Anna Li Li 1 Lovelady English 2 H 12 March 2014 Rough draft #2 In the book and play MacBeth written by William Shakespeare, the MacBeths were wholly responsible for their fate because their greed ,ambition, and believing in the witches. Their fate was made by their own hands . They are responsible for their own actions, with the choices that they have made. The appearance of the witches may have contributed to the fate of the Macbeths but it was solely their own decisions to follow or believe in the prophecies. MacBeth didn’t have to believe what the witches said but when they said to him “ All Hail , MacBeth! that shalt be king hereafter!” (Act.I.Sc.III.LIV) that triggered some thoughts in his mind , and the idea of being king overflowed him. Believing in the witches led to the events of murdering Duncan, Banquo and many innocent people. Another example is in Act 4,where MacBeth goes to the witches and asks for more prophecies of his future. He is told by the third apparition “MacBeth shall never vanquished be until/ Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill/ Come against him.”(Act.IV.sc.I.CV)MacBeth believes it full Li 2 heartedly that no one can kill him and thus sealing his own fate by believing everything the prophecies tells him. Lady MacBeth also dug her own grave when she started being greedy for MacBeth and herself. Lady MacBeth thought that if MacBeth had become king, they would have a happy and wonderful like as king and queen. So Lady MacBeth helped MacBeth in murdering Duncan and drugged the Duncan’s guards to frame them for killing the king. Her greed got her to the point where all s... ... middle of paper ... ...wife and best friend .This showed that MacBeth could have done whatever it was needed to get what he wanted ,even hurting and killing innocent people along the way, but in the end, everything he did went to waste , he had nothing to live for anymore, and was slain by MacDuff. The witches didn’t instruct MacBeth to do all this , it was all his own decisions. All because of their greed , ambition and believing in the witches’ prophecies that the MacBeth couple had lost their lives. Their rash actions and Li 4 choices brought them the fate and ending that they deserved. Even though the witches did tempt them but it was still their own fault for believing and falling for the witches’ tricks. This theme from William Shakespeare's MacBeth teaches that it is the choices that you make that leads you to where you are and you are responsible for your own fate .
In the play, Macbeth was responsible for his downfall and let his greed take over. He was always ambitious, but ended up abandoning his loyalty from King Duncan, the King of Scotland and slowly changed him from a trustworthy, brave and loyal soldier to a merciless tyrant. Lady Macbeth and the three witches are responsible for Macbeth’s downfall. The prophecies changed Macbeth for the worst and is willing to remove any threats that stand in his way. Macbeth, although a loyal warrior, had always possessed ambitious motives that finally turned him into a murderer.
If anyone is to blame for starting this mess, it should be the Weird Sisters for telling MacBeth prophesies. “They told MacBeth that he would be Thane of Cawdor, and then become king in the future” (Shakespeare 17). After hearing the witches’ prophecy, MacBeth thinks that he must kill the current king, King Duncan, in order to take over the throne. “He writes a letter to his wife saying that he needs to kill Duncan in order to fulfill the witches’ prophesies” (Shakespeare 31). The witches are responsible for introducing the ideas to MacBeth which led to him killing Duncan in order to gain power. The witches had such a strong influence on MacBeth that they became a part of his brain and worked to transform him into this power-hungry monster. It was the killing of King Duncan that caused him to feel the need to kill more people, thinking that they were suspicious. Without the witches there to c...
There are many different characters in MacBeth trying to accomplish different things for themselves. However, in my opinion, the only characters who really profited from and got what they wanted out of the whole situation were the witches. They are the ones who basically caused the majority of the problems in MacBeth and I think that they knew what was going to happen the entire time. Even though it may look as though they gained nothing from everyone else's misfortune they actually succeeded in making MacBeth do evil deeds and winning him over to their side.
There are many different outlooks on this question. Some view it as a story of fate, and some see it as a story of free will. This is seen in two different movie adaptations of Macbeth, the Polanski adaptation and the Wells adaptation. Polanski’s version focuses more on the natural world, and the decisions that Macbeth makes. He shows the characters’ psychological positions, and why it makes them do the things that they do. Welles’ is more surrealistic, and shows the characters as only being pawns in a fate that they have no control over. (Harper). Movie adaptations provide an interesting insight into how different people view the original text of the play.
