Macbeth: the role of destiny Fate plays an important role in Shakespeare's Macbeth. The strange sisters use fate to wreak havoc among the Scottish nobility. Furthermore, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth challenge fate. Later in the show, Malcolm, Macduff and the other revolutionaries try to alter destiny. Destiny can be many things to many different people. If you believe that fate is all-encompassing, then it becomes a perfect excuse for your actions. Yet, for Macbeth, fate was something much more complex. Macbeth, after seeing some truth in the witches' prophecies, chose to believe everything they said and yet at times felt he had to lend a helping hand to fate. The strange sisters believe that fate is not something to be overly concerned about, but rather is something to enjoy. However, their superior, Hecate, obviously thinks it was important enough to verbally discipline the strange sisters for abusing them. The strange sisters see fate with the same routine that Macbeth sees water and bread. In Macbeth, the witches can apparently travel in and out of time at will. Therefore, they are able to both see the future and change its course itself. When examined analytically, this ability appears to be an illogical paradox, but Shakespeare's great work is full of paradoxes: "Beautiful is ugly, and ugly is beautiful" (Ii11). The witches already seem to know the consummation of the respective rights of both Macbeth and Banquo. destinies. However, for some reason unknown to the audience, they find it necessary to interfere with this fate by telling Macbeth and Banquo their future. Actions of this nature make it seem that...... middle of paper......n was his undoing again when he was terrorized by MacDuff and lost the battle that led to his beheading. While fate may be seen as something that cannot be altered, the only way a strong person could use fate is to their advantage. Using fate as a source of stability and a reason for confidence in yourself and your abilities is a positive use of fate. However, becoming too confident or basing one's few important decisions on fate is not a wise undertaking, as Macbeth has learned. Destiny is like religion and any other belief based on intangible ideas: it can be a good excuse for not taking control of your life and responsibility for your decisions. When fate takes the place of free will in order of importance, then chaos is bound to follow.