Macbeth Fate and Free Will Quotes

The merciless Macdonwald –
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him…
For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name!
Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour’s minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam’d him from the nave to th’ chops,
And fix’d his head upon our battlements.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 2. The Captain tells King Duncan how the brave Macbeth led the Scots to victory against the King of Norway and executed the traitorous rebel Macdonwald. We see how Macbeth had the ability to defy fate and fortune with his sword. The quote shows that he is loyal to the King. We also witness his ruthlessness and propensity for gruesome violence. The battle “hero” is introduced as a bloodthirsty killer, who slices his opponent open from naval to jaw. This foreshadows Macbeth being a killer during the rest of the play. The passage uses metaphorical language to emphasize Macbeth’s heroic and bloody role in the battle – his sword “smoked with bloody execution.” We see simile and personification when Macbeth is likened to “valour’s minion” – the servant of courage. Macbeth is initially presented as a patriot in the play.

Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-toss’d.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. The witch plotting revenge on a sailor knows that she cannot destroy his ship, but she can call up storms to disrupt his voyage. This shows that while the Witches can use their powers to influence events, they are not all-powerful and cannot completely control a person’s fate. Foreshadowed here is how the Witches will influence Macbeth through their prophecies, but cannot force him to act. Macbeth by exercising his free will and through his own actions will end up dooming himself.
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter

FIRST WITCH: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
SECOND WITCH: All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
THIRD WITCH: All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. When Macbeth invites the Witches to speak, their words are prophetic and foreshadowing of things to come. They hail him as Thane of Cawdor, an example of dramatic irony since the audience already knows that but Macbeth does not. They also prophesy that he will be later become King of Scotland.
Witches prophecy to Banquo

FIRST WITCH: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
SECOND WITCH: Not so happy, yet much happier.
THIRD WITCH: Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. When Banquo asks the Witches to tell him his future, they make cryptic prophecies. The final one predicts that his descendants will be kings, but he will not. In saying how he will be lesser and greater than Macbeth, this may be suggesting that he won’t rise to the rank of Macbeth, but will enjoy greater honor and reputation. The Witches’ statement about Banquo being not as happy but happier than Macbeth is equally ambiguous. But it too can be explained by Banquo suffering a violent death yet not going through the mental torment of Macbeth before dying. There is a great deal of subtle foreshadowing here.

And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ‘s
In deepest consequence.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. Banquo shows himself to be much more cautious than Macbeth in reacting to the Witches’ prophecies. He calls attention to the danger of acting on the predictions of the evil “instruments of darkness,” as he metaphorically describes the Witches. They may be telling a little truth in order to gain their confidence, so that they can deceive and betray them into causing harm, he warns. This is foreshadowing of Macbeth’s fatal decision to kill King Duncan. This passage raises the question: do the Witches control people’s fate, or do people have free will to decide their own fate, regardless of what the Witches prophesy.

Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 4. Just after King Duncan names his son Malcolm his successor, Macbeth asks the stars to hide their light so that his disloyal desire to take the throne cannot be seen by anyone. He means to achieve this goal by killing Duncan if necessary. A metaphor is used to describe his evil desires as “black and deep.” In this passage the stars are also personified. Macbeth speaks these lines in an aside, because he wishes to conceal his ambitious intentions from other people. Among the themes in play here is appearance vs reality, also fate and free will. Macbeth is not prepared to leave it to fate for the Witches’ prophecy of him becoming king to come true. He decides to act on his own free will and commit regicide to ensure his ascent to power.

Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown’d withal.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5. In her soliloquy Lady Macbeth bids her husband to hurry home so that she can set in motion her plan to spur him to usurp the crown. She uses the metaphor “pour my spirits in thine ear” to describe how she will whisper words of evil and transfer her spirit into Macbeth, as if to possess him. She will use the courage of her woman’s tongue to rid him of everything that holds him back from the crown. Here we are seeing Lady Macbeth aligned with the Witches as the Fourth Witch. In a nod to the weird sisters she says that Macbeth has already been crowned by “metaphysical aid” and “fate.” Now that she views herself as future queen, she will stop at nothing to achieve her goal.

What should be spoken here, where our fate,
Hid in an auger-hole, may rush and seize us?

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3. After their father Duncan’s murder, Donalbain suggests to his brother Malcolm that it is no time for talking as they are both in danger. Using a metaphor, he describes how their fate in hidden in a drill hole ready to rush out and seize them. Fearing for their lives the brothers escape that “fate” and flee Scotland – Malcolm to England and Donalbain to Ireland.

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
He hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace and fear:
And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 5. Goddess Hecate prophesies that Macbeth will be fooled by her magic into thinking he is immune to fate, he will mock death, and think he is beyond wisdom and fear. Overconfidence is man’s greatest enemy, she says. This is foreshadowing the apparitions that appear to Macbeth in Act 4, lulling him into a false sense of security, leading to his death.

Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1. The second apparition summoned by the Witches is that of a bloody child, urging him to be violent (“bloody”), courageous and determined. The apparition prophesies that no man born naturally of woman will be able to hurt Macbeth. This provides him with a false sense of security regarding any threat from Macduff. However, we later learn that Macduff was born through a C-section – “from his mother’s womb untimely ripped.” So this passage turns out to be ironic, since Macduff is fated to be Macbeth’s eventual nemesis. The passage shows the deceptiveness of the Witches. Macbeth’s death is foreshadowed here.

Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1. The Witches continue their deceitful nature with their third apparition, a child crowned, with a tree in his hand. The child’s prophecy may at first appear to suggest that Macbeth is invincible. And this is exactly what he believes. In response he says: “That will never be Who can impress the forest, bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root.” But the apparition’s words turn out to be ironic and foreshadowing, because it is Macbeth’s fate to be defeated just as the prophecy describes.

Bring me no more reports; let them fly all:
Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,
I cannot taint with fear. What’s the boy Malcolm?
Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know
All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:
“Fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman
Shall e’er have power upon thee.” Then fly, false thanes,
And mingle with the English epicures:
The mind I sway by and the heart I bear
Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 3. A brazen Macbeth is dismissive of reports of an army of thousands led by the “boy Malcolm” about to attack him. Using a bird metaphor, he says of the disloyal Scottish thanes who have joined up with the self-indulgent English – “Let them all fly…fly, false thanes.”
Isolated, abandoned and alone though he may be, Macbeth is unafraid and self-assured and determined to hold onto power. He remains sure of his invincibility in battle because of the Witches’ prophecy, which he quotes. His delusional state has given him a false self of security, believing that supernatural powers and fate are on his side. Little does he know that he will meet his end at the hands of Macduff, who was born by Caesarean section. If not certifiably insane, Macbeth is certainly acting crazy as evidenced by his obsession with the Witches’ prophecies, his self-deception and belief in his own invincibility.
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