The three witches deceived Macbeth and caused his downfall. The witches give the play a wicked mood that follows Macbeth throughout the play. They control Macbeth’s conscience and “have power over [his] soul (Lamb).” With the belief that the witches are all knowing, Macbeth goes to them seeking answers. They give him predictions of the future without his best interest in mind. He trusts them which causes his actions and thoughts to be centered around what they tell him. They give him the impression that he will be king. This makes Lady Macbeth’s evil plan to kill Duncan seem more appealing. The witches predictions made him believe that he was unstoppable. He is under the impression that anyone born from a woman can kill him. He is told by …show more content…
Their deceitful words keep him from thinking about a C-section. Macbeth starts acting destructive. He kills Duncan while believing nothing can happen to him as long as he gets the crown. Since the predictions of the future the witches are making come true, Macbeth keeps pursuing them to find out what else his future holds. He questions if the witches are telling the truth and asks them why he should kill Macduff. He believes that murdering Macduff will let him conquer his fear and sleep better at night. When the witches tell him this he begins to believe he is invincible. They tell Macbeth that he does not need to worry who hates him. The third apparition goes on to tell Macbeth that a child has a crown on his head. Macbeth then becomes very concerned he will lose his power and will not be the king of the Scotland much longer. Even when the witches are not there they still seem to invoke their evil into Macbeth’s mind (Cusick). Macbeth still hears their predictions in his head when he’s contemplating his evil plans. The witches projections rule him when it comes to making life altering decisions. The witches do not care about what happens to …show more content…
She gets much success through consulting with the witches alongside Macbeth (Thomas). When Macbeth went to these witches and they told him his future he informed his wife what the had told him. She began getting this information and became overjoyed knowing that her husband could become king of Scotland. While he kept going back for more information from these witches she started making a plot to make what the witches told them to become true. The first plan she begins with is King Duncan’s extinction. Lady Macbeth later comes to her husband with a great idea to make him king. As her plans are put in motion she begins to start feeling guilty for what she is doing. Since she is guilty and nervous she decides to murder sleep with her husband. They are so paranoid to what is going to happen to them they do not go to sleep. Even though she is feeling guilty for her actions what she is doing is helping her and her husband. Since it is helping she decides to keep the guilt while still going through with these plans. Lady Macbeth also decides to go on with her plans because she loves the fame and attention. She believes the higher up her husband is the more popular and important she will be. All of the guilt Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are holding because of their sin the witches told them to commit makes them scared. He feels so guilty and nervous his wife comes up with lies to tell his peers. She will not think about
Thirdly, feelings of paranoia and guilt cause Macbeth characters to make damaging choices. When Macbeth asks the witches to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers a prediction to allay Macbeth’s fears. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff. Macbeth says that he has already guessed as much. Later when Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth in reply says, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; / Seize upon Fife; give to th'edge o'th'sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line.” (4.1.149-152). As Macbeth descends to madness he becomes obsessed with eliminating any threats to his power. Macbeth orders the murderers to kill Macduff's family and eliminate any threat to him. Ironically, this is the moment that Macbeth seals his own fate, by murdering Macduff's family he ensures Macduff's retaliation against him, which ultimately leads
After three witches prophesied that one day fate will make him king, Lady Macbeth urges him to kill the king in order to gain the crown. He does so, but once he killed King Duncan there were several more people that he had to kill in order to maintain the assurance of being king. After he has murderers kill Banquo, whose children are prophesied to be kings later, the ghost of Banquo visits him at his coronation banquet. “Which of you have done this? […] Thou canst not say I did it: never shake/Thy gory locks at me.” Macbeth cannot face the fact that Banquo has been murdered and does not want to be held responsible for his death. The more people that Macbeth kills, the more blood is on his hands, symbolizing guilt that cannot be washed away. After Macbeth succeeds in killing many people the three witches have three more prophecies for him. “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff, beware the thane of Fife.” This prophecy states that Macduff is out to get Macbeth and that he must be prepared. After this prophecy he orders that Lady Macduff and the children be murdered. “Be bloody, bold, and resolute: laugh to scorn the power of man; for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” This prophecy comforts Macbeth in that only someone who was removed from their mother’s body could kill him. “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
