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Literary analysis of William Shakespeare
The role of witches in Macbeth
Literary analysis of shakespeare
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Macbeth Essay
Sometimes in society people make mistakes and we have no one in the end to blame but ourselves. Maybe one has told themselves they will start working on a project, but continue to put it off. Maybe someone has told themselves that they will start their diet, but continue eating unhealthy foods. This occurs quite often in society, in more cases than one, such as procrastinating, interrupting, or other bad habits. One can confirm that it is only that one person to blame for their actions. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth kills King Duncan out of selfishness to become king. I firmly believe that the person responsible for Macbeth’s downfall at the end of the tragedy is Macbeth himself, because he is overly
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Macbeth is too willing to believe in the witches, and this causes his downfall at the end of the play. He believes their every word and has a large amount of respect for the witches. When Macbeth speaks with the witches, or the Weird Sisters, he urges them to tell him more information when he hears something that draws his attention. “Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more”(1.3.73). This quote can tell the readers that Macbeth is very eager and perhaps very willing to believe the witches. Macbeth also somewhat forces the witches to tell him the fourth apparition, or prophecy, because he is desperate to know that he is undefeatable. “I will be satisfied. Deny me this, and an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know(4.1.119-20)! This quote from the play demonstrates quite perfectly that Macbeth is so willing to know what the witches have to say, that he makes them say the prophecy that he does not want to hear. In a sense, Macbeth actually made his own prophecy come true because he wanted to hear it so bad, because he finds out that Banquo’s children will then become king. “Horrible sight! Now I see ‘tis true”(4.1.137). Macbeth went from bitter that he could not hear the prophecy, to hearing the prophecy, not liking it, and getting upset about it. If only he had not been so selfish to want to know what it was, then the fourth apparition would not have
Throughout the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth continuously makes bad choices and the consequences of these decisions catch up to Macbeth and result in his mental deterioration, however with Macbeth’s almost infant feel for ambition this makes him susceptible to manipulation, which then grows into an insatiable appetite for power. The acts of this, with the manipulation from outsiders, causes his blind ambition, his false sense of security and then finally his guilt, which all contribute to his derangement. Some will argue that all the choices made by Macbeth were continuously his own, that he had these opportunities as a man to put his foot down and say no, and be able to draw the line where things should come to an end, the fault of a mental deterioration was not there, that from the beginning Macbeth was an evil man who had a twisted way of achieving things. Macbeth’s ambition is to remain king for as long as possible, and he will kill anybody who stops this from happening. Macbeth feels as if he was given a childless rule, and that his legacy will not continue on in fear his rule will be taken away by someone outside his family.
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.
The path that Macbeth takes to obtain, maintain, and pass down this power heavily involves murder, betrayal, and deceit. However, the person Macbeth succeeds in deceiving the most is himself. Macbeth takes actions without really considering the consequences based on the words of the witches. He leaps to conclusion that because one of their predictions came true the others would as well and begins to regard them as all-knowing beings. When Macbeth is emotionally unstable and paranoid after the murders of Duncan and Banquo, he seeks assurance from the witches. Macbeth is so blinded by the idea that the witches provide him guidance in the right direction that he fails to see the warnings that they give him through the
Many strive to achieve goals set in their minds, but some may lose control of their actions while doing so. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s overconfidence and unrestricted ambition causes his humanity to deteriorate as the play progresses, ultimately leading to his demise. This is shown through the significant events surrounding the murders he commits, especially the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family.
All great leaders have their rise and fall. Some throw themselves into failure, some are pushed into it. Those who are pushed into it are usually influenced by evils around them. In the play, Macbeth by Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, is pushed to failure. The play takes place in Scotland and is about a young warrior who goes by the name Macbeth. Macbeth is told he would be a king by three witches. Macbeth kills the existing king and becomes a cruel, unjust king. He eventually goes insane and is killed and humiliated. Many may think Macbeth’s downfall was his own fault, those people are wrong. There were three main outside influences that were responsible for Macbeth’s fall. The first influence is his wife, Lady Macbeth, who seeks to be the queen and pushes Macbeth to pursue the crown. The second is Macbeth’s good friend Banquo who was with Macbeth when he was told he was to be king in the future. Banquo’s silence made Macbeth paranoid and that caused Macbeth to order his men to kill Banquo. This was a big cause in Macbeth’s insanity. The final influences are the three witches who drive Macbeth to kill Duncan, and they make him weak by letting him think he is invincible. Macbeth may have been a bad king, but he was not responsible for his collapse.
