Shakespeare's Macbeth - The Proud Characters of Macbeth and Duncan

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.

To begin, the witches are the catalyst to Macbeth’s crimes because the convince him that he will become king. Macbeth first meets the witches while returning from a gruesome battle and it is safe to say that they greet him with some audacious titles. They initially greet him as the Thane of Glamis and the Thane of Cawdor, but it is their final greeting which has the greatest effect on Macbeth. The witches hail Macbeth as someone “that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53). This ignites a fire inside Macbeth, who is an immensely ambitious person. He begins to fantasize about the luxurious life he would have if he were the king of Scotland and he suddenly has the temptation to kill King Duncan. Although the witches’ prediction is favourable, Macbeth has no reason to believe them, at least until one of their other predictions turns out to be true. This

Macbeth's feels that his destiny is to become King and rule with all the power that goes with kingship. The three witches on his way back to the kingdom, prophesied that he would rise to kingship. They said "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis" (I, 3, 48), and then as the thane of Cawdor "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" (I, 3, 49). At this point in the play Macbeth had just become thane of Glamis, and the thane of Cawdor is still alive. Then, the witches greeted Macbeth as the King of Scotland saying "All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter" (I, 3, 50). This is the point in the tragedy where Macbeth starts to think as a villain. If the witches had never greeted him as King on Scotland, then he would probably never have contemplated killing Duncan in the first place. At first, he believes that he will need to kill King Duncan. Though at the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king saying "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.", showing he is a man of honor and morals. Then, Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy in his letters and decides immediately for him that King Duncan must die, showing Macbeth's doubt. An

In the beginning of the play Macbeth is cautious and somewhat suspicious of the witches. He only starts to really think of the idea that they might be telling him the truth when they hail him as the thane of Cawdor, which shortly after, he receives

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

In William shakespeare’s Macbeth,Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero in shakesperean work.Macbeth display the major characteristics of a tragic hero throughout the play until his tragic end.The play potrays Macbeth as a lost cause by showing how he fell from being a honest and just man who fought for whats right, to a cruel,superstitious,ambicious dictator.In william shakespreares Macbeth,Macbeth is a tragic hero because he compromises his honor and negates his moral values in order to obtain power which results with lots of tragic events such as character deaths leading to his tragic end.

seen nor heard speak and she tells them to fill her to the brim with

The three witches or “weird sisters”, are only one of the contributions to Macbeth's destruction and downfall. The prophecies that the witches make are merely temptations for Macbeth. The weird sisters never tell Macbeth what to do with these suggestions, leaving him curious and in disbelief about what the witches have to say. The witches make predictions about the future of Macbeths kingship: "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” (I.III.50). Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor increases his thirst for ambition and eventually drives him into demise. They also tell Macbeth that no man born of woman can kill him, making Macbeth believe that he is invincible. "The power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" (lV.I.81-83). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth take the prophecies too rigorous and try to put them into action immediately. The prophecies predicted by the witches do result in the end, however not exactly how either of them imagined.

Macbeth understands that the witches "have more in them than mortal knowledge," and his trust in the witches is made stronger because out of the three prophecies, "two truths are told" (1.5.3) (1.3.140). If it hadn’t been for the prophecy that the witches gives to Banquo and Macbeth, Lady Macbeth would never persuade Macbeth into killing Duncan to become King; and Macbeth never would plot to kill Banquo as a result of jealousy because of Banquo’s prophecy, and mistrust of Banquo after Macbeth kills Duncan. Macbeth relies on the witches throughout the play. Knowing that his sins are so large and he is "in blood / Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more," he knows that he must consult the witches again because he knows they will give him advice, and confidence for him to continue making poor decisions. (3.4.169) Again the witches manipulate Macbeth even more, by showing him three apparitions, that make him feel over confident about his bright future as king. These apparitions give Macbeth false confidence, and will result in him making a decision that leads him to failure. So when he finds out these predictions he damns "all those that trust them", ironically damning him, because he has trust in the witches up until this point. (4.1.158) The only reason why Macbeth ever trusts and wants the witches’ prophecies is so he can gain more confidence and feel more powerful.

In life, there are two types of people: those who do the right thing and those who don’t. In the play Macbeth, by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is given a prophecy by three witches that says he will become king; however, there is no descending line of kings of his own blood. With the knowledge of the Witches’ prophecy, Macbeth’s ambition, and manipulation from his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is quickly dragged into a never-ending, bloody murder rampage to obtain the crown and get rid of those who stand in the way of obtaining it as well. Macbeth constantly battles with his moral dilemmas; however, he easily falls victim to influences that go against his morals. Influences on major characters emphasize how easily one’s decision making can be negatively affected, resulting in one going against his or her morals/integrity.

They poison his mind with these prophecies, making him greedy and bringing out the evil qualities in his soul. When the first of the prophecies is proven true, Macbeth then considers the idea of murdering Duncan for the first time. This is his first step on the journey to his downfall, as the Three Witches had planned. The Three Witches plan has succeeded, they had brought out the greed in Macbeth, allowing him to make the most important decision - to kill King Duncan. Macbeth's malevolence and deceptiveness are sown further when he becomes so obsessed with the witches prophecies to his own friend Banquo, that he decides to hire men to kill him and his son Fleance. After Macbeth went through the murder of Duncan and Banquo, he slowly lost his sanity, it is at this point that the witches were easily able to control his mind. They have succeeded in bringing out the Evil qualities in Macbeth and are ready to finish their game and make sure Macbeth continues to spiral downward. With Hecates' lead, the witches plan to bring Macbeth to his death by making him overconfident, they do this by presenting him with three apparitions. The first appears as an armed head that speaks,

Evilness itself is a betrayal of the habitual human nature of any person. The natural tendency of a person is morality; however, that inclination can be corrupted and influenced into twisted malevolence. A common image in the play representing this evil is the serpent, shown to be a conniving, wicked tempter. This symbol takes many forms throughout the story, beginning as a comparison of the ideal character Macbeth should strive to be and finishing as yet another threat to Macbeth’s quest for glory. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to defy their own human nature to accomplish their desires, namely murdering King Duncan. This action forever changes their mentalities and morals by its test to the strength of their ethics and the loyalty of the relationships to which they belong.

Nevertheless, Macbeth quickly discounts these bloody visions of murder and continues to fantasize about his future glories. Furthermore, when Macbeth encounters the witches, we are only told a quick summary of the prophecy, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” (1.3.52).and then, “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.53). Yet the witches do not reveal the means by which Macbeth will come about this glory or mention any ill deeds that are to come. This leaves one to believe that the witches knew Macbeth’s fate as Thane and King, yet the other bloody elements of the prophecy are enacted solely through Macbeth’s own will. Macbeth is only prompted in his bloody actions by supernatural forces and of course Lady Macbeth.

The tragic hero has been a major storytelling tool in recent years that makes the audience relate to, respect, and feel sympathy for a character which is undone by the end of the story. But can this title be given to Macbeth, the titular hero of the Shakespeare play by the same name? Yes, absolutely- Shakespeare’s Macbeth follows this plot path in numerous ways. Throughout the play, we are introduced to Macbeth’s belovedness, the crushing of said established belovedness, and his own undoing.

Macbeth would develop a false sense of security, which lead him to believe that he was invulnerable. He would act as if his throne could not be threatened and that he had nothing to worry about, when however he was under great danger of being backstabbed by his once loyal friends. Furthermore, Macbeth creates a false sense of mind and forces himself to believe that the words of the Three Witches are true. Macbeth's incorrect conclusions formed from the apparitions and his own interpretation of the prophecy, lead to his ruin.