The three witches in Macbeth are not the most powerful characters in the play, nor are they the catalyst to all of Macbeth’s crimes. At a first glance, it seems that the witches were the advocators to Macbeth’s actions. However, after another look at the situation, it isn’t hard to see that the witches only pulled out Macbeth’s dark side that was hiding just below the surface, and let him destroy himself. They only
In fear of losing this power to his friend Banquo or his son Fleance, whom of which the witches said would be king after Macbeth and would yield a long line of kings, Macbeth had them murdered in the woods while they were out horseback riding. This proves that he truly believes in what the witches have to say about him and his future, which leads him to back to seek out more of the witches half truths to see what else would come of his future. The next set of prophecies that the witches had to offer were shown in a set of three apparitions. The first said “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife,” the second apperition then spoke “none of woman born can harm Macbeth,” the third aperition then said “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him”(Shakespeare,168-170). Some say it was the witches fault for Macbeth’s actions next, but in reality it was Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s alone. Due to these three prophecies Macbeth’s level of arrogance went up along with his hunger for power as well, his level of common sense was decreasing faster and faster. Macbeth’s lack of common sense caused him to make rash decisions without thinking them through. Such as when he says “From this moment the very firstlings of my
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is ambitious, controlling and domineering. She is the one who encourages him to kill the king, she not only encourages him, she makes all the plans herself, which shows her determination and persistence."Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o’th milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way thou wouldst be great. Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (Act 1, scene 5). Lady Macbeth is the force behind Macbeth’s sudden ambition and she tries to manipulate him into feeling guilty and unmanly for not following through with the murder, by using her husbands emotions, she manages to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan.
The witches are able to use their powers to trick Macbeth through three apparitions. If it was not for their powers, the witches would have not been able to make the three apparitions appear to Macbeth or been able to trick him the way they did. The witches made him feel brave, confident, and undefeatable with the purpose of wanting him to be defeated. Since Macbeth believed everything the witches said, he was able to be defeated by Macduff’s army which resulted in his death.
Macbeth's desire to become king is strongly supported by his wife, Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is a highly ambitious woman who, like her husband, is willing to do anything to obtain power. Shakespeare uses a series of imagery to vividly portray the desire for power in Lady Macbeth's soliloquy: “Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty!” To achieve her ambition, Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth “to catch the nearest way.” This means she wants him to kill Duncan so that he can become king. However, she fears that Macbeth is “too full o' th' milk of human kindness” to “catch the nearest way.” When Macbeth is reluctant to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth starts attacking his masculinity. “Then you were a man,” she said. Lady Macbeth also uses the power of emotional blackmail to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan.
Macbeth’s private ambitions are initially displayed in the beginning through asides and soliloquies, making him seem ‘golden’; displaying Macbeth as ‘good willed’ and ‘honest’. However, it is until Macbeth encounters the three witches, that his own flaws are shown. The three witches arguably play the most import part in the play- with their prophecy’s fanning the flames of ambition within Macbeth, serving as the primary motivation to plot the death of Duncan- and as result Banquo; with there prognostics resonating deeply with his ambitious tendencies. As the prophecies come true, the possibility of becoming king increases and Macbeth immediately "yields to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix [his] hair" (1.3 144-145) as he fantasizes about killing Duncan. Macbeth becomes self aware of his thoughts; however, the idea that Malcolm poses a threat to his ambition outweighs his own moral conscience. He summons darkness to conceal his thoughts of murdering from heaven: "Stars, hide your fires;/ Let not light see my black and deep desires:/ The eye wink at the hand!" (1.4
Lady Macbeth is a very loving wife to Macbeth and she wants to do anything she can for him to achieve his goals. She just takes it a little too far, and she puts too much pressure on Macbeth to commit crimes that he is not sure he wants to do. After Macbeth sends her a letter about the witches’ premonitions, Lady Macbeth is no longer the sweet innocent lady we expect her to be. She turns into a person who is just as ambitious as her husband and she wants to do whatever it takes to help him get Duncan out of the way. She even goes to the point of calling Macbeth a coward, and mocking his bravery when he fails to complete the job. She is even willing to do it herself (plant the bloody knife with the guard). Lady Macbeth is constantly putting the pressure on Macbeth to do things that he is not sure about. She almost turns into a bully who dares Macbeth to go out and do evil things. She even says in a soliloquy that she wants to be released of all her morals and values so that she can help him commit these crimes.
