Free Macbeth Essays: Foreshadowing the Apparitions

The very beginning of the play indicates that dark supernatural forces will be involved. Three weird sisters are preparing a surprise for Macbeth, surprise that will eventually cost him life and the salvation of his soul. Witches' predictions play very important role in leading Macbeth to the evil deeds. Witches are the first to

However, as the witches plant the vision in Macbeth’s mind and suggest he would be successful in his pursuit of the throne, he is manipulated to follow a path for which he was not previously destined to go down. Hecate, the higher power the witches answer to, further demonstrates that the witches were deliberately manipulating Macbeth in order to cause his downfall. “As, by the strength of their illusion, shall draw him on to his confusion: /He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear /His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace, and fear:” (III.v.28-31) In this quotation, Hecate is instructing the witches to confuse Macbeth and give him a false sense of confidence by using three apparitions or illusions to trick him. This illustrates that the witches, who are able to see into the future, are in fact abusing the trust Macbeth has in them to further lead to his downfall. Instead of allowing the future to unfold as foreseen, they are directly interfering and collectively planning how best to achieve Macbeth’s tragic end. When Macbeth encounters the witches for the final time seeking answers, they choose to show him visions set to mislead and give false confidence in his future.

Macbeth’s insanity is resulted from the true supernatural things he encounters in the play. The three witches are supernatural characters that play an important role in Macbeth’s spiral to becoming insane. Right off the bat the readers or audience feel the creepiness and uneasiness that radiates off of the witches. The witches famous line “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble” (cite), gives everyone a look at how dark this play is. Macbeth’s first time meeting the witches paved a way for his insanity. The three witches inform Macbeth that he will be Thane of Glamis and then one day become king. This causes Macbeth to over think things, and have contradicting thoughts on whether he believes in such prophecies, or if they are trying to trick him. Macbeth’s second visit from the witches included visions of different people. After the witches add ingredients to the cauldron, the visons start appearing. The first one was an armed head telling him to beware of Macduff. The second, was a bloody child that said he could not be hurt by anyone who was born of a woman. The third one is a child holding a tree and wearing a crown. This vision meant that Macbeth would not be defeated until Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane. All of these visions allude to the fact that Macbeth is becoming insane. Slowly but surely as supernatural events occur he has trouble deciphering what is real and what is not. A

The last prophecies that Macbeth hears are meant to assure his safety; however, he can not be too sure. The first apparition warns him of MacDuff, but the second and third apparitions counter that by making the illusion that Macbeth is perfectly safe and that nobody can harm him. Shakespeare highlights Macbeth’s continuous desire to be safe and to remain in power in his response to

laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none born of woman / Shall harm Macbeth."

Speaking with his wife after the guests had left the banquet, Macbeth said, “I will tomorrow, (and betimes I will) to the Weird Sisters. More shall they speak, for now I am bent to know, by worst means the worst” (Shakespeare, 1997, p.67). Macbeth shows his determination to visit the witches. His need to visit the witches correlates to how Macbeth feels about being king. In Macbeth’s soliloquy before speaking to the murderers, he mentions that to be king means nothing if he is not safe as king. Macbeth feels paranoid for disrupting natural order and is constantly troubled by his anxiety to the point where he cannot sleep. Knowing that the witches can predict the future, Macbeth relies on them to bring him some assurance of his future. Since Macbeth relied on the witches to such an extent, Macbeth was led into the very trap that the witches had laid out for him with their double-sided

In addition, Act IV of Macbeth abundantly used examples of deceiving appearances. In the first scene of the fourth act, the three witches conjured apparitions for Macbeth. The second apparition, a bloody child, told Macbeth, "...for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth" (IV, i, 80-81). Macbeth assumed every person was born of woman; therefore, he was invincible. However, he did not see that the apparition was implying an unnatural birth, a caesarian

The third and final apparition, a child crowned with a tree in his hand, said, “Be lion-mettled proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are. Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” (4.1.103-107) Thinking that nothing and nobody will be able to hurt him, Macbeth stopped thinking logically and did whatever it took for him to gain power. He would not have heard or seen any of the apparitions if the witches were not in the

Ghosts, witches, and witchcraft were a big concern during the seventeenth century. People in Shakespeare's time feared the unknown. They also associated witchcraft and ghosts to the devil. For centuries on in, some still show interest in ghosts and witchcraft because they are curious about what they don't know and what they can't see. In William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the three apparitions, or ghosts, in Act IV are summoned by the witches to trick Macbeth into believing that he is invincible. They are used as a "warning prophecy". Therefore, the apparitions are a symbolic representation of what shall happen to Macbeth (Part I, 346). Macbeth fails to realize that the ghosts are warning him; instead, he thinks the ghosts are prophesying that he will reign the kingdom forever. In A.W. Crawford's article, he explains how the apparitions are prophetic threats at Macbeth's kingship rather than his life (Part I, 345). The apparitions in Macbeth are used to not only foreshadow the outcome of Macbeth's

Anticipating Macbeth's arrival, the Witches get ready, gathering ingredients for what Macbeth so desires. Wandering up to the witches Macbeth calls out to the Witches, “I conjure you, by that which you profess/ Howe’re you come to know it answer me.” (4.1.51-52) With this the Witches tell him if he wants something, to tell them directly. And once he does, they conjure up three apparitions, each saying something different to Macbeth. The first, come out as head in armour, proclaiming, “ Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware/ Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.” (4.1.78-80) Then the second one, a child covered in blood, proclaims, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute: laugh to scorn/ The power of man; for none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth.” (4.1.87-89) Next, the third apparition, a

The second apparition was that of a bloody child, which said that no harm will come to Macbeth. He thought wow this is pretty great nothing bad will happen to me, but then we get to apparition number four and it all just goes downhill from there. Now the witches are told by Macbeth that he wants to see more, so they show him one last apparition, which is the worst

Macbeth says "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hands? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green on red". Macbeth is saying that he fears he can never wash away the evidence of his guilt. Macbeth has to make sure that nobody finds out about Duncan, this resulted in having to kill Banquo, who started to get suspicious about the murder of the king. Macbeth killing Banquo added an extra consequence of guilt which turns him insane. Later on Macbeth decides to go see the three witches a second time, this is where the three apparitions come into play. The witches say a spell "Double, double toil and trouble;/ Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." These famous apparitions foretell Macbeth's bloody fate. Macbeth begins to feel relief after hearing what the witches have to say. Macbeth feels as though he is untouchable. The witches continue to speak, they tell Macbeth that he should beware Macduff. When he finds out that Macduff had fled to England, Macbeth takes revenge on Macduff by killing his family. In the end a battle occurs to take down Macbeth. Macduff does what he needs to do and kills Macbeth by decapitating

One of the ways that the witches can get the Macbeth’s attention is by saying these really odd things to spark his curiosity. The three witches especially

The story of Macbeth includes characters that are evil. These characters would be the three witches that can predict the future and play tricks on listeners. The witches are evil because they are wicked, and not human. “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” The witches are creating a substance that may cause misfortune and foul actions.

The witches are like an evil doctor that continues to inject Macbeth with a negative vibe, leading Macbeth to do terrible actions. The witches play a massive role throughout the play, and that is to curse Macbeth to do those terrible