Witch-slapped: Macbeth's fall from grace

3. Do you believe events in your life have been guided by fate or chance? Why or why not? Based on the text, what do you think Shakespeare's attitude was towards fate? Does Macbeth have any choice in his actions or was everything predetermined? Use examples from the text as your support.

This picture mocks the fact that Macbeth is killing everyone in his sight, even women and children. To some extent, I believe the events in my life have been guided by fate or chance. The reason I believe this to be true in relation to my life is because I believe many events have occurred without my control. For example, I met one of my best friends at a concert. She wasn't originally allowed to go to this concert, but went last minute, additionally, she ended up in the row right in front of me. Moments like this believe me to think that some occurrences are motivated by chance. However, I always have doubt when thinking about the systematic aspect of every event that occurs. To relate this, one may say it is fate that one has 4 classes a day with their best friend. In reality, it was a person behind the computer generating people into certain classes. 

 I think that Shakespeare's attitude was towards fate. This is due to the fact that despite Macbeth trying to adjust his prophecy, fate was always going to succeed in the end. The witches declare that Macbeth will be the  Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis and king. They also tell Banquo that his sons will become king. To go against fate, Macbeth kills king Duncan in order to accelerate his prophecy of becoming king. However, when the apparitions appear to Macbeth, the last apparition reveals eight kings, all successors to Banquo, suggesting that Banquo's sons will become king. This reveals that Macbeth believed that he has a choice, but in reality fate and the supernatural will always be the guiding force in his life. In contrast, outside of his prophecy, Macbeth made choices that were not guided by an outside power. Macbeth believed that Macduff was a traitor. In response, he killed Macduff's wife and child. This reveals that he made choices that would later determine his fate. To counter this, one could conclude that all actions taken by Macbeth were causation for his future. 

 It is revealed that Macbeth is ultimately guided by an overarching supernatural force that is determining the course of his life. His prophecy motivated him to act, however this prophecy would have been fulfilled regardless in the eyes of the supernatural. Despite how Macbeth acted, he will never truly succeed due to the predetermined prophecy that Banquo's sons will become king. 

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