Macbethh Free Will

The three witches told Macbeth his fate. Did the events in Macbeth's life occur because of the witches' prophesy or because of the choices he made? Is it a bit of both? What caused Macbeth to fall: Fate or Free Will?

First, we can look at the first predictions of the witches (Act I, iii). They call him by the names of Thane of Glamis (his current position), Thane of Cawdor (he has been given this position though he does not know this yet), and "King hereafter." So, basically, the first two things the witches tell him aren't prophesies. They have already occurred. Let's look at the third, and most important, part. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become King of Scotland. We know this happens. Is it because of fate or did Macbeth make it happen? Macbeth was tempted by the witches' prophesy to kill the King. But the witches' didn't actually do anything to make Macbeth kill the King. They tempted him, but it was his own ambition that led him to commit the crime. Macbeth, despite his uneasiness, chose to kill King Duncan and ascend to the throne of Scotland.

Let's look at the second, disguised, set of prophesies (Act IV, i). The witches tell Macbeth to beware of Macduff. This is true. Macduff eventually kills Macbeth, so you can call this fate. Then, they tell him that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth." The witches are being tricky here in order to give Macbeth a false confidence. Does Macduff, who is not woman born, kill Macbeth because of fate? Partially so. But, why does Macduff want to kill Macbeth anyway? Because Macbeth killed the King and took the throne. And that was Macbeth's choice. Lastly, the witches tell him that he will not fall until Birnam Wood meets Dunsinane Hill. Well, Birnam Wood meets Dunsinane Hill and Macbeth is defeated. This again is partially Macbeth's fault. If he hadn't killed the King, Malcolm's forces would never have attacked him and made the prophesy true.

So, we can conclude that Macbeth was not a hopeless victim of fate. We are not people guided by a God (or who/what you believe in) who tells us everything to do and controls every aspect of our lives. Though fate might play a part in our lives, we have choices that we make and we must take the consequences of these choices. We can't just sit back and blame "fate;" your life is what you make it.