the witches' puerile conversations, as the first garrulous witch relates the tale of the sailor. Another aspect of Macbeth, which clearly shows his own predilection taking precedence over fate, is shown by Macbeth's deliberations and asides he makes while tryin
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1488
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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