During Macbeth's never-ending ambitious strive for power in Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, he makes his own Faustian Bargain similar to Dr. Faustus'. The theme of ambition dominates both their stories. Even though he does not directly deal with the devil as Faustus does, the consequence of his bargain is greater. Not only does he loose his life, but his wife and everything he had risked for. The witches tempt Macbeth with their words of prophecy and fate. By listening and acting upon those words, he makes his Faustian Bargain. And as is known in literature, when a character acts upon fate or prophecy they fail. When the witches meet Macbeth, they greet him as "Thane of Glamis", "Thane of Cawdor", and "king hereafter"(Shakespeare 1.3.51-53). Macbeth instantly becomes intrigued with these three words that contain so much power. This is when he ignorantly makes his bargain, "Stay you imperfect speakers. Tell me more...Say from whence/ You owe this strange intelligence or why...with such prophetic greeting" (1.3.73-81). Unlike Banquo, who is undisturbed by this foretelling, Macbeth is captivated by his learned fate. Unconsciously, this bargain entails much more than what Macbeth expected. He loses possible salvation for his soul, sanity, and everything that makes his life living. There are two notable occasions when the readers can see Macbeth losing his sanity. At the end of act 3, scene 3, Macbeth is at the banquet with friends and his wife. During this dinner, he sees
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.
These predictions are effective in attracting Macbeth's attention because they feed off his desire for what they promise. At this point in the play he is the newly
Fate and prediction have played a big part of Macbeth and has persuaded him to become evil and the “Brave” Macbeth had died out as soon as he meets the witches’ and they tell him that his fate is to become the thane of Cawdor and soon become king; “All hail, Macbeth hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”. Macbeth does not know yet that the Thane of Cawdor had betrayed the king and went against him also he is being stripped of his Thaneship and is being executed, so he was surprised when the witches’ said that. Macbeth at first did not believe in his fate but when he gets the rob to be Thane of Cawdor he starts to believe his fate and then his mind skips to becoming king and killing Duncan this shows
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a trusted soldier, who is honest and noble. Unfortunately, he meets three witches who tell him three prophecies; that he will become thane of Cawdor, that he will become king and that Banquo’s sons will become kings. These three prophecies slowly change his opinions on life and turn him into a greedy, dishonest, tyrant, full of ambition. Lady Macbeth’s thoughts change as well when she is told about the three prophecies that were told to Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is
The three witches have told Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor as well as becoming king. Macbeth believes that the witches predictions will come true because he has just been announced the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is very confused. The tone of this soliloquy is one of bafflement. In fact, he proclaims that the witches’ fortune “cannot be ill, cannot be good” (130). Given that Macbeth had been told about being king, he’s had terrible thoughts about murdering Duncan which “unfix [his] hair” and “make [his] seated heart knock at [his] ribs” (135,136). Macbeth does not want to kill his friend, yet he still desires to become king. It is very ironic that his emotions and mind-set towards Duncan who is his “friend” has changed because of the fortune that the witches have given Macbeth.
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 starts to lose his sanity as he plans to kill Duncan. The story begins with three witches giving a prophecy to Macbeth: he will be the Thane of Glamis, the Thane of Cawdor, and King hereafter. Shortly after, Macbeth is named the Thane of Cawdor. He is amazed that the Witches were right, and quickly realizes that in order to fulfill the rest of his prophecy, he must kill the current king, Duncan. Macbeth says to himself, “I am thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair … My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man” (1.3.146-155). Macbeth is frightened by the thought of having to kill Duncan, but he knows that it must be done. Although he has little faith in himself and his abilities, his thoughts and feelings are fairly sane. Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan so that he can become the new king; however, Macbeth is too cowardly to do it. After much contemplation, he says that he will not kill Duncan
The scene shows the three witches lack of consideration of the outcome of their prophecy as they did not consult with their higher power, Hecate over whether they should tell Macbeth of his prophecy. Their thoughtless actions caused for many deaths and much corruption amongst themselves and the entire country of Scotland. The witches’ gain of power furthermore corrupted them as they did not tell Macbeth his full prophecy. When the witches first tell Macbeth of his fate the first witch states, “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!” (1.3. 48-50) This is then followed by the second witch claiming “all hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!” and finally the third witch states, “All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!” the prophecy given can be seen as false as they suggest that Macbeth is to be king for a long time when they state “hereafter”
Shakespeare uses the title character of Macbeth to effectively develop the theme of guilt and conscience in his play. Several times in the play we see Macbeth’s character crumbling as a result of a guilty conscience. At
When the three witches delivered the prophecies in the first act they hailed Macbeth is “Thane of Cawdor”, “Thane of Glamis”, and also claimed that shall soon become king. While Macbeth is bewildered and
His infidelity breaks the trust between him and Duncan because of his immense betrayal to not only the King, but to the country of Scotland. He quickly becomes a man whom Duncan could no longer rely upon, for this reason, Duncan awards the title to a noble and courageous soldier, Macbeth. Dramatic irony is presented in this line because as Duncan is addressing the unfaithfulness of the old thane, it is followed by the entry of Macbeth to the scene, a man who later misuses his power to betray the King. To Duncan, Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, is appeared to be virtuous and courageous because of his heroic performance in the battle for defeating the opponent, Macdonwald. The King demonstrates his satisfaction towards Macbeth through a conversation with Banquo. He describes Macbeth as “full so valiant, And in his commendations [King Duncan is] fed; It is a banquet to [him]… It is a peerless kinsman.” (1.4.56-60). In this speech, King Duncan truly admires Macbeth’s valiancy and describes him as a man without equal. He congratulates Macbeth for his courage on the battlefield and as followed by the witches’ prophecies of Macbeth, “...All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor…” (1.3.50), he replaces and becomes the new Thane of Cawdor. This speech reveals the gullible nature of Duncan who once trusted the old thane and anew, believes the new thane will be loyal to the country. By all means, Duncan is clueless of
way / With such prophetic greeting. Speak, I charge you." (1.3.75-76). The way Macbeth demands for more information emphasizes his desire for power. Macbeth sees himself as king of Scotland, which in turn makes him speaks to the witches as if weaker than him. Thus, Macbeth's willingness to believe the witches about how he will be king is what encourages him to demand more information on his prophetic power. Also, due to Macbeths willingness to believe the prophecies he disregard's his loyalty to Duncan. After Macbeth is informed he will be thane of Cawdor he says in his aside, " My
The Play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is shaped by supernatural forces with the use of the weird witches, the apparition of the ghost, and the floating dagger. These forces lead Macbeth to act in the way he did and add suspense to the play. The play opens with the three witches, and later on Macbeth and Banquo encounter them. They prophesized that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor, and then become King of Scotland. In addition to that, Banquo was told that his sons shall be kings, but never himself. Macbeth was skeptical about the prophesies, but until some of King Duncan’s men came to inform Macbeth that that he was to be named Thane of Cawdor due to the betrayal of the previous and condemned to death. Then Lady Macbeth
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
As Brutus shows his major flaw by listening to the wrong people, so does Macbeth in the play Macbeth. In the beginning Macbeth meets three witches that he is heavily influenced by. The three witches tell him his fate in the very beginning of the play and he gets anxious to be king so he kills King Duncan. Similar to Brutus, Macbeth’s fate really begins when he starts listening to the wrong people. The witches tell Macbeth his prophecy when they say in Act I scene iii, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, thane of Glamis!”, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you, thane of Cawdor!”, and “All hail, Macbeth, the future king!”. These quotes show that the Three Witches are able to convince and