To what extent do fate and free will influence Macbeth's choices?

The most
general consensus on a moral study ofis that he, of course, is to blame for all of the tragedies
that befall him throughout the play. After all, it takes a man's conscious choice to commit to
an act of murder. This is a common argument for the correlation between free will and the
actions of .

The primary question when determining to what extent fate plays
a role in Macbeth is the degree of clairvoyance of which the Weird Sisters are capable. By their
prophecy, it seems indeed that Macbeth is fated to be king. While it could be said thatwere
simply master manipulators who planted evil thoughts in Macbeth's head, they also made
predictions about 's descendants that lend far more credence to the idea that they are capable
to some extent of predicting, or even influencing, the fates of lesser beings.

By this line of thinking, it could be argued that while Macbeth was indeed fated to be
king, it was of his own free will that he chose to murder . This is a fairly solid hypothesis at
which many, if not most, scholars of the work seem to arrive. However, there is more evidence
that the threads of fate run much deeper in dictating Macbeth's actions, and the play is all the
more tragic for it.

Every step leading up to Duncan's murder is filled with
doubt and reluctance. After all, scheming and plotting is not at all in Macbeth's default
nature. At his wife's constant prodding and with thoughts of grandeur, he convinces himself that
Duncan's murder must be done. However, some occurrences hint that he may not be as in control of
his actions as he thinks. One immediate and almost supernatural indicator that fate is pulling
the strings is in act 2, scene 1:

Is this a dagger which I
see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have
thee not, and yet I see thee still.

As he is moments away
from committing the murder, and possibly in the process of talking himself out of it, Macbeth
sees, quite literally, a phantom dagger covered with blood pointing in Duncan's direction.
Macbeth, though incredibly stressed, is also entirely lucid. He has none of the mania that
plaguedduring the latter's scheming. However, though he knows that it must be a hallucination,
he can see the dagger as clear as he sees his wife, the castle, and the victim of his horrible
crime. There could not be a clearer example of fate completely forcing a character's hand. When
he tries to resist the deed that fate has decided for him, visions literally materialize out of
the air, goading him on.

While it seems slightly less consequential to think
of Macbeth's fate as preordained, the reality of it is cruel beyond imagining. The witches go on
to prophesize far more specific events that could not have been foretold without some degree of
clairvoyance, such as Macbeth being slain by who was not "born of woman," but rather
of a cesarean section.

As the situation darkens for Macbeth, particularly
after his wife's suicide, he seems to completely resign himself to his fate, playing out his
role like a puppet on stage. As he fortifies his defenses one last time after immediately
hearing of his wife's death, he muses:

€ƒ€ƒShe should
have died hereafter.

There would have been a time for such a
word.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps
in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded
time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Lifes but a
walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the
stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told
by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

This is a short but powerfulthat serves to reflect on the
futility of everything. In this moment, Macbeth realizes that he never really had a choice. He
was, all along, simply a slave to some invisible string that pulled him along carelessly. As he
watches the "Birnam Wood" approach his stronghold, he realizes that his fate is
sealedand that, to him, fate is crueler than anything that he could have dreamed of doing with
his "free will."