Themes And Habits In William Shakespeare's Macbeth

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. The weird sisters play as catalyst in the story as they change the storyline with their foresights. Without the witches, the story would of course lose weirdness, but the story would collapse and the conflict would vanish.

This man’s ambition for the crown turns into ambition for security after he becomes king, causing him to kill more to keep his unrightful kingship safe. There are a lot of supernatural occurrences in this play, but Macbeth is not wholly influenced by the prophecies or apparitions. Shakespeare wanted the modern viewer to see how ambition and over-confidence can lead man to his downfall. Macbeth represents this perfectly. The murder of Duncan was committed due to the urging of Lady Macbeth, after the Witches merely brought the thought to the mind.

Banquo resists any thoughts that might hasten the witches' prophecy that his children will be kings. Lady Macbeth, however, strengthens her husband to kill the king and they accomplish it. When the murder is discovered, the king's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, seeing a similar fate for themselves, flee Scotland. Macbeth proceeds to Scone, where he is crowned as Duncan's successor to the throne. Banquo half-suspects Macbeth of Duncan's murder but accepts an invitation at the new king's fiest and attends it with his son Fleance.

By the witches suggesting that Macbeth would become king they are liable for creating the possibility for Macbeth to choose to commit the disasters that followed. If Macbeth would have not heard the witches’ prophecies it would be reasonable to assume that he would not have murdered for the throne, hence he was a victim of a supernatural force. After meeting with the witches Macbeth was a moral man and refused to subject himself to the “evil inclination.” “Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.” Macbeth had the dark desire to become king, but he knew what was good and bad at this point in the play and r... ... middle of paper ... ... to kill Duncan transformed Macbeth into a ruthless assassin which is evident after Macbeth’s independent killings. Macbeth was subject to a supernatural force, the witches control over Macbeth causes him to commit all of the murders by giving Macbeth a reason to gain and secure the royal status. The witches’ incentive was flouted by a moral Macbeth at the beginning of the play.

The very nature of Banquo’s death makes Macbeth seem deeply nefarious. He decides to kill Banquo on his own without consulting anyone or being coaxed into it by Lady Macbeth as with Duncan. Additionally, his reasoning for killing Banquo is vague and questionable unlike with Duncan. The witches “hail’d [Banquo] father to a line of kings… [whilst on his] head they plac’d a fruitless crown” (3.1. 61-2).

Shakespeare uses the title character of Macbeth to effectively develop the theme of guilt and conscience in his play. Several times in the play we see Macbeth’s character crumbling as a result of a guilty conscience. At the beginning of the play he meets the witches with Banquo, and this prompts the first step toward killing the King. This helps in developing the theme because we get the idea that Macbeth does not trust the witches, nor does he fully believe them. Unfortunately his ambitious nature gets the better of him and causes him to listen carefully to how he might acquire his kingship.

I say people who believe that they cannot change fate lack the knowledge and wisdom to understand what life and reality are” (Chang). The fate of the characters in this fable was predicted from a prophecy told by the three sister witches. These witches, however had the most impact on Macbeth. Macbeth heard the prophecy of the weird sisters that he was to be king and immediately began to plan the murder of the present king. It was clear that being king was something that Macbeth desired, and would do anything to achieve it.

In Act I, scene iii, when Macbeth is thinking about the fulfillment of the two prophecies given by the witches before, "My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes my single state of man"(I, iii, 139- 140) In this soliloquy, Macbeth reflects his idea about the "two truths" told by the witches. He is  ambitious to become king, as he reacts nervously when the witches mention his fate. The very idea of murder "shakes his single state of man". However, at this point, he is loyal to the king, and he rejects the idea of murder, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir. "(I, iii, 143-144) The predictions by the witches may have strengthened the criminal intentions that he had probably never yet dared to express clearly, even to himself.

The witches prophesize that Macbeth will one day be King of Scotland and that the descendents of Banquo will become kings. Having shared this prophecy with Lady Macbeth, the goal of being king becomes very enticing. Macbeth’s first act of evil is the killing of Duncan. Before the murder, Macbeth tries to tell Lady Macbeth that he will not go through with it. She has to goad him into killing the King.

When murder enters Macbeths mind he is frightened by his thoughts. He tries to reject his impulse, declaring that he will leave everything to chance: ?If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me Without my stir.? Very soon he begins to confess a ‘suggestion?of ‘horrible imaginings? Soon after, he admits to possessing ‘black and deep desires?but he is afraid to speak about them openly, even to himself. Later on he indites a letter to Lady Macbeth containing conjecture about the prophecies of the three witches.