In the opening of the play, a loyal Macbeth is approached by three witches who entice him with their claim that “[he] shalt be king thereafter.” (1-3-50). This information stimulates his hidden thirst for power and willingness to keep the throne for himself. He plots to murder the king and takes the liberty of killing Banquo, and anyone else who poses a threat to his reign to aid his own insecurity. Macbeth begins to lose trust in those around him and becomes unstable. Shakespeare shows through Duncan, who carries a legitimate power, that only direct threats to the kingdom are punished accordingly.
The devil, or the evil spirits, take up many disguises, one of which is through Lady Macbeth. Our tragic hero does not realize that every murder will come back to haunt him. We begin to see the slippery slope Macbeth slides down as he promptly kills his best friend, Banquo, and attempts to murder Banquo’s only child, Fleance, without any outside influences. He was content killing his closest ally because he worries about the witches prophecy that “the seeds of Banquo’s kings, rather than so, come fate into the list, and champion me to the utterance…” (III.I.70-73). Even when you believe Macbeth cannot be any worse he slaughters Macduff’s entire family when he hears Macduff has fled to England; he said that he would “give to the edge o’the sword his wife, babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line”.
His fear of losing his unworthy position on the throne drove him to the brink of a mental breakdown. His fear of everyone else caused him to not only destroy himself, but his entire country. 14. Macbeth took everything way too seriously, and his paranoia caused him to make mistakes he normally would have never made. Although he was never in any danger, his subconscious mind twisted reality against himself, crossing a threshold of no return.
Once I gave him the title of Cawdor, he so thoughtlessly believed in the witches' power and fell willingly under their spell. What an ignorant fool! Also responsible would have to be Lady Macbeth. Once she learns of the prophecy, she is all too ready for Macbeth to become king, no matter what evil deeds had to be done to ensure he would attain the throne, including the quickest route to the crown, my crown! Even when Macbeth does have second thoughts, Lady Macbeth is there, insulting his manhood and shaming him into action.
Their prophecies give him new ideas and goals that he would have never thought of before and is constantly seen thinking about their predictions. The first instance in which we see Macbeth thinking about the witch’s comments is right after they first appear to him. After they appear to Macbeth he says, “I am Thane of Cawdor: / If good, why do I yield to that suggestion” (1.3.133-134). This occurs just a few moments after the witches appear to both Macbeth and Banquo, declaring him Thane of Cawdor and future King of Scotland. In this quote Macbeth is saying why should he stop with just being the thane of Cawdor, why not achieve even more greatness; the greatness that the witches promised him.
English – Macbeth Essay Brayden Schroeder “All Hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1, Scene 3, Page 3, Line 51) Who knew this one measly prediction would cause so much turmoil? The three witches are undoubtedly the most influential figures in what is possibly Shakespeare’s greatest playwright. The death of King Duncan came as a direct result of the witches’ prediction that Macbeth would one day be king whilst Macbeth’s superstition killed both Macduff’s family and Banquo. A result of his manipulable mind and arrogance, the witches also made him believe himself to be invincible, a mistake that would ultimately cost him his life. Although others played a role in turning Macbeth into the tyrant he became, it can be argued that this never would’ve panned out the way it did if the witches had never appeared.
A whole army rises up against Macbeth, yet he feels no fear because he believes in the witches’ prophecies. When he hears that his wife had committed suicide he declares that there is noting left for him to live for. He then later gets a message that the leaves of Birnam woods are coming to Dunsinane, supporting the witches’ last prophecy. Macbeth remains fearless because no man born of woman can harm him. This prophecy backfires on him because when he encounters Macduff in a battle, he finds out that Macduff wasn’t born through natural birth but by a C-section.
Early in the tragedy, Macbeth is introduced as a courageous, valiant solider. Soon after, Macbeth encounters three witches who tell him he will become king, “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter,” (I, iii, 53). It is at this point that he first considers murdering Duncan so that the prophecy can be fulfilled. However, it does not take long for Macbeth to question the matter, “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion,” (I, iii, 144), he says in a state of confusion.
Who causes the Downfall of Macbeth? Macbeth's downfall is attributed to a sense of over-confidence and unchecked ambition, and the impact of the witch's prophecy all three seal Macbeth's fate and his destruction At the start of the play, Macbeth is a loyal, courageous servant of the King of Scotland, but he is a man who harbors a hidden ambition for power. He is both noble and brave in his defense of the King in battle, he is rewarded for his actions. Macbeth has an encounter with a trio of witches and his life is changed. Once the witches show him his future, he becomes obsessed with speeding up the anticipated coming into power.
At the time of the first soliloquy (I.Vll), Macbeth has already been convinced of the potential of the witches’ prophecies. In contrast to the sociable activity of the banquet- held in the honour of King Duncan’s visit to his castle- presented offstage, Macbeth is still isolated in guilty reflections about the prophesies. This soliloquy, the longest in the play, reveals the nature of his mental conflict with remarkable subtlety and reaffirms that the three witches, by informing him that he will be "king hereafter" (1.3.50), have merely kindled his own innermost desire to obtain the throne. He tells himself that he is concerned only with the practical question of whether or not he can get away with Kind Duncan’s murder. He explicitly and contemptuously dismisses its moral aspects: should the mere act of commission give him supreme power as well as prevent any repercussions on him in this lifetime, he would ignore the possibility of divine retribution.