The witches have a strong effect on Macbeth's character; they highly influence him in his accomplishments and awake his ambitions. They give Macbeth a false sense of security with their apparitions of truths. Instead they prove to be harmful for Macbeth who takes too much comfort and confidence in his interpretation of the truths. They are the ones who plant the actual idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth's mind. But if it were only the witches prophecies, then Macbeth surely would not have murdered the king. 'When you durst to do it, then you were a man,' (Macbeth, Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 7) Lady Macbeth's constant harassment pushed Macbeth and made him commit all this evil. When you reason things out by yourself you tend to now what is right and what is wrong, a conscience. But with the outside influence from the witches he thinks that that is his destiny and he must do everything to fulfill it. One can wonder if Macbeth ever had a chance of doing what was right after he met with the witches. He is overthrown and killed. Through his own ambitions, the ambition of his wife and the witches' prophesies, Macbeth has caused his own destruction and downfall. We can now clearly see that ambition not achieved through our own ability leads to destruction. 'Hail Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor and shalt be King hereafter'. (Act 1 Scene 3) These prophecies from three strangers are taken without question and probably without good judgment. Just the thought that he may be King clouds his thoughts and ambition takes over. The witches can predict the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth, but they cannot control his destiny.
The three witches who introduce the play immediately strike the audience as representatives of evil, instantly establishing Macbeth as their ‘victim’, one whom they have chosen to involve in their plans. In the first act, Macbeth is shown to be a noble, cousin to the king, a valiant and worthy man: “Brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name”, just as the witches are shown to be malicious, evil creatures, recounting their cruel dealings. In his meeting them, the suggestion of his royalty is quickly seeded – their words provoke him and set in motion his demise. In the forth act, he is shown to have walked even further down the path of corruption to the point that he no longer shows the qualities of a good man in his seeking of the witches themselves – seeking the instruments of darkness, and thus embracing evil. Their original meeting with him sparked his ambition, and it is of his own accord and conscious choice that he seeks them out – it is no influence of theirs that leads him to meet with them a second time. Consequently, without the interference of the witches, Macbeth would not have begun his unforgivable massacre but his own corrupted nature takes him further than the initial prompting of the witches. In originally finding Macbeth and prophesising his ascension to power, the witches take partial responsibility in Macbeth’s downfall as they began the entire process of Macbeth’s rise and fall.
The witches can predict the future and impact Macbeth, but they cannot control his fate. Macbeth’s demise was perhaps planned by the witches, but it was his own free will that led him to evil. Macbeth would never have thought seriously about killing Duncan without the witches. The witches are responsible for putting the idea and thought into Macbeth’s mind. As a brave leader of the king’s army, Macbeth’s main goal should be to serve and receive his reward heaven. After his encounter with the witches this is not the case anymore. Ambition is what drives Macbeth, and he only needs the suggestion of what could be his for him to go get it. The sisters enjoyed seeing the downfall of Macbeth by his own selfish actions.Without the witches, his desire to be king would have not been great enough for him to commit murder; the witches are his evil side.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s desire and ambition leads to her eventual downfall. When Lady Macbeth hears of Macbeth’s prophecy she dreams of the glory and high-standing that awaits being queen. She cannot withhold her ambitions and she is willing to manipulate fate to bring about Macbeth’s prophecy. She invokes evil spirits to be filled from head to toe with cruelty to do the evil actions necessary to make Macbeth king and to remove all remorse and pity for her action from her heart. She is initially able to be involved in the treacherous deeds that are needed to bring about the prophecy quickly, but as the play progresses the weight of the merciless deeds fill her with remorse. The remorse and pain she feels for her wicked ways cause Lady Macbeth to lose control of her life and wither away until the weight of her deeds causes her to die. Lady Macbeth’s wish is partially granted, her mind becomes evil and enables her to do horrific things, but her soul remains pure and unsure of her actions and her remorse for her wicked ways leads to her destruction.
The witches influence Macbeth in his achievements and awaken his ambitions. They give him a false sense of security with their apportions of truths. The witches are the ones who made the idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth’s mind. They also told him that he would become thane of Cawdor and later would become king of Scotland. Macbeth wants to know more.
In William Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth, there are many reasons for Macbeth's gradual downfall. Numerous factors contributed to Macbeth's ruin, such as his own character flaws and his demanding wife, Lady Macbeth. The Three Witches, however, caused Macbeth the most trouble. First, the sisters stirred his dormant ambitions to be king. In addition to this, the witches' prophesies gave Macbeth a false sense of security. Finally, their predictions falsely led Macbeth to believe he would some day be happy. The Witches' contributed the most to Macbeth's destruction by first stirring his deep lying ambitions, also by giving him a false sense of security and finally, by allowing Macbeth to believe he would someday be content.