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Kaitlin Stanfield
Ms. Winter
English 4 British Literature, Period 2
16 December 2015
Obdurate Fate
Responsibility is something that all people are familiar with, especially when that
responsibility is unwarranted and unfair. Sometimes, people have to take responsibility for
actions that are not there fault, for fate is what makes that tragedy occur. Fate cannot be
stopped--it is obdurate, and when people help move its agenda, it becomes inevitable. It becomes
a force to be reckoned with. This is the case in William Shakespeares play, The Tragedy of
Macbeth, a story of one mans untimely descent into madness, and the repercussions that
everybody around him must face because of it. Many are willing to let Macbeth take the
responsibility for the events that unfold, but the fact of the matter is that that is just not true. Fate
is to blame when it influences Macbeth in the form of the Weird Sisters, Lady Macbeths
temptation, and Macbeths madness, and is the guilty party in the tragic ending.
Throughout the play, the three Weird Sisters play a big role in the downfall of Macbeth.
This is proven when, for a reason not given to readers, they curse Macbeth: drain him dry as
hay / Sleep shall neither night nor day / Hang upon his penthouse lid; / He shall live a man
forbid (Macbeth 1.3.18-21). This is key evidence in proving Macbeths innocence. He was
cursed by three vindictive witches. If they had never cursed Macbeth, chances are that this story
would have a different ending. This curse causes Macbeth to have no real control over his actions
over the course of this play. That is not all that the three witches did, though. They also planted a
seed in Macbeths head when they begin to chant, All hail, Macbeth, that shall be king

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hereafter! (1.3.50). The fact of the matter is that, as Mr. Mitchell Kalpakgian states, The
witches prophecies mask the subtlety of evil that blurs the logical distinctions that inhere in the
nature of things (Kalpakgian). The undue influence of the witches causes a chain reaction that,
once started, cannot be stopped. This, along with the curse, shows that Macbeths thought[s] of
murder coincide with Fate(Kalpakgian).
Another instigator in the downfall of Macbeth is his wife, Lady Macbeth, and her
temptation. Hiding just under the surface of her innocent wife facade lies a conniving
manipulator. She uses this to her advantage when she tempts Macbeth into killing Duncan for her
own selfish gains when she says, When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more
than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man (Macbeth 1.7.49-51). If Lady
Macbeth did not tempt Macbeth into killing Duncan by question his manhood, then he would not
have killed Duncan. Earlier on in the play, Macbeth was second-guessing his decision to kill
Duncan in the first place. This demonstrates the first reason why Lady Macbeth is responsible for
the destructive path Macbeth finds himself on throughout the play. The second reason why is
because she takes on some of the responsibility herself. In the end, she becomes a great
perturbation [of] nature (5.5.8) after she receive[s] at once the / Benefit of sleep and [commits]
the effects of watching (5.5.8-9). Throughout the play, there is the topic of sleeplessness
associated with evil intentions and actions and sleep associated with innocence. The fact that
Lady Macbeth is stuck in between what is real and just a dream justifies that she feels guilt for
her actions in the play. She would have no reason to feel guilt if she is not guilty.
Finally, Macbeth cannot be held responsible because he is mad. As the play proceeds,
Macbeth goes deeper and deeper into the madness that consumes him. Like a drowning man,
Macbeth has no way of getting out of the hot water he finds himself in. The craziness sets in

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before Macbeth commits a crime when he claims to see a floating dagger: Is this a dagger
which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand..art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a
false creation / Proceeding from the heat-oppressd brain? (2.1.33-39). It is this hallucination
that reassures him that killing Duncan is the right thing to do. At this time, Macbeth is losing his
mind. If Macbeths craziness, which set in only after the three witches curse, had not made an
appearance, then Macbeth would not have committed the crime which set off more in a domino
effect of destruction. Another hallucination occurs when the violence that afflicts Macbeths
conscience..makes him envision Banquos ghost during a banquet (Kalpakgian). His madness
is emphasised to the point that he is seeing dead people. Someone this far gone cannot be blamed
for his actions. Aside from this is when Macbeth hears a voice saying Sleep no more' to all the
house: / Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more: Macbeth
shall sleep no more (Macbeth 2.2.40-42). This shows that Macbeth lack[s] the season of all
natures, sleep (3.6.141). Without his goodness, his sanity, Macbeth has lost his morals, making
fair is foul, and foul is fair an all-too-real thing (1.1.10). The bottom line is that, in society,
people who are deemed mentally unstable (as Macbeth is) are not held responsible for their
actions by law. Why should Macbeths case be any different?
All in all, Macbeths tragic demise in the product of forces that are out of his control. The
three Weird Sisters, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeths insanity are all fate incarnate, and fate is
obdurate: it does not want to be changed. The curse, temptation, and madness all lead Macbeth to
create heinous crimes that he would have otherwise not committed. Therefore, Macbeth is not
responsible. In the end, fate is nothing but a lying, flattering voice of temptation that reduces an
honorable soldiers life to a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing
(Kalpakgian).