By pricking Macbeth’s desire for power and prestige with promising prophecies and giving him confidence with the apparitions, the witches lure him to commit evil deeds and to continue doing so endlessly. Their tempting prophecies bait Macbeth into their deceitful plot. Banquo, a fellow nobleman, warns him about the prophecies, “But ‘tis strange: and oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence'; (I, 3, 122-127). Banquo is a smart man, and it is unfortunate that Macbeth ignores his advice. To be sure that Macbeth self-destructs by his own sinful behavior, the sorceresses create prophetic images that ensure him security. Not knowing they are all part of the deception, Macbeth easily succumbs to their plan. He aimlessly kills, believing nothing can harm him, but he is dead wrong. The witches true intention is best revealed in Hecate’s orders, “And that distilled by magic sleights shall raise such artificial sprites as by the strength of their illusion shall draw him on to his confusion'; (III, 5, 26-29). Macbeth’s biggest misfortune is encountering the witches, and an even bigger mistake is to revisit them. The cunning scheme of the wicked women successfully leads Macbeth to evil and confuses him enough for him to lose command of his actions.
Macbeth was a brave and worthy soldier who turned himself evil to reach his goal. It all started when the witches enter into his life and gave him three prophecies. He had the potential for greatness but, he ruined it. Macbeth is responsible for his downfall, because he gave attention to the witches, made evil choices, and murdered innocent people trying to cover his tracks.
The prophecies state he can not be harmed by anyone born of man, he should fear Macduff, and his downfall won’t come until the nearby forest comes against his castle. Macbeth did not question these prophecies because he has a weak sense of self, so his gullibleness blindly led him to believe the witches and have a false sense of confidence.. Macbeth recalls back to what the witches say and thinks about it. Unlike Macbeth’s “friend” Banquo who is curious about the witches, Macbeth is infatuated. Macbeth demands to know more after the first set of prophecies. Macbeth looks up to the witches and is excited about what they have to tell him when they reappear the second
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.
At first Macbeth doesn't believe the words of the witches thinking they are lying, but slowly starts to come to his senses, when things the witches say become true. Macbeth then believes that he should let fate take its course by waiting and letting what was told happen, and if it doesn't then shall be it. "If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me Without my stir.
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.
In the first act of scene four, Macbeth returns to the Weird Sisters demanding to be shown his future through apparitions. He even goes as far to say that he would prefer the universe go into chaos than be denied of what he wants to know. Macbeth aggressively questions and pressures the witches into revealing his future, so they present him the apparitions. The first apparition is the head of a warrior, the second is a bloody child’s head, and the third apparition is a child wearing a crown. After Macbeth receives these seemingly good apparitions, he gets upset over the witches showing him that the kings to follow him will all be descendants of Banquo. Following this, he reveals that he will
Macbeth is a play and was written by William Shakespeare in 1606. It was then later made into a film version which was directed by Roman Polanski in 1971. Macbeth captures the story of how a brave, noble, loyal servant of the king can so easterly become selfish, vain, curule and how so quickly greed and desire for more power can over rule ones morals. Although Macbeth made the decisions which led to his death there were other influences which could have persuaded him to his downfall. The Witches, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth himself all where contributing factors.
While not the only contributing factor, Lady Macbeth does play a substantial role in the downfall of her husband. She is a like a catalyst for Macbeth and essentially pushes him to do what he would not have been able to do on his own. Macbeth himself highly ambitious and determined, but his wife is even more so. At first he refuses to kill Duncan but she persists and eventually gets him to do it. It is important to note here that Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth forward by manipulating him. In this sense, she can be related to Cathy Ames from East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Also, being a woman, she is confined by the conventions of society which prevent her from doing much. At what point she even wishes that she were 'unsexed' so she could commit the murder herself. Because of this, she pours her ambition and desire for power into Macbeth. Again she accomplishes this through manipulation. For example, at one point when Macbeth is disagreeing with her idea of killing Duncan, she questions his manhood:
Macbeth completely disregarded the Witches' prophecies because he thought of them as rubbish. Had the three witches told Macbeth the real truth that they ticked him out of believing, Macbeth would not have gotten so cocky as a result of his security.