Free Macbeth Essays: Blameless Macbeth

Blameless Macbeth

Macbeth, a tragic play by William Shakespeare, involves the downfall of a military hero, Macbeth. Our hero, however, is not to blame for his own fate – the downfall of Macbeth is the result of the actions by those around him.

Three evil withes foretell that Macbeth will become Thane of DCawdor and even King of Scotland. Macbeth dismissed their prophecies, but after he is promoted to Thane of Cawdor for military action, Macbeth wonders if he shall not be King, too.

Macbeth is a good and loyal kinsman who would never harm his King. Were it not for outside forces, he would have lived happily as Thane of Cawdor, an illustrious title in itself. Macbeth does not even want to kill King Duncan. He says Òchance may crown me without my stir.Ó Fearing the withes message means that he will kill the king in the future, he says ÒPresent fears are less than horrible imaginings.Ó

Macbeth writes to his wife, telling her about the withes and how one prophecy has already come true. As soon as she hears about it, she calls on evil spirits to fill her full of cruelty so that she will the King if necessary. Macbeth, one the other hand, does not like a possible future by the withes prophecy: that he will kill his King. This shows the difference between Lord and Lady Macbeth. It is only after much nagging and cajoling from his wife that he decides to go through with it, and then halfheartedly. His wife uses insults, demeans him, and makes him feel less than a man, so Macbeth finally gives in.

While Lady Macbeth is the one who sets the ball rolling, to use an analogy, it was the witches that put the ball at the top of the hill,. The three withes are a physical manifestation of evil. They conspire to kill as many mortals as possible, under their ‘superior,’ Hecate. Using their evil ability to see into the future, they can tell that by using Macbeth as a tool for destruction, the maximum destructiveness will be reached.

To get Macbeth to do their evil biddings, the first influence this seed of evil into his mind. By giving Macbeth that prophecy, they ensure that their plans will work.The prophecy is a self fulfilling one: for the future to be as it turns out to be, someone must know of it.