When she learns Macbeth has been given a fortune of been given thane of cawdor then king and half the prophecy has become true, she knows if Macbeth is king she will be queen. She is willing to do anything to get it. On the night that Macbeth and lady macbeth have planned to kill Duncan. Macbeth is having second thoughts but Lady Macbeth is not letting him back down by saying he is a coward and she would do it if she was in his place by saying ”When you durst do it, then you are a man. And to be more than what you were you would be so much more than a man”. Macbeth is a hearty warrior and feels as though he has to prove to Lady Macbeth he is a man and he is not a coward. Therefore due to Lady Macbeths manipulation Macbeth murders Duncan. On Macbeths return Lady Macbeth is happy but Macbeth is Filled with regret Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to forget what happened “ A little water clears us of this deed”. Which is Ironique as At the end of the play Lady Macbeth has been in the anxiety and it has finally eaten away at her and she has gone mad and keeps seeing blood on her hands. “Out damned spot out, I say !” which in turn leads to her own suicide and portrays Lady Macbeth as taking her fate into her own hands in an evil manner, However the guilt from doing the evil task highlighted Lady Macbeth was not as manly as she wanted to be and she still had feelings, showing the audience by her suicide as an act showing she was unable to withstand the guilt of being queen knowing the great evil she had to do to get
...t this is what they wanted to be, and what they thought they were for a while. However, when it came down to doing the dirty work, they couldn’t pull it off and they realized that they just weren’t those kinds of people. We know that Lady Macbeth couldn’t make it, because she committed suicide in the end from an “illness” caused by the murder; and Macbeth didn’t really want to become that way in the first place and was just influenced by his wife. I think that Lady Macbeth got caught up in the thought of her husband being the king, and she believed that she could become evil and that she was strong enough; but, in the end, she wasn’t, and Macbeth, rather than separating from her, letting down his wife and not getting involved in the evil acts Lady Macbeth thought she was capable of, went along with it, and in the end got killed from the acts of their selfishness.
The witches can not be the most powerful characters in the play or the catalyst to all of Macbeth’s crimes since he has the power of his free will to decide what he does. The witches did not force him to do anything, they only influenced what he did by bringing out his “dark side” and true ambitions. “And Fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, show’d like a rebel’s whore: But all’s too weak: for brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—disdaining Fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smoked with bloody execution,” (Act 1 Scene 2 Lines 16-20) The Captain says that Macbeth should have been killed in battle but he was stronger than his fate is. This means that Macbeth has no one to blame but himself for his own death, actions and crimes.
Everyone is influenced by other people, including leaders or authority, to make the wrong decisions at some point in their lives. In the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is responsible for the evil doings of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is responsible for this by using his love for her to persuade him into killing King Duncan. Because Macbeth loved and trusted his wife, he was vulnerable to her opinions and suggestions. We also know that she is responsible for these heartless things because she has so much guilt that she commits suicide. Macbeth would never have done any of those horrible things if it were not for the murder of King Duncan, which was forced on by Lady Macbeth.
After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others. It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven in...
The endeavors for power among all is demonstrated not only in real life, but also in the play Macbeth. Fate or free will is a commonly discussed debate; in the tragedy play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, it is a controversy for who it is to blame for Macbeth’s death. But, who is it to blame for his death? The three twitches, Lady Macbeth, or himself? What is to blame for it, too? In the play Macbeth is overcome with greed which leads to the killing of King Duncan, and contrary to popular belief, one may believe that Macbeth is to blame for his own death, leading to it was greed mixed with guilt. The three witches had three prophecies, which were Macbeth becoming the Thane of Glamis, Cawdor and eventually the King. After Macbeth discovered
There were many wrongs committed in "MacBeth." But who should bear the major responsibility for these actions? The witches' prophesising? Lady MacBeth's scheming and persuasion? Or should MacBeth himself be held responsible? No doubt the witches and lady MacBeth influenced MacBeth in the course of action he took in his rise to power, but ultimately he must bear the major responsibility for his fate.
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.
Powerful in nature and curious to the eye, the witches in Macbeth were hooks of fascination. One never knew what would come next when it came to the witches. They possessed a dark authority and supremacy unlike any other and the temptation to ignore them was unfeasible. They brought with them gloomy days and evil thoughts. The witches could draw you in and begin to almost play with your mind if you let them. This is what ultimately led to the down fall of Macbeth. Collectively, the witches in Macbeth acted as a catalyst for all of Macbeth’s actions.
Ashley Fikes Mrs. Dean English 12 6 January 2016 How did the witches’ prophecies affect Macbeth? The witches are a very important part of this play. The witches are the real trigger to Macbeth's deep and hidden desires. The presence of the witches raises the battle between good and evil. The three witches are also known as the three weird sisters and are referred to throughout the play.
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.