Macbeth 2-3
In acts 2 and 3, Macbeth’s fate unravels at his feet. Everything that has happened so far is true to what the three witches have said. I've been questioning whether the prophesy would still be correct if Macbeth had not taken the actions he did. Do the witches know that by telling Macbeth that he will be king, he will take the actions to become king? If he had just lived his life as he was before, would the prophecy hold true, or is it necessary for Macbeth to be motivated by the prophecy?
Macbeth tries to change his fate via action and fails. The assassin’s he sends after Banquo and Fleance kill Banquo (who cannot become king), but fail to kill Fleance. This demonstrates that Macbeth cannot change his fate regardless of who he bribes or kills. Could it possibly be argued that Macbeth could become king through inaction by not even killing Duncan in the first place, as he cannot alter his fate? Maybe my logic is flawed here, and it's necessary for Macbeth to act.
Macbeth’s fear of predestination I think we can all resonate with. Fearing that our own actions will have no impact on some negative consequence in the future is something we all may have felt before. The concept of futility is what Shakespeare is playing with in Macbeth. In religion, scholars have argued about the concept of predestination (in terms of going to Heaven or Hell) for a very extensive period, dating back to as old as first century Judaism. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth during the reformation, during which religious concepts like predestination were being debated extensively. Shakespeare is making a sort of commentary on the religious arguments of the day in a sense by exploring the concepts of fate and free will.
I think your blog post is interesting in bringing up the argument about Macbeth's ability to exercise free-will. Is the prophecy predicted by the witches his ultimate destiny? Or does Macbeth have control in changing his fate? I think it is ambiguous if Macbeth would have still ascended to power if he had not murdered Duncan. But, the concept of fate versus free-will enables one to question how much control we actually have over the events which occur in our lives, or if our futures are predetermined.
ReplyDeleteI brought up the same question in my blog post about whether any of this would have happened if the witches had not said anything to Macbeth. I, too, am wondering if Macbeth could have become king through inaction. He became Thane of Cawdor without doing anything, so it would seem likely that he could become king without doing anything as well. I like how you brought up the concept of predestination and mentioned historical and religious context. I did not think about either of these topics, but I think it is important to recognize that the fate vs. free will idea in Macbeth ties into religion, especially with how it was perceived at the time.
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