Many Mefarshim try to grapple with the idea of free will in the context of the story of Mitzraim. When comparing classical commentaries to more modern ones, the question seems to be about whether GD hardened Pharoh's heart or if Pharoh's own ego and stubbornness caused his heart to be hardened based on the laws of psychology that GD put in place for mankind. If we take a look in the text itself, we may be able to come to a conclusion on our own. In Shemot Perek Yud Passuk Alef it says:
(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יקוק אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה כִּֽי־אֲנִ֞י הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙ וְאֶת־לֵ֣ב עֲבָדָ֔יו לְמַ֗עַן שִׁתִ֛י אֹתֹתַ֥י אֵ֖לֶּה בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃
(1) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these My signs among them,
based on the language of the text , it seems that GD is the one causing Pharoh's heart to be hardened.
אֲנִ֞י הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙ וְאֶת־לֵ֣ב עֲבָדָ֔יו
however, if we continue reading, we might start seeing things a little differently
in passuk gimmel it says
(ג) וַיָּבֹ֨א מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאַהֲרֹן֮ אֶל־פַּרְעֹה֒ וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו כֹּֽה־אָמַ֤ר יקוק אֱלֹקֵ֣י הָֽעִבְרִ֔ים עַד־מָתַ֣י מֵאַ֔נְתָּ לֵעָנֹ֖ת מִפָּנָ֑י שַׁלַּ֥ח עַמִּ֖י וְיַֽעַבְדֻֽנִי׃
(3) So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to ________ yourself before Me? Let My people go that they may worship Me.
here moshe and aharon are confronting pharoh and telling him that he is the one who is refusing to לֵעָנֹ֖ת - what does this word mean?
(1) לענת Translate as the Targum: TO BE HUMBLED. It is of the same derivation as עני poor, so that the passage signifies, “thou refusest to be poor and lowly before Me”.
(ג) לֹא־תֹאכַ֤ל עָלָיו֙ חָמֵ֔ץ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֛ים תֹּֽאכַל־עָלָ֥יו מַצּ֖וֹת לֶ֣חֶם עֹ֑נִי כִּ֣י בְחִפָּז֗וֹן יָצָ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לְמַ֣עַן תִּזְכֹּר֔ אֶת־י֤וֹם צֵֽאתְךָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ׃
(3) You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.
(ז) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יקוק רָאֹ֥ה רָאִ֛יתִי אֶת־עֳנִ֥י עַמִּ֖י אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וְאֶת־צַעֲקָתָ֤ם שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י נֹֽגְשָׂ֔יו כִּ֥י יָדַ֖עְתִּי אֶת־מַכְאֹבָֽיו׃
interestingly enough, the only other time the actual word לענת is used in תנך is in bimidbar when discussing the laws of annulling vows for women, there it says:
(יד) כָּל־נֵ֛דֶר וְכָל־שְׁבֻעַ֥ת אִסָּ֖ר לְעַנֹּ֣ת נָ֑פֶשׁ אִישָׁ֥הּ יְקִימֶ֖נּוּ וְאִישָׁ֥הּ יְפֵרֶֽנּוּ׃
(א) כל נדר וכל שבועת אסר לענת נפש לפי שאמר שהבעל מפר יכול כל נדרים במשמע ת"ל לענות נפש אינו מפר אלא נדרי ענוי נפש בלבד והם המפורשים במסכת נדרים לשון רש"י ובלשון קצרה דבר הרב כי הבעל מפר נדרי ענוי נפש והם כגון פירות העולם אסורים עלי ואפילו נדרה שלא תטעום אחד מכל המינים (תוספתא נדרים פ"ז ה"ג)
(1) Every vow and every oath of self-denial. Rashi wrote: “Since it was said that the husband may annul, perhaps all vows are included; the Torah therefore teaches, ‘of self-denial.’ He may only annul vows which are of self-deprivation/self-afflication/lessening of oneself. They are defined in tractate Nedarim.” Rashi spoke briefly, for indeed the husband annuls vows which are of self-denial, for example, if she said, “the fruits of the world are prohibited to me.” Included in this is even if she vowed not to taste one type of fruit.
it seems that the meaning of לענת is to lower/lessen/humble yourself, something that moshe and aharon are telling pharoh that he is refusing to do- maybe moshe and aharon are telling pharoh that GD is not forcing Pharoh to harden his heart, but Pharoh, by not humbling and lessening himself by acknowledging and listening to GD is letting his own ego get in his way of making logical decisions
Pharoh, maca after maca is refusing to listen to GD and thereby refusing to acknowledge that GD is the ultimate power, he is caring more about his own ego than the good of his people and country
אמר רבי יוסי אין אלו נדרי ענוי נפש ואלו הן נדרי ענוי נפש אמרה קונם פירות העולם עלי הרי זה יכול להפר פירות מדינה זו עלי יביא לה ממדינה אחרת פירות חנווני זה עלי אינו יכול להפר ואם לא היתה פרנסתו אלא ממנו הרי זה יפר דברי רבי יוסי גמ׳ נדרי ענוי נפש הוא דמפר שאין בהן ענוי נפש אינו מפר והא תניא (במדבר ל, יז)
Rabbi Yosei said: These are not vows of affliction. Rather, these are vows of affliction: For example, if she said: The produce of the entire world is konam for me as if it were an offering, he can nullify the vow, as it certainly involves affliction. If, however, she said: The produce of this country is konam for me, he cannot nullify the vow, as it does not involve affliction, since he may still bring her produce from another country.
(ד) כִּ֛י אִם־מָאֵ֥ן אַתָּ֖ה לְשַׁלֵּ֣חַ אֶת־עַמִּ֑י הִנְנִ֨י מֵבִ֥יא מָחָ֛ר אַרְבֶּ֖ה בִּגְבֻלֶֽךָ׃
here it seems like moshe and aharon are giving pharoh an opportunity to snap back to reality- up until now pharohs ego has blinded him from lessening himself before Gd, now moshe and aharon and telling pharoh that mitzrayim- which was the height and glory of civilization especially when it came to providing food, will now be completely wiped out of every last morsel- and yet pharoh still refuses to let bnei yisrael go at the risk of himself looking like a fool and less than in comparison to GD, he continues to refuse to humble/lower himself and that may be the cause of his hardened heart, but what brings it all together is the following passuk
in the beginning we said that Hashem hardened pharohs heart AND the hearts of his servants, but here we see Pharohs servants "waking up" and pushing aside their own ego for the sake of their lives and their country, As we know however, Pharoh still cannot break free of the hardened heart, because his ego is much greater than that of his servants