On fate in hamlet

It is said that fate does not choose it’s own victims, but it’s victims choose their own fate. In the tragedy Hamlet by Shakespeare, it is evident that the tragic hero, Macbeth, chooses his own fate and creates his own downfall. With greed, hubris and mistrust, Macbeth chooses and shapes his own destiny. Macbeth’s greed for power leads to the mistrust of those around him and in the end forms his fatal downfall. If the evil inside Macbeth was not to have overtaken the good, his ending may have concluded otherwise. It is Macbeth’s greed that lead to his decision to kill Duncan. Although the witches foretold that Macbeth will become king, it did not imply or suggest that Macbeth had to kill Duncan. The murder was simply out of his own free will. Which means destiny had nothing to do with Duncan’s death. Macbeth’s greed for power can be seen shortly after the king announces his heir: “ Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and dark desires. ” (Shakespeare. I. IV. 57-58) From the quote, Macbeth is obviously envious of Malcolm and shows desire for the throne. This desire was sparked by greed and not by fate. It is this “ dark desire” that Macbeth chose that leads him to kill Duncan. Macbeth kills Banquo out of mistrust and because he possess a threat to him. Fate is innocent of the deed. Macbeth is the murderer. This occurs shortly after he confirms with the witches about his own destiny, he states: “ Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature/ Reigns that which would be feared. ” ( Shakespeare, III. I. 53-54) In the quote, Macbeth states that he fears Banquo’s descendents. That is why he decides to kill Banquo. It was Macbeth who decided after scheming and deep thought that killing Banquo would stabilize his power. This means that it was Macbeth who planned the murder and not Fate. This is significant towards Macbeth’s Destiny because after the death of Banquo, more and more turn against Macbeth. Therefore by doing so, Macbeth not only kills Banquo but he is also slowly killing himself as well. Shortly after Macbeth receives predictions from the witches, his hubris grows and so does his downfall. His hubris removes his abilitly to fear and instead embraces him with excessive pride and bravery, with which he dies battling against Malcolm’s army. Even under the pressure of oppressing forces Macbeth says; “ I have almost forgot the taste of fear. ” ( Shakespeare. V. V. 11) From this quote, Macbeth is shown to be fearless which means his hubris has overpowered his fear. Because of Macbeth’s hubris pride, he goes out to face Malcolm’s army head on eventhough he is obviously outnumbered. Therefore fate does not kill Macbeth, his fatal decision to face Malcolm’s army does. Macbeth’s choice of pride over fear is why he dies. Macbeth’s choice to fight Malcolm’s army is why he looses power and dies. In the end, Macbeth’s destiny was not determined by fate, rather it was Macbeth’s own character that shaped his fatal conclusion. Macbeth’s impulses and emotions were ultimately responsible for his wrong doings, which forms his downfall. Alternate choices may have lead to alternate endings.