Macbetth

Fate is a supernatural power that many believe is unavoidable and out of their control. As soon as an individual is born, fate controls their destiny. A perfect example of fate controlling an individual’s destiny is in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Fate is the reason why and how Macbeth is led to his downfall and turns into a tragic hero. Furthermore, Fate came in the form of the witches’ prophecies, which basically guides Macbeth to his destiny, which turns out to be his corruption. Macbeth is being constantly vexed throughout the play by the conflicts between his ambitions and those of his wife, and his loyalties to Duncan and Banquo.

Fate is destiny. Destiny is believed to be a predetermined course of events. Macbeths’ downfall happens because of his destiny. This predetermined course of events plays a role in turning Macbeth from the meticulous and subtle man he was to the corrupt lost man he became. Macbeth’s life is going along smoothly; He is the Thane of Glamis and King Duncan recently appoints him the Thane of Cawdor. This is part of his predetermined destiny, but destiny as it seems has more events planned for Macbeth than he expects. In addition to fate being the underlying cause towards Macbeth’s corruption, it has an effect on Macbeth’s good friend and partner Banquo. The three witches come to both Macbeth and Banquo and reveal to them a total of three prophecies. Two of these prophesy turning out to be Macbeth becoming King and Banquo becoming the father of Kings. After listening to these prophecies Macbeth almost immediately has thoughts on how to make his prophecy come true, contrasting to Banquo who is not affected by the prophecies at all. Banquo even makes fun of them when he is speaking to Macbeth in lines 89-92 of Act1 scene 3. Banquo says, “ You shall be king” to Macbeth, and Macbeth responds by saying “ And Thane of Cawdor too; went it not so?” stated in sarcasm. This gives an insight to the developing Character of Macbeths tragic hero; meaning he feels one way, but expresses it another. Macbeth hearing the witch’s prophesies is one of the leading causes, which sparks his inner ambition. As a result of Macbeth’s ambition increasing to become king, it seems king Duncan’s fate is to die by the hands of Macbeth anyway, and that is exactly what happens. Fate is the reason why Macbeth turns into a tragic hero. The witch’s prophecies that were told sparked Macbeth’s inner ambition and lead him to kill King Duncan.

Fate came in the form of the prophecies of the three witches. These six prophecies, in total, led Macbeth to a corrupt path and changed his character completely. The prophecies of the three witches are told to Macbeth; but the witches did nothing physically to aid him. Macbeth is the one who is tempted by the witch’s prophecy to kill the king. The witches gradually attack Macbeth’s ambition mentally to the point where he becomes paranoid and loses his inner control. Furthermore the witches tell Macbeth to be aware of Macduff. Macduff is also a nobleman that serves the king. Macduff kills Macbeth because Macbeth killed his entire family; an example of Macbeth losing is inner control. The witches are being problematic by giving Macbeth a sense of over confidence and making it seem like he is invincible. An example of Macbeth’s over confidence is when one of the Apparitions tells him “ none of women born shall harm Macbeth”

(IV, I, 56-57). As a result of the witches showing up and telling Macbeth these prophecies, it led to his downfall, because if Macbeth had not met the witches in the first place, all the chaos that took place for him to become king would never have happened. Macbeth would become king because that is what he is destined for, even if he did not meet the witches. The witches acted as a misguided way for Macbeth to achieve what is already his. Macbeth is not a hopeless victim of fate, though fate plays a part in altering the way he should have became king.

Furthermore, Macbeth is constantly vexed throughout

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