Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is a story about Macbeth, a Scottish general, who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Macbeth’s ambition and desire for power lead him to murder Duncan, the current king, in order to fulfill the witches’ prediction.
Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife and she is just as ambitious as her husband. She urges Macbeth to kill Duncan so that they can gain power. After Macbeth murders Duncan, Lady Macbeth begins to feel guilty and she eventually kills herself.
The witches are three supernatural creatures who play an important role in Macbeth’s rise to power. They predict that Macbeth will become king and they give him guidance on how to make this happen. The witches are ultimately responsible for Macbeth’s downfall.
Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his ambition, which is further influenced by the witches and Lady Macbeth. It can be said that without any outside influences, Macbeth would not have gone down the path of destruction. However, it is Macbeth’s responsibility to control his own actions.
The witches may have planted the seeds of ambition in Macbeth, but it was Macbeth himself who watering those seeds and allowed them to grow. Same goes for Lady Macbeth; she may have pushed Macbeth towards killing Duncan, but it was Macbeth who actually committed the deed. In the end, the tragedy of Macbeth was brought about by a combination of external (the witches, Lady Macbeth) and internal (Macbeth’s ambition) factors.
The Macbeth witches are three supernatural creatures who appear in the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. The witches influence Macbeth and precipitate the tragedy of the play.
The witches first meet Macbeth in Act I, Scene iii, where they make three prophecies: Macbeth will become thane of Cawdor, king of Scotland, and father to a line of Scottish kings. These prophecies influence Macbeth because they feed into his ambition. Macbeth is not content with being simply a thane, he wants to be king. The witches’ prophecies give him a taste of what could be and he becomes increasingly obsessed with achieving them.
In Act IV, the witches show Macbeth three apparitions: an armed head, a bloody child, and a crowned child holding a tree. The apparitions are ambiguous and Macbeth is not sure what to make of them. However, they still have an influence on him because they give him a false sense of security. He believes that he cannot be harmed by any man born of woman, which leads him to feel invincible. This ultimately leads to his downfall because he becomes careless and overconfident.
When Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity in Act I, Scene vii, she influences him to kill Duncan. Even though Macbeth has doubts, Lady Macbeth convinces him to kill Duncan by calming his fears. She does this by telling him that she would kill her own child if it meant that her husband could be king. This shows Macbeth that she is just as ambitious as he is and is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.
Lady Macbeth wants her spouse to reign and become king, and she would stop at nothing to make it happen. The witches and Lady Macbeth use Macbeth’s susceptibility to their influence to drive him to act in the play. The witches’ false predictions persuade Macbeth and Lady Macbeth that anything is possible. The deceptive prophecies of the witches not only deceive Macbeth, but they also lead him toward Duncan’s assassination. From the moment his eyes first met with those of Macbet, he was under a spell. His fate is swayed as soon as they meet (Lambs 183).
Macbeth is not content with his position in society and believes that he deserves to be more. Lady Macbeth also has high ambitions for Macbeth; she is the one who pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan so that he can become king. After Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor, Lady Macbeth says to him, Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! / Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter! (I.v.54-55).
She is elated and full of ambition for Macbeth, which further convinces him that murdering Duncan is the right thing to do. The witches play on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s desires and manipulate them into doing things that they would not normally do.
Macbeth is a good man who is led astray by the witches and Lady Macbeth. He succumbs to their influence and commits horrific acts because of it. If it were not for the witches, Macbeth would not have known about his destiny and Lady Macbeth would not have been able to convince him to kill Duncan. The witches are responsible for all of the chaos and destruction that occurs in Macbeth.
The Weird Sisters are the ones who provide Macbeth with the desire to commit treason. They’re supernatural beings that encourage Macbeth in his evil intentions (Boyce 715). In Act 1 Scene 3, the witches gave their initial prophecies to Macbeth. They greeted him before he had a chance to introduce himself, recognizing him as Sir. The first witch greets him with, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, Thane of Glamis!” This is his current title; the only surprise in her words is that she already knew who he was without an introduction (I , III, 49).
The witches tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor and eventually King. Macbeth believes them, even before they finish speaking (I, iii, 50-51). Banquo is also told that his children will eventually sit on the throne. This prophecy does not interest Macbeth as much as his own prophecy. Macbeth’s greed and ambition are sparked by the witches’ prophecies.
The witches’ first appearance causes Macbeth to begin thinking about murdering Duncan so that he can become king sooner. In Act 1 Scene 4, Macbeth tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, about the witches’ prophecies. He is worried that he will not be able to kill Duncan because he is such a good man.
Lady Macbeth encourages him to do whatever it takes to become king, even if it means murdering Duncan. She tells Macbeth that he is not a man if he does not follow through with the murder (I, vii, 60-61). From this point on, Macbeth’s conscience is constantly nagging him about whether or not he should go through with the murder.
The second witch then exclaims, All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, Thane of Cawdor (I, iii, 50). This is a perplexing question for Macbeth since he believes the Thane of Cawdor lives a rich gentleman (I, iii, 72). When Macbeth receives his title formally later on in the play, he asks why you’re putting me in borrowed robes? (I, iii. 108) The witches seem to have clairvoyant abilities: they appear to be aware of everything that goes on around them. They knew that when they were not at the fight scene that Macbeth would attain the title of the Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth is greatly interested in their prophecies. Macbeth is not the only one who is interested in witches and their prophecies. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife, also takes a great interest in them. When Macbeth returns home to tell his wife about the witches’ prophecies, she immediately wants to know when he will be crowned king (I, v, 17-19).
She then starts making plans on how Macbeth could become king sooner. The next day, Duncan announces that his son Malcolm will be the heir to the throne after him (I, iv, 65-67). Lady Macbeth becomes very upset because this means that her husband’s chances of becoming king are very slim. She starts to think of ways to kill Duncan so that Macbeth could take his place.
While Macbeth is at dinner with Duncan, Lady Macbeth takes the daggers from where they are hidden and puts them on the table in front of her husband (II, ii, 54-59). Macbeth is shocked and horrified by what his wife has done. He tells her that he will not go through with their plan to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth then starts to question Macbeth’s manhood and his courage (II, ii, 60-67). She finally convinces him to go through with the murder by telling him that she would do it herself if he does not have the guts to do it (II, ii, 77-79). Macbeth then kills Duncan.
After the murder, Macbeth is haunted by the ghost of Banquo (III, iv, 50-51). He is so disturbed by the ghost that he starts to think that maybe killing Duncan was a mistake (III, iv, 72-74). Lady Macbeth tries to calm her husband down and tells him that he is just imagining things (III, iv, 75-76). However, Macbeth is not convinced and he starts to worry that he will be caught and punished for his crime.
The witches meet again on a heath. They make more predictions and send Macbeth a message to beware of Macduff (IV, I)., 64-67 Macbeth then decides to kill Macduff’s family. Lady Macbeth is shocked by this and she tries to stop her husband (IV, ii, 33-37). Macbeth does not listen to his wife and he goes ahead with his plan. He kills Macduff’s wife and children.
The witches’ predictions come true in the end. Macbeth is killed by Macduff and Malcolm becomes the new king of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is so overwhelmed with guilt that she commits suicide. The witches are responsible for influencing both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to commit all these murders.