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role of witches in macbeth pdf
role of witches in macbeth pdf
The Role of Witches in Macbeth
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Macbeth’s Mistakes
At times man is prone to call into states of disillusionment, whether it be their own fault, or that of others, and this may cause them to commit grievous errors. The character of Macbeth suffers from a delusional view of the world. The diluted ways in which he interprets many of the prophecies foretold by the witches brings forth a detrimental effect upon many of his peers and acquaintances and leads him to execute grave mistakes. It is Macbeth’s choice to interpret things in a more literal meaning, rather than a prophetic one, that becomes the downfall of many characters in the story. The meddlesome witches can not be left dry of blame, for it was their prophetic truths that led Macbeth to take such a literal stance on all of the forthcoming prophecies. “Men at times are masters of their own fates: the fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves.” It is however Macbeth at fault for pushing the prophecies further than fate would take them.
At first encounter with the witches, Macbeth is foretold three prophecies. The witches call him Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter. Macbeth at first dismisses the prophecies as fantastical. Then thoughts of the greater power seep into Macbeth’s mind. The “fiends that lie like truth” (Shakespeare) encourage Macbeth’s malice thinking by foretelling the truth that Macbeth does indeed become Thane of Cawdor without any extra effort on his part. Banquo, although at first charmed by the witch’s prophecy for him, tends to eventually dismiss it as a trick by the witches. “To win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betrays in deepest consequence,” (Shakespeare)
Once Macbeth has been named Th...
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...y Macbeth, many of Macbeth’s mistakes led him into a delusional state of mind which in turn directed him to commit heinous murders against many characters, including his best friend and his cousin and king. It is evident that Macbeth’s main mistake was taking the witches’ prophecies to literal and listening too closely to his wife. Instead of letting fate run its course, he took it into his own hands, and lost sight of reality on the way. Lady Macbeth also played a big role in his mistakes, because he let him manipulate and persuade him to perform these atrocious tasks all in order to gain power.
Works Cited
Boyce, Charles. Shakespears A to Z. New York, NY: Roundtable Press, 1990.
Foster, Edward e.. Masterplots. Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press Inc., 1949.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1992.
In the beginning of Act I, Macbeth is regarded by King Duncan and many others as a noble man, more specifically a “valiant cousin” and a “worthy gentlemen” due to his loyalty to the crown and courage in battle. As a reward for his courage and allegiance, Macbeth is to become the Thane of Cawdor in addition to his position as the Thane of Glamis. However, before notified of this “promotion,” Macbeth and Banquo meet with three witches who greet the men with prophecies regarding their futures. At this time, Macbeth is told he is to become Thane of Cawdor and the king of Scotland in the future, but the witches also give Banquo a prophecy that his descendants are also to become kings. In line 78 of scene iii, Macbeth questions their strange knowledge and commands, “Speak, I charge you,” in order to learn more about his future. Catching his attention with news of such value, his natural reaction is to inquire for more information. This can be considered a spark of Macbeth’s tragic flaw because selfishness begins to arise when he demands t...
Macbeth’s success is great but he was tempted by three witches to be even more ambitious. They gave him a prophecy that said “all hail Macbeth! Hail to thee of Glanis. All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth! That shall be king hereafter.” (Shakespeare I.iii.6) This frightened and, amazed him because later that day part of the prophecy came true. He became thane of Cawdor. “And for an earnest of a great honor, he bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor. In which addition, hail, most worthy thane! For it is Thine.” (Shakespeare I.iii.7). Banquo also gets a prophecy that contradicts Macbeth’s prophecy. ”lesser than Macbeth and greater. Not so happy yet much happier. Thou shalt get king, through thou be none so all hail Macbeth and Banquo.” (Shakespeare I.iii.6)
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a courageous and well-respected soldier who is loyal to his King and country. He is described by one of King Duncan's men as “brave Macbeth.” As a result of his bravery on the battlefield, Duncan decides to reward Macbeth with a new title – the Thane of Cawdor – as the last Thane was proven to be disloyal; however, Macbeth is unaware of this, and this creates tension in the audience. The opening scenes show that Macbeth is a powerful and courageous man who is not naturally inclined to do wrong, but is capable of being brutal when he needs to be. The meeting with the witches also reveal that Macbeth is a very ambitious man who craves an even greater power. There is contrast between Macbeth’s and Banquo’s attitudes towards the witches’ prophecies. Whilst Banquo dismissed the witches’ prophecies, Macbeth was “rapt withal.” This shows that Macbeth has thought about being “king hereafter.” Macbeth's first soliloquy reveals his deep desire to be king. His soliloquy also reveals that he would do anything to achieve it.
... the witches is too mysterious. The forest came to Dunsinane meant the soldiers were hiding under cut trees, so it looked like the forest was actually moving closer. But it was just the appearance of reality. And another prophecy that he misunderstood is that only a man not born of a woman could kill him. But this prophecy only meant the man that would kill Macbeth was born by C-section, maybe that was an operation too new so that Macbeth did not know about it. But Macbeth lives long enough to see that everything came to a bad ending. No wonder he wants to die and not see the “sun” anymore. But if he felt sorry for all his wrongs, maybe he did not go to hell. Macbeth paid, just like his wife, for believing in lies and doing wrong. But Shakespeare is a genius because he found one place where liars and people who believe in magic can find an honest job: acting.
