The witches god doesn't like this which causes the the witches to betray Macbeth, “Spiteful and wrathful, who (as others do) Loves for his own ends, not for you. But make amends now: get you gone, And at the pit of Acheron Meet me i'th morning: get you gone, Will come to know his destiny. Your vessels and your spells provide, Your charms and everything beside” (III. v. 12-19). The witches god is saying that why are they putting up with Macbeth and that he only cares for himself.
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.
Hanna de Villa Ms. Jackson ENG 3U1 - 11 16 May 2008 The Source of All Evil in Macbeth: Women Macbeth is a play full of betrayal, deceit and murder. Generally, men carry out these actions but instead women stir the cauldron of trouble. From the witches’ prophecies that spark Macbeth’s murder, Lady Macbeth’s domineering presence and the exploitation she uses on her husband are the inevitable roots of catastrophe and evil in the play. They do not show any aggression and violence but relies on deception, manipulation and supernatural phenomenon. The Witches and Hecate portray the image and eminence of evil in Macbeth.
Banquo illustrated Macbeth’s subconscious belief that he was an undeserved kin, for he has played “foully.” Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s conscience to show how even the idea of power can be strongly manifested in someone’s mind and slowly corrupt any existence of principles and integrity, once again emphasizing the idea that “absolute power corrupts absolutely. “Another example of Shakespeare using Macbeth’s internal conflict to depict the theme, “absolute power corrupts absolutely” was after Duncan’s regicide. After hearing the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth contemplates on committing regicide on the King but once again his conscience constricts him from doing so. However, he is clearly vacillating with the thought of murder when he says, “if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without stir. His inner conflict is shown explicitly in act 1, scene 7 when he weighs not only the detrimental political consequences of the murder but also the moral values involved.
Chantelle Driver English 12-1B Ms.Turner 15 December 2011 A Tragic Hero Named Macbeth Sometimes a tragic hero is created, not through his own villainy, but rather through the flaws in him. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is our main example of our common tragic hero who possesses a tragic flaw, but what is a tragic flaw? A tragic flaw is a flaw in a character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that ambition and guilt can have on a man who lacks strength of character. Ambition, moral weakness and selective perception, would be the major flaws of our character, Macbeth.
By creating a false sense of destiny within Macbeth, the three witches are considered as a significant role portraying evil within the play. After the first two predictions made by the witches, they were discovered to be true, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee thane of Cawdor!” (Shakespeare, 1, II, 51-52). Macbeth’s instincts drove him to believe the third would come true as well.
The witches are possibly linked as the “charms” seem to influence Macbeth and he begins to echo “foul and fair”. Whenever Macbeth seems at his most inhumane he uses rhyming couplets for example, “knell that summons…to heaven…hell” is used before killing Duncan in act 2 and “fight…heaven…find it out to-night” before killing Banquo in act 3.
The idea of the witches representing manifestation of human desires is a key element as they can be seen as the “alcohol” that “hinders performance”; they stimulate Macbeths desire to be king to such an extent that his own “black” desires cause his ultimate demise. His drive to be King is to some extent ironic as the medieval ages perceived the King to be a representative of God. This creates a sense of irony due to the fact that Macbeth befriends the representatives of the Devil, believes their predictions and commits great sins in order to gain power as a representative of God. To some extent it can also be said that
This stark contrast created by the entry of the three witches embodies the concept of there being a cataclysmic conflict between the sinister prophecy of the witches and how this clashes with the Divine Order. This example of external conflict is further emphasised by the second witch’s statement: “when one side has lost and the other has won.” Thus Shakespeare wishes to present the dichotomy between good and evil where evil is symbolised by the supernatural witches and good, the manifestation of fate, is depicted by the Divine right and its specification of the chain of beings. Moreover, Shakespeare dares the audience to contemplate whether or not free will or choice, actually exist. Some critics advocate the theory that the external conflict is between the artificial prophecy and how Macbeth tries to rejuvenate it, and Divine Right. Thus, Macbeth’s tragic demise is considered by many prominent critics such as M. C .
Observing the juxtaposition in these two scenes with Polanski’s Macbeth with the influence of the witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth’s role of ambition and his weaknesses. In Shakespeare, Macbeth is interpreted as being intrusive with evil as he and Lady Macbeth both make deliberate choices to do evil deeds. As a victim of fate Macbeth is deemed to some extent not accountable for his actions, but as a victim of his own actions, Shakespeare makes him subjective to the consequences by his own behaviour. Firstly, In Shakespeare’s version of Macbeth is delineated as a victim of his own actions, with his overpowering ambition and tendency to self-doubt. This is identified in Act Two, Scene Two where Macbeth converses with Lady Macbeth about the death of Duncan.