fate vs free will

Disdainful of Fortune, with his brandished steel...

Act 1 Scene 2 - Early in the play, Macbeth is described as a man who fights against fate, ironically foreshadowing his struggle

All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!

Act 1 Scene 3 - Presents kingship as predestined, planting the idea that Macbeth’s future is fixed

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical

Act 1 Scene 3 - Shows Macbeth actively imagining murder, a conscious mental step toward action

If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me / Without my stir

Act 1 Scene 3 - Initially, Macbeth believes he can let fate take its course

The Prince of Cumberland!

Act 1 Scene 4 - King Duncan names his son, Malcolm, as heir to the throne. Macbeth realizes that "Chance" isn't handing him the crown on a silver platter. He decides to use his Free Will to "o'erleap" the obstacle

Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?

Act 2 Scene 1 - This hallucination suggests either a supernatural "push" or a projection of Macbeth's own choice to kill

Come fate into the list. And champion me to the utterance

Act 3 Scene 1 - Macbeth is issuing a defiant challenge to the universe - he decides to use his free will to stop Banquo’s legacy from reigning