The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is a tale of a man and his un-bridled ambition, set in ancient Scotland. Macbeth is a nobleman of the king of Scotland, Duncan, who is in mid-war with Norway. Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo encounter three witches. The witches tell the pair that Macbeth will be king, and Banquo’s children will also be kings. Any person in their right mind would question information given to them by strangers, let alone witches, but for some reason these statements intrigue Macbeth. They temp Macbeth to do evil things such as treason, and worse, to kill. Although un-bridled ambition is his main tragic flaw, there is one more that plays a big role in his decisions and the outcome of the story; Macbeth is far too impressionable.
In the early 1600’s, William Shakespeare penned an Aristotelian tragedy ‘Macbeth’ which provides his audiences both then and now with many valuable insights and perceptions into human nature. Shakespeare achieves this by cleverly employing many dramatic devices and themes within the character of ‘Macbeth’. Macbeth is depicted as an anti-hero; a noble protagonist with a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. This tragic flaw of Macbeth’s, heavily laden with the themes of ‘fate or free will’, and ‘ambition’, is brought out by Shakespeare in his writing to present us with a character whose actions and final demise are, if not laudable, very recognisable as human failings.
These predictions are effective in attracting Macbeth's attention because they feed off his desire for what they promise. At this point in the play he is the newly appointed thane of Glamis. Immediately after the predictions, news arrives that he is to be thane of Cawdor. Macbeth cannot help but wonder whether the third prediction will come true or not. Banquo says that the forces of darkness use the truth to win us to harm but Macbeth's ambition makes him unwilling to believe this.
Banquo and Macbeth eventually arrive, and talk to the witches. They question them, wondering what they are, and despite getting a straightforward answer they tell Macbeth of his future. The witches tell Macbeth that he is to eventually become the Thane of Cawdor, and in due course become king. Astonished by these tellings, Banquo asks the witches about his future, and he is told that his sons will eventually become king. As any man would be, Macbeth and his partner question these seemingly unofficial prophecy, until Angus and Ross come into scene. They tell Macbeth that he has indeed become the new Thane of Cawdor, which settles Macbeth’s suspicions on whether or not these foretelling’s are true although Banquo remains suspicious, since the witches were not completely
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
Macbeth begins to defer from his original character when he learns of the witches’ prophecies, which leads him to believe he is fated to be king and to pursue that “destiny.” After the witches make the prophecies, he merely views the thought of himself becoming king as something that “Stands not within the prospect of belief” (I. iii. 77). Macbeth’s disbelief of their claim of him obtaining the crown reveals how Macbeth does not trust the witches’ words and has no true ambition to become king. However soon after Banquo’s and Macbeth’s encounter with the witches, a messenger of the King greets him with the title of Thane of Cawdor as well as the title of Thane of Glamis as the witches had also done. These two titles are seen from Macbeth as “Two truths [that] are told/ As happy prologues to the swelling act/ Of the imperial theme” (I. iii. 140-142). Having one of the two prophecies become reality validates the witches’ words and makes Macbeth take their words seriously to be the truth, sparking his desire for power to fulfill the last prophecy. He now believes that what the witches have made it his destiny to become king, and it is his duty to fulfill it. Through Duncan and Macbeth’s dialogue, Macbeth hears about Malcolm b...
Macbeth like many has several flaws. These flaws cause Macbeth to be influence by Lady Macbeth. The first is that Macbeth is power hungry, once Lady Macbeth gives him her ambitions he becomes crazed with power. He stops at nothing to meet his goals, "After Fleance's escape, Macbeth's fear and suspicions fall upon Macduff, whose wife and children he has murdered...." (Campbell 485). Macbeth's second flaw is his most tragic flaw and it is that he can't think for him...
Banquo is saying that it is strange how “the instruments of darkness,” (1.3.136) the witches, can lead Macbeth to harm by tricking him. They do this by telling Macbeth a small trifle – that he will become Thane of Cawdor. While this comes true, it is actually a result of Macbeth’s acts of loyalty to the king. Once this first prophecy of the witches proves true, Macbeth bel...
The witches influence Macbeth in his achievements and awake his ambitions. They give him a wrong 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 and Macbeth wants to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more. By Sinel’s death I know I am the thane of Glamis; but how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives, a prosperous gentleman; and to be king stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor” (Shakespeare 312). Banquo is known as the real victim of the witches. After Banquo hears the prophecy of the witches that his sons will become kings he still does not believe them. He believes that he has eaten a root that is making him hallucinate and does not believe anything they tell him. (Shakespeare 313) Banquo says, “Are you sure we are talking about what we have seen here? Or have we eaten some plant root that makes us hallucinate.” Banquo also says to Macbeth: “but ‘tis strange; and oftentimes of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles. To betrays in deepest consequence” (Shakespeare 314). Shortly after they meet with the three witches they meet a messenger who tells Macbeth he is the Thane of Cawdor. When Banquo hears this he realizes the witches are right and
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, thane of Glamis. All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, thane of Cawdor. All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”(1.3.51-53) and also goes on to tell Banquo that his descendents will be kings even though he won’t become one. At first Macbeth dismisses these claims, and Banquo suggest that they were just hallucinating, but the idea of becoming Thane of Cawdor and king of Scotland has been implanted in Macbeths head. Coincidentally just before Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches Duncan announces to Ross that Macbeth will be the new thane of Cawdor “No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, and with his former title greet Macbeth.”(1.3.76-76) When Macbeth finds out that he will become thane of Cawdor from Ross and Angus he starts to truly believe that he can and will become the new king. The witches use this previously announced fact “Hail to you, thane of Cawdor” as a catalyst, to trick him into believing that he will become king which makes him take action towards the prophecy, but which was really his free will maki...
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.