The play opens as three witches arrange to meet Macbeth upon the Heath. They then meet Macbeth and Banquo after a battle as they were crossing the moor. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also prophesy that Banquo (a companion of Macbeth) will beget a line of Scottish Kings, although he will never be King himself. The witches vanished after the telling of their prophecies to Macbeth and Banquo and leave both men treating their prophecies sceptically until two of Duncan’s general had indeed come to congratulate Macbeth on becoming Thane of Cawdor.
Insanity, self preservation, greed, and prophecy, are all reasons that led to the fall of Macbeth. Within each, there is one common factor; desire. Driven by his desire for Lady Macbeth’s love and Duncan’s fame, Macbeth was pushed to insanity, later wishing it could all go back to the way it had been. It was the same desire that led to the fatal fall of Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, after Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth of the witch’s prophecy, she grew attached to the idea of being queen.
The third witch says, ‘There to meet Macbeth’, this intertwining of Macbeth reflects the relationship which will be made between him and the witches, and the evil which is going to be involved in Macbeth’s life. The arrangement of meeting place shows their target for the forces of evil, and their thorough planning of making an appointment to lure Macbeth to destruction. This scene symbolises the witches as a representation for temptation, therefore foreshadowing Macbeth’s potential human weakness to be susceptible to temptation, before we are even introduced to Macbeth himself. Shakespeare presents Macbeths character as brave and fearless in Scene 2; without Macbeth being present. “Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chaps and fixed his head upon our battlements”, this quotation is said by the captain, who is commending Macbeth for defeating the leader of the rebel army.
The first prophecy was that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor, and then the King of Scotland. Macbeth doesn’t believe the prophecies until the first one comes to. From that point his greed for power had come to life, with the influence of his wife Lady Macbeth. The women in this novel also have a sense of greed, violence, and are evil. The spark to Macbeth’s greed, ambitions, and violent behavior came from the three witches.
Driving ambition is the outright desire to achieve a certain goal, regardless of any possible consequences. Macbeth’s ambition is commonly seen as so dominant a trait that is defines the character. Throughout the play Macbeth displays the fatal flaw within his character that is at fault for the tragic chain of events within the play, which ultimately lead to his death. Macbeth displays signs of his driving ambition right from the start of the play when he first meets the witches and explores it further when he contemplates and commits the murder of Duncan and kills Duncan. Ambition has an immediate effect on Macbeth right from the start of the play.
/All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor. / All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (1.3.46-48). Soon after his prophecy Macbeth hears news of his new title (Thane of Cawdor). This assures him that the witch were true in their words. He then begins about the prophecy of becoming king, which then led to thoughts of murder.
Describe the three apparitions that Macbeth sees when he visits the witches. What does each apparition tell him? (sc. 1, 70-95) First apparition- a helmeted head: “Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife!” Second- a bloody child: “Laugh to scorn the power of man; no man of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” Third- crowned child bearing a tree: “Macbeth will never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood come up against Dunsinane Hill.” (Dusinane is where Macbeth’s castle is, surrounded by Birnam Wood) 4.
Discuss the Effect of Guilt on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth The play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a tale of tragedy full of betrayal and crime, and undoubtedly guilt. However, those who you expect to feel remorseful at the beginning are not and later on those who were guilty to begin with do not have the same feelings as before, and vice-versa. In the early stages of the play, after Macbeth writes to his wife of how the witches have prophesised of how he will become king and how their other prophecies have been fulfilled already, Lady Macbeth is suddenly overwhelmed with the thought of power that might be and drives her unwilling husband to kill King Duncan and take to the throne. The irony is that the warrior Macbeth is unsure of the murder, yet his wife is unfazed by the idea of a brutal taking of the throne. She taunts him and goads him on with meddling accusations, in Act 1 Scene 7 she repeatedly tells him he is not a real man because he will not do it, “When thou durst do it, then you were a man” This is a key phrase which angers Macbeth and persuades him to do it to prove her wrong.
These actions sprout from the seeds of others, seeds that others plant, seeds that manipulate his mind into taking drastic measures. These people drive Macbeth into a scary world. A world filled with death and insanity. It is apparent that the three witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth are the source of all of Macbeth’s actions. The three witches are the roots of Macbeth’s lust for power and his fear of death.
But being controlled by his ambition and desires, he continues to kill even after killing King Duncan. Macbeth was drowned in his temptations and fear. That way, the witches are toying around with Macbeth's mind and his ambition. They understand too well of him and what he wants. It's like their desire and goal is to push Macbeth into committing evil acts.