Hill 1

Jason Hill
Winter
Brit Lit
December 16, 2015
Man is God

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, people often quarrel upon who made the fate of Macbeth end
up as it did. Some say it was the Weird Sisters, some say it was Lady Macbeth, but readers also
often think that it was Macbeth himself who was responsible for his own fate, which, is correct.
Although misguided by the Weird Sisters and his controlling wife at times, Macbeth didn't need
to make all of the choices he did in this story. So whoever says Macbeth isn't to blame clearly is
not looking at the pure facts of this story.

In the beginning of the tale, Macbeth is quarreling with his own righteousness and the hold the
Weird Sisters have placed on his mind. He plots, along with Lady Macbeth, to kill King Duncan
in order to acquire more power for himself and take a higher seat in his kingdom. True, the Weird
Sisters have partially influenced him to crave more power, however Macbeth should see that and
analyze the situation before proceeding recklessly. Even though he is not thinking completely
clear, Macbeth asks Lady Macbeth what is going to happen If we should fail? (Macbeth 1.7
58). By asking this, we can see that Macbeth is not completely blind to the world at this time and
can still make his own decisions. He shouldve placed more importance on that question, instead
of proceeding recklessly with the murder. That is something he overlooked, so with the death of
Duncan, Macbeth lit the first torch on the dark path to his death. After Duncans death, Macbeth
continues to make his own decisions while knowing that his mind is not in the right place. He

Hill 2
even says that nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse (Macbeth 2.2 50) him. The
darkness is clouding Macbeths intellect even more now, but he is proceeding recklessly once
again, thinking that he can handle whatever dares block the path in front of him.

After the witches prophecies coming true so far, Macbeth is confused on what to believe. He
doesnt fully want to believe that what the witches say is all true, but he has no reason not to
believe them. The thing is, he does have a reason not to believe them. Compared to the good,
honest life Macbeth had before the witches showed up, how does this life compare in the
slightest? He should realize he is putting trust into beings that he cannot fully even understand
yet, and it is never good to trust in a mystery. That is Macbeths second major mistake in this
tale. Instead of trusting in good friends like Banquo to guide him, Macbeths stubbornness keeps
him walking the path of evil. He doesnt want to think about anything besides what the witches
have to say, saying More shall they speak now, for I am bent to know (Macbeth 3.4 134). The
reader can see now that Macbeth is relying completely on the witches word of his own will, still
not thinking there is anyone else to place trust in. His recklessness also brings him to feel
invincible, still not taking account everything he is facing and instead saying I will not be afraid
of death and bane (destruction) (Macbeth V.4 59).

The biggest thing emphasized in this story is that temptations sometimes appear as prophecies
(Kalpakgian, Shakespeares Macbeth). We cannot believe everything told to us as Macbeth did,
and we cannot believe that whatever we are told is to be our fate no matter what. Everyone is in
charge of their own fate, no matter what anything else does to make a soul believe otherwise.
Macbeth couldnt see anything that way, and so what he got in the end was his own fault. Man is
a follower of the fate he himself decides, and in saying that, man is god (Kalpakgian,

Hill 3
Shakespeares Macbeth). No other being can completely guide a soul to do what he/she does not
want to do.

Some people believe that Macbeths fate was the fault of the Weird Sisters, or his own Lady
Macbeth. After studying the facts however, readers can once again see that it was all Macbeth,
plain and simple. No man/woman can be completely controlled by another spirit, and we are all
responsible for any decisions we may make in our lives. Be careful who you trust, and be careful
what you do. Do not let Macbeths fate follow upon you.