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Taylor Gear
Ms.Winter
British Literature, Period 2
16 December 2015
And they all lived tragically ever after
C.S Lewis once said Evil comes from the abuse of free will. Free will can be defined as
the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate. In Shakespeares Macbeth,
Macbeth lets his free will control his devious actions throughout the play, whether it be killing a
King or even his own best friend. Macbeth abuses his free will in order to become what he
desires: King. In many ways Macbeth is responsible for his tragic downfall by letting his desire
take control of him.
Macbeths downfall begins right after he meets the weird sisters. The weird sisters tell
him that he is Thane of Glamis and that he will become Thane of Cawdor and then he shall be
King. Macbeth soons receives news that he is now the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth believes that
two truths [were] told( Macbeth 1.3.127) by the weird sisters. It is here that Macbeth decides
to take matters into his own hands. He figures if the rest came true then he should be able to
become King as well. Yet, Banquo is also confronted by the weird sisters; however, Banquo
recognizes the voice of temptation (Kalpakgian) unlike Macbeth. Banquo is aware of what is
going on and is smart enough to know that the deceitful words of the weird sisters are just a way
to tempt him . On the other hand, Macbeth fantasizes that the witches words are far seeing
prophecies rather than clever temptations (Kalpakgian). Macbeth fantasizes of being King. Now
that the weird sisters have put the idea into his mind he figures that he can now become King by
himself. He begins to plot of the ways to become King. Soon he has a thought whose murder is

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yet but fantastical (Macbeth 1.3.139). The weird sisters never said to Macbeth that he would
have to kill in order to become King. There could have been many other ways that Macbeth
could have succeeded the throne; however, he is so eager to become King that his first thought is
murder. The weird sister never planted this idea into Macbeths head. This thinking is all on his
own. His desire overpowers him and prevents him from seeing any other way. Macbeth begins to
abuse his free will so that he may commit treacherous deeds.
Macbeths desire to be King overpowers his logic and reason. Not only does it fool him,
but his wife as well. After receiving the letter about the weird sisters from her husband, Lady
Macbeth states that her husband wouldst be great, Art not without ambition (1.5.16-17). Lady
Macbeth believes that her husband could become King because he does not lack the ambition to
do so. Macbeth is fully capable of killing anyone. In the beginning of the play, he unseamed [a
man] from the nave to th chops, And fixed his head upon [the] battlements (1.2.22-23).The
audience is aware that Macbeth should have no problem killing anyone with how brutal he is.
Both Macbeth and his wife have strong desires to become royalty and they will do whatever it
takes to get what they want. Macbeth ignore[s] the truth of the nature of things that speaks to
[him] in [his] conscience (Kalpakgian). Macbeth refuses to think rationally about the situation
and lets desire take him over. He does not think of the consequences that may happen to him,
instead he is set on becoming King. His desire is filled with darkness for he does not [want]
light [to] see [his] black and deep desires(Macbeth 1.4.51). Macbeths only true desire is to
murder. He wants to become King, but he knows he will have to murder people in order to get
there. However, Macbeth has no spur/ To prick the sides of [his] intent, but only/ Vaulting
ambition (1.7.25-27). Macbeth admits that he has no real reason to kill Duncan, he only wants
to do it to quench his desire to be King. Even after murdering Duncan, Macbeth feels no

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remorse. Instead he goes on to kill many others, such as Banquo and Macduffs family with not
very good intentions; however, Macbeth no longer cares who he kills as long as he gets what he
wants in the end. Macbeths dark desires are what fueled him into committing such vile deeds.
In the end, Macbeth was responsible for his own downfall. Everyone has a choice in their
life and Macbeth chose evil. He had brought his tragic ending upon himself. Macbeth never had
any true reason to kill. It was all for himself. His desire to be King was so powerful that it had
clouded his sense of reason. He refused to think of the consequences of what he was doing. All
that Macbeth wanted was to become King, and because of his devious doings he got what he
wanted. The weird sisters had no control over him, instead he was able to do as he wanted and
die as a King.