This essay examines the tension between free will and fate in three canonical literary works: William Shakespeare's Macbeth, John Milton's Paradise Lost, and Dante Alighieri's Inferno and Purgatorio. The paper argues that although divine foreknowledge and prophecy may suggest predetermined destiny, all three authors ultimately affirm human free will as the determining force in shaping individual fate. Through analysis of key characters—Macbeth, Adam, and Dante—the essay demonstrates how each work presents free will as a fundamental human capacity that enables people to choose between good and evil, regardless of external pressures or divine knowledge of future outcomes.
Are people predestined by fate to become powerful, or do they reach their destiny by making good choices of their own free will? Many people believe that free will—the choices and actions one makes for oneself—is how their life is determined. Others believe that fate decides one's destiny. In Macbeth, the play by William Shakespeare, the main character used free will to finalize what path his life would take. Free will is an important concept in Macbeth and the choices that the characters make.
According to John Milton, God can see all actions of man, and God endowed man with free will to make his own decisions. In Paradise Lost, Milton uses the concept of free will to explain the human condition. Throughout a person's life, opportunities are opened, and they have to decide which way they want to go: good or evil, right or wrong. God created man to use free will to make life's decisions; his destiny is ultimately determined by his own decisions, whether they are good or evil—not a predestination of fate.
William Shakespeare used the witches to predict what fate was set for Macbeth; however, he used free will to ultimately decide his future. "All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!" (1.3.50). Macbeth believes in the prophecy that he will eventually become king. When he finds out that Duncan named Cumberland as his successor, Macbeth then decides to kill Duncan, enabling Macbeth to become king. Macbeth knows that in order to complete the prophecy and to reach his goal, he must take action.
Macbeth says, "For in my way it lies. 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" (1.4.50). Thus, he makes the decision of his own free will to kill the king and grasp his destiny to become the new King of Scotland. The prophecy does not force Macbeth to act; rather, Macbeth uses his own agency to determine how the prophecy will be fulfilled. In this way, Shakespeare demonstrates that even when the future appears to be predetermined, human choice remains the active force that brings destiny into being.
God, in Paradise Lost by John Milton, talks to Satan about Adam as a representative of man and the decisions he will make through his life. "They therefore, as to right belonged, / So were created, nor can justly accuse / Their Maker or their making, or their fate, / As if predestination overruled / Their will disposed by absolute decree / Or high foreknowledge" (3.111-6). God has the foreknowledge of the decisions Adam or man will make throughout their lifetimes. Man has the opportunity to choose where his future leads him, whether it is good or evil, and that choice is up to him.
God has given the race of men a great gift: the ability to forge their own futures. God may have had knowledge of how the race of man would ultimately fare, but he let Adam choose his path. God does not influence or exercise authority over these decisions, allowing Adam to use free will to select his decisions. In Milton's theology, knowledge of the future is distinct from causation of the future. Divine foreknowledge does not diminish human responsibility or remove the reality of choice.
Dante, the main character in Dante's Inferno and Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri, is taken on a trip to Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven by Virgil. Because of this, God knew exactly how Dante's life was going to end up. God gave Dante free will, and he did not choose the virtuous path initially. "Your free will would be destroyed, and there would be no equity in joy for doing well, in grief for evil. The heavens set your appetites in motion..." (Purg. XVI, 70-79).
Virgil wanted Dante to have the knowledge of where his choices could take him. Virgil wanted Dante to see that the choices other people made had consequences and hoped to influence Dante's free will. People are able to pick their path through life. They often use free will to forge a path that has many endings and branches. The choices people make are between good, evil, and a little mixture of the two. It is up to the free will of people to decide what path and life they want to live.
Man was created with the ability of free will in order to make life's choices. Man's destiny is eventually his own to make; they are not a predestination of fate but the outcome of his own free will. No matter the force that may step in and try to influence man, free will is inherently a part of the human condition. When given a choice between good and evil, man has the free will to pick his own path.
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