While this may not seem to be controlling, the mental affect on Macbeth was more damaging then anything they could have imagined. Macbeth’s mental state from the beginning when they first said the prophecy went on a massive decline sanity wise, were Macbeth could only think about how the witches predicted Banquo’s descendents to take the throne. Later on in the play, an apparition that the witches had summoned up for Macbeth says, “Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff!
After a protracted discussion of the topic of who is to blame for the demise of Macbeth, the blame has come to rest upon the Three Witches. Within the play Macbeth, the Witches have done numerous things to cause the demise of Macbeth; influenced him through prophecies and apparitions, spurred his killing spree and manipulated him. From the outset, the Witches show Macbeth prophecies which lead to his downfall. These prophecies are the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings, push Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to act upon their evil thoughts, and alter Macbeth from a loyal soldier to a traitor. First and foremost, the Witches were the root of Macbeth’s misfortunes and evil doings.
The play is about Macbeth so why do we have this fascination with Lady Macbeth, I shall delve in to the deep character that is Lady Macbeth and find out if she is a fiend like queen. I can see why most people would believe that Lady Macbeth is presented as a fiend like queen, when she gets Macbeths letter as she immediately begins to plot the murder of Duncan this is out of her selfish desire to bear the name “queen” that drives her she comes over fiend like by using violent language, emotional blackmail, insults his masculinity and attacks his weaknesses to help commit the murder. Lady Macbeth takes full charge of Macbeth’s actions and seems to dominate him. Lady Macbeth calls upon the demons “Come, you spirits” this shows her calling upon evil spirits to help her to commit the deed of killing Duncan also the notion that lady Macbeth is possessed by evil spirits could explain the unnatural darkness, most fiend like. Lady Macbeths plots against killing king Duncan which is God’s appointed monarch, so by murdering him she is going against God which makes her more fiend like.
Besides Macbeth, Lady Macbeth also shows her character is deceiving by planning how Duncan will be killed. At the end of the play she dies because the guilt from helping to kill Duncan was too much of a burden on her conscience. Lastly, the witches are deceiving characters because they give confusing prophecies. Macbeth misinterprets the confusing prophecies which later lead to his tragic death. There are many appearances that show characters in the play Macbeth are deceiving, ultimately leading to tragedy.
His own human nature, paranoia and selfishness are what leads him to his death. Macbeth is to blame for his death at the end of the play. Macbeth is manipulated by the witches and believes in their prophecies. The witches have considerable influence over Macbeth throughout the play. 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.
Shakespeare’s objective is to show how the guilt Is driving her insane. Shakespeare also does this with the semantic field of death; “death and blood” are used through her sleep-walk. This implies that her guilt of killing Duncan is driving her insane this technique is used by Shakespeare to portray Lady Macbeth’s broken state of mind which makes her restless. In Act 2 Scene 2, the witches say "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,” this is exactly what has happened to Lady Macbeth as she is unable to sleep.
“Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out”. This takes her femininity away and portrays her as a cold-hearted character who is not only willing to commit murder, but also able to persuade her husband into going against what he believes in. As well as this, the violent imagery in this quote is very shocking and gives a gothic element to Act One Scene Seven. It also shows us how quickly Lady Macbeth
In many scenes, violence is readily available, in which it is normally committed or illustrated by the protagonist, Macbeth. Shakespeare takes the violence and relates it to manliness. Lady Macbeth, who, behind public eyes, is a very savage, threatening force, wants to remove her womanhood in order to commit tyrant crime herself: “The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts / And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers” (Shakespeare, I.5.53). Lady Macbeth is calling upon the gods to “unsex” her so she can proceed and help Macbeth commit the murder of Duncan.
The role of females within Macbeth is of pivotal importance; the role of female characters – both witches and Lady Macbeth serve as a threat to the established social order as well as providing the play with some of its most darkly dramatic scenes and evocative language. The witches imbue the play with a sense of the supernatural which, for a Jacobean audience steeped in the traditions of dark magic, which would have created a great sense of terror. When Shakespeare combines their apparent powers with malevolent intention, the threat to the social order is augmented. The prophetic speech of the three witches carry with it some significance; revealing Macbeth’s latent lust for power and consequently, in his role as tragic hero, his harmartia: Macbeth’s belief in the witches ultimately leads to his committal of regicide and a gruesome string of murders thereafter, Macbeth’s actions confirm the witches’ final prophecy which appears to confirm their supernatural omniscience. Despite their underlying pressure throughout the play, the language that the witches use with each other is some of Shakespeare’s most dramatically engaging and disturbing.
It seems that most people believe that Macbeth is the real villain of the play, after firstly killing the King but then Banquo and Macduff’s family but through Macbeth’s own ambition and desire for power, Lady Macbeth was able to manipulate and evoke weaknesses in Macbeth’s character to cause his respectable needs as a loyal solider, to turn into evil motivations. In the course of the play Macbeth’s mind changes from thinking logically to thinking unreasonably and acting impulsively on every thought that comes to his mind. The ideas that Lady Macbeth had and the prophesies from the witches came together to lead Macbeth into the conflicted character he become, going from a loyal, respected soldier into a tragic flawed hero. Before Macbeth’s character shifted into villainy he was a loyal and respected thane. His desire for power grew throughout the play and begins when he first encoumis, then they hail him the thane of Cawdor, which he didn’t yet know of, to him soon would be his next, second title.