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Shakespeare's Macbeth and Dr. Faustus' Bargain

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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
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