He reasons that the witches are evil and not to be trusted “Banquo: That, trusted home,/ Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,/ Besides the Thane of Cawdor. 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” (1.3.129-136) Unlike Macbeth, Banquo is more cautious upon hearing the witches’ prophecies. Although he is an ambitious man himself, he recognizes that they are “instruments of darkness”. Banquo associates the witches with darkness because of their ability to earn Macbeth’s trust by telling him a truth, which he will become the Thane of Cawdor, then feeding into his ruthless ego by prophesying that we will become king. After he hears that he will become king he feels the need to make it come true, even if it means killing Duncan.
Due to this unrestrained burst of ambition, Macbeth turns to darkness and he begins to act on his thoughts even though when Banquo asks if he ever thinks about the witches’ prophecy, he denies it all. Although the prophecy the witches foresee in Macbeth’s future is news to him, he is shocked and astonished because he has already thought of becoming a king in the past. As the play progresses, Macbeth’s duplicity in character comes through; he is indecisive, guilty and he becomes the worst type of traitor because he goes against God by murdering King Duncan. Macbeth is a character who undergoes a transformation; he leaves his cocoon and morphs into a butterfly, an evil butterfly for that matter. Banquo, Macbeth’s character foil, is one great character.
Ambition, moral weakness and selective perception, would be the major flaws of our character, Macbeth. These flaws eventually lead to his death in the long run. Macbeth began in a high position and throughout the play, there were losses caused by his own weaknesses in personality. There is pre-evidence of Macbeth’s inborn ambition in the beginning of the play in the fact that he has a future of position as the Thane of Glaims. However, further evidence of this trait comes in his reaction to the prophecies of the three witches, in which many others would have avoided because of their obvious affiliation with evil.
After Macbeth when to go see the Witches for them to tell him his future from the apparitions, it showed Macbeth’s downfall. In the book Macbeth, the Three Witches were the reason why the reason for the climax. None of the characters in the book could trust the “supernatural.” Without their manipulation into telling Macbeth he could be King, there wouldn’t have been anything to look forward too. Although the Witches weren’t all evil, they were just controlled by the evil
When Macbeth was on the throne, he became scared that someone is trying to put him down. That is when Macbeth went to the witches again. There he received the other apparitions, which made him feel invincible. This false security finally destroyed him. This shows how the witches influence on Macbeth shaped the
3. Major characters Majors: Macbeth- Protagonist, Macbeth is a Scottish general and the thane of Glamis who is led to wicked thoughts by the prophecies of the three witches, especially after their prophecy that he will be made thane of Cawdor comes true. Macbeth is a brave soldier and a powerful man, but he is not a virtuous one. He is easily tempted into murder to fulfill his ambitions to the throne, and once he commits his first crime and is crowned
/ And oftentimes, to win us to out harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths,/ Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s/ In deepest consequence” (I.iii.121). Macbeth ignores Banquo’s idea, and instead further investigates the concept that he may one day be King. He considers whether the crown will fall into his hands, or if he will have to complete a dark deep in order to obtain it. The witches successfully plant the destructive idea into Macbeth’s head. Macbeth has a huge character flaw.
The witches and Lady Macbeth made Macbeth lose his sanity. Lady Macbeth and the witches were to a great extent accountable for Macbeth’s actions. If he hadn’t trusted the witches’ prophecies so much and if Lady Macbeth wasn’t so vicious, Macbeth could have lived to become a respected King. His own actions, influenced by others, lead to his fatal
Therefore the witches could foretell Macbeth’s fate and his downfall. Although, the witches were not completely honest, Macbeths' actions were more ambitious and destructive than the witches, since Macbeth used violence to advance in the game of power taking harmful actions to the advance to the next. Proving, that Macbeths' actions fed his ambitions and led him to his downfall. Secondly, the witches told Macbeth the apparitions as if they were complete truths not just mere predictions. The witches mislead Macbeth into believe a certain fate that could possibly have been a false truth.
He has becomes obsessed with preventing the overthrow of him as a king. Some may say Macbeth became stronger as the play went on, but evidences shows he had become weaker as the haunting of the ghost Banquo broke him down to a point where he was questionably insane. He relied far too much on the prophecies and the supernatural, which in the end was his downfall. Towards the end of the play Lady Macbeth has died and the battle is drawing closer to Macbeth. After hearing the news of Lady Macbeth’s death Macbeth appears unemotional “She should have died hereafter;…” Macbeth is overly confident due to the witch’s prophecies telling him that anyone born from a woman cannot harm him.