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Examples Of Apparition In Macbeth

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In Macbeth William Shakespeare utilizes the prophecies of the witches and the apparitions to illustrate the theme “Oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths,/ Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s / In deepest consequence.---”(I:iii:123-126). In the play, Macbeth is a Scottish warrior who serves under King Duncan of Scotland. Once Macbeth returns from battle, he meets 3 witches and they prophesied that he would be Thane of Cawdor and he would be King of Scotland, while his friend Banquo would have children who become kings. Once Macbeth hears that he has actually become Thane of Cawdor, his ambition overtakes him. He kills King Duncan to achieve the throne, he kills his friend Banquo to secure the throne …show more content…

Once Macbeth had become King, he wanted to know more of what his future holds. So he turns to the witches once again, and asks for more. The witches show him 3 apparitions which give him cryptic messages that would ultimately tell him about his downfall. The first says “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife! Dismiss me. Enough”(IV:i:71-72) and the apparition takes the form of an armored, severed head. The message warns Macbeth of Macduff, and Macbeth’s paranoia kicks in as a result of this. Macbeth is threatened by Macduff for reasons unknown, but he still takes drastic measures to pre-emptively protect himself. Macbeth, learning that Macduff isn’t in Scotland, takes the opportunity to completely annihilate Macduff’s family. Slaughtering Macduff’s wife and child, Macbeth unknowingly set in motion his own downfall. Hearing that his family was murdered by Macbeth, Macduff was now fueled to end Macbeth’s life to avenge his family. By hearing the apparition’s warning, Macbeth leads to his own downfall and death. There is also added irony when the apparition takes the form of a severed head, as it happens to be Macbeth’s severed head after Macduff himself kills …show more content…

This played a major role in why Macbeth’s death was his own doing. When Macbeth heard the prophecy, “Laugh to scorn/The power of man, for none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth”(IV:i:79-81) he instantly gained arrogance towards all threats besides Macduff. He feared no man, and was threatened by no one after hearing that none of woman born could harm him. Macbeth couldn’t fathom any human being born of anything other than a woman, and not looking too deep into the statement, he takes it as invincibility. The apparition took the shape of a bloody child, foreshadowing the flaw with this prophecy. The bloody child represents Macduff, and how he was ripped untimely from his mother’s womb, which makes him not of woman born. This further cements Macbeth’s destruction of his own

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