Jamie Stone

Macbeth Argumentative Essay

May 22, 2022

The Outcome of Free Will

While Macbeth tackles a variety of authentic topics, there is indeed a more fantastical and

not-so-realistic element to it. The three witches, for example, are a crucial part of this story, but

witches and the magic that they wield aren’t so accurate. This brings in the element of fate and

that prophecies can predict and know what will happen. Who can prove this one way or another?

Who can concretely say that because of a prophecy stated by a few witches that the outcome of

this play was because of fate and destiny? All you can rely on at the end of the day is the

decisions the characters make. Therefore, I argue that the outcome of this play is a result of free

will. Just because the outcome of this play was stated in a very fantastical prophecy does not take

away from the fact that no matter the outcome, it was a result of the decisions that were made as

a result of the character's free will.

Let us take a look at the first instance where Macbeth, alongside Lady Macbeth, made a

decision that changed the course of the play. In Act 1, scene 7, lines 1-10, Macbeth begins to

argue with himself about murdering the king. He believes that if it could be done without causing

problems later, then it would be good to do it soon. He knows, however, that terrible deeds

backfire. This shows that he knows his decisions have consequences and whatever the outcome

is will be based on his decisions. As a result of Macbeth deciding to kill the king, Macbeth was

made king. No prophecy from witches made or forced Macbeth to decide to kill the king, that

decision was instead a result of Macbeth's free will. The other argument may say that Macbeth

becoming king was stated in the prophecy, so Macbeth becoming king was due to fate and

destiny. But, to that, I say that the witches, while they may have predicted that Macbeth would
become king, did not give Macbeth directions or force him to do anything. The decisions that

Macbeth made were a result of his free will.

The same can be said for the other key characters in the play. In Act 3, scene 3, lines 2-4

the murderers (who were sent to kill Banquo and his son) speak about how Macbeth gave them

the orders and they plan to follow his orders exactly. This proves that not only do Macbeth's

decisions have consequences, but a ripple effect. Macbeth’s orders and decisions caused these

murderers to carry out those orders. Macbeth's decisions throughout the play lead to another and

another and therefore caused the outcome of the play to be a result of Macbeth’s free will. It’s

not only Macbeth's free will, however, that impacted the outcome of the play, but the free will of

everyone around him as well. Look at the people that rebelled against Macbeth for example.

They did not know about the witches’ prophecies proving that the actions that they took were not

influenced by anything else other than their own free will. They each individually concluded on

their own and decided to overthrow their king. You can not prove the opposing argument in this

case, that destiny or fate caused all of those people to decide to rebel.

Once Macbeth became king, as the witches prophesized, he could have cleaned up his act

and decided to become a true and noble king. However, Macbeth decided to continue to fight for

his power. This was a decision that Macbeth made. Instead, of realizing that he had fulfilled the

prophecy and had done what he believed to be necessary, he continued to make the wrong

decisions that led to the outcome of the play. He became an unruly king that killed and

manipulated, making his subjects have no other choice than to rebel against him. This ultimately

proves that because of Macbeth’s free will and the free will of others that the outcome of the play

unraveled in the way that it did. With Macbeth making the decisions that he did, other events in
the play happened as a result of his free will. Therefore, the outcome of the play boils down to

free will.