With the witches’ prophecies mulling over in his mind, and knowing that he was not the successor of the throne, he knew he had to take matters into his own hands. With the support and persuasion of Lady Macbeth, he kills King Duncan and gains his kingship. When Banquo makes his vow to find out who killed Duncan, Macbeth knew he had to silence him. After Macbeth is named king, he seeks out hired murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. Macbeth does this because he is afraid that Banquo will get in the way of his new title and Fleance, because he is prophesied to be king.
No one to blame but Macbeth Decisions can be impacted by a number of factors; but in the end we have to be the ones to take responsibility for our actions. This is demonstrated when we see Macbeth transform from a brave soldier to a power-hungry murderer, feared by all his subjects. Macbeth is the one to blame for his own descent into cruelty and murder because he let his ambition, arrogance and greed take over his mind. While some may claim that Macbeth is to blame for his actions, others argue that it is the force of the supernatural that leads to his demise. Early on the witches reveal prophecies to Macbeth suggesting his rise to power.
First, their early predictions stating that he will be king, and then the predictions of the apparitions saying that he only could be murdered by someone that was not born of a woman. After hearing these predictions of power and invincibility, Macbeth cannot get them out of his mind. The witches also predict that Macbeth’s friend Banquo’s sons will be kings. Banquo does not care much on the fact that his sons are going to be kings, unlike Macbeth who becomes obsessed upon hearing such predictions. Banquo states, “That, trusted home, might yet enkindle you unto the crown, besides the Thane of Cawdor.
showing us that the thought of murder was already at the back of his mind. Macbeth could not have been as honourable and trustworthy as people believed him to be, given that if he had had but a shred of integrity, murder would have been the last thing on his mind. Macbeth is given prophecies by the witches and he is encouraged to act on these suggestions by Lady Macbeth, but he ultimately makes the choices to murder Duncan, Macduff's family and Banquo. The fact that Macbeth feels guilt, fears being caught and fears losing the throne reveals he has hidden anxiety. If Macbeth was truly at the mercy of fate, following the prophesise that was “set out”, he would have no difficulties in carrying out his crimes.
How does ‘Macbeth’ in Macbeth and the narrators in the Browning poems ‘The Laboratory’, ‘My Last Duchess’ and ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ present strong feelings that murder is the correct thing to do? In Macbeth, Macbeth’s feelings towards murder develop throughout the first Act. This contrasts the narrators of the Browning poems, who feel strongly that murder was or is the correct thing to do from the beginning. In Act 1, Scene 2 of Macbeth, he is portrayed as a loyal and brave soldier, and someone who never consider regicide. He is described as ‘Brave Macbeth’ which suggests he was prepared to risk his life in order to protect the King.
In Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores the destruction of innocence demonstrated by a man’s need of power. Throughout the play, the need and want of supremacy takes over his characters and guides them towards their own obliteration of innocence. In order to get what he wants, the main character in Macbeth does whatever possible to achieve it. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth both strive for power, so when Macbeth is foretold that he will be king, Lady Macbeth sways him into killing King Duncan so that he, the honorable Macbeth, would become king while she would become queen. As the play goes on, Macbeth slowly looses his morality as he strives for more control whilst Lady Macbeth steps into a frantic stage of guilt.
So, naturally, because man is a sinful creature, Macbeth sets out to destroy Banquo and his family, eliminating the possibility of Banquo’s descendants becoming kings. Macbeth never imagined that engaging in such murderous and traitorous acts would play an active role in ensuring that Banquo’s descendants became rulers, as well as Macbeth’s own downfall! Ultimately, prophecy may have prompted Macbeth to act, but one cannot blame prophecy for Macbeth’s evil deeds anymore than one can claim that guns kill people. Following that line of logic, Macbeth’s downfall was, therefore, caused by his own free will. The witches may have predicted Macbeth’s fate, yes.
Macbeth relies on the witches who feed him prophecies and glimpses of the future. After Macbeth hears the witches prophecy, “All hail Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter”(Shakespeare I, iii, 50)! Macbeth immediately thinks that he should be king. When Lady Macbeth finds out about the witches, she leads Macbeth into her plan which involves cold blooded murder. Macbeth is a little nervous at first, but Lady Macbeth is able to get Macbeth to agree with her to kill King Duncan.
Greed is the sin that causes Macbeth to commit murder; killing Duncan to secure the crown for his taking. Macbeth continues to make decisions based on what the witches tell him will come true. The witches’ prediction that Banquo will father a line of kings for Scotland motivates Macbeth to kill him for the same reasons at Duncan, to secure the crown. These actions played out by Macbeth are due to prophesy’s he has been told, but he is still responsible for the actions he has made. Along with greed, Macbeth’s actions are caused from his fear of losing the
Another prophecy made by the witches was that Banquo's son will be king. Fuelled by paranoia, lack of sleep andvisions, Macbeth was thrown into a state of confusion and a belief that the prophecies were inevitable. Lady Macbeth urged her husband to commit murder and it was this action that sparked Macbeth's downfall. When Lady Macbeth heard about the prophecies made by the witches, and how one of them had already come true, she called upon evil spirits to guide her through her task - killing the king. ."..