The Equivocal Nature Of The Witches Prophecies In Macbeth

The witches were the very first factor in Macbeth’s progression to becoming a power hungry and bloodthirsty character. Their speech was always laced with a hint of truth but mostly false hope as they were creatures of the supernatural. Their half prophecies played Macbeth like a puppet, constantly trying to live by their words, though they were just illusions to make his life look good, through a mirage of carefully planned schemes. Looking back at the opening of the play, Macbeth was portrayed as “brave”, as he, Banquo and his army had just won a

The three witches show that appearances can be deceiving by tricking Macbeth many times throughout the play. In the opening scene, the witches set the mood of the play by saying, “Fair is foul and foul is fair,” (1.1.12). This quote often applies to the witches themselves and their predictions. For example, the three prophecies told to Macbeth predict personal reward. Though Banquo questioned, “[W]hy do you start and seem to fear / Things that do sound so fair?”, Macbeth had good reason to fear the witches’ prophecies (1.3.49-50). Predictions originally thought to be good (ie. he would become king) eventually led to Macbeth’s downfall.

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

This speech portrays Banquo’s new found reluctance towards the witch’s forecast of the future. He now sees what Macbeth is blind too, the possibility of knowledge becoming more harmful to the men rather than helpful in Macbeth’s want for more, particularly pertaining to him becoming King. As Macbeth begins to weigh the prophecy against logic and the now present, he accepts the fact that if “two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme.” Macbeth is now beginning to assume that if portions of the prophecy are being fulfilled as the witch’s had said, it is only a matter of time before he shall become king. As Macbeth continues to be engulfed by what will be his future downfall, he assumes that all of his new found

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

In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the theme of equivocation to effectively illustrate the evil nature of the witches. Equivocation is the use of ambiguous expressions in order to mislead. The prophecies of the witches play a mischief in this play, as they are a form of deception that at times use vague language to dodge an issue. The three influential prophecies, which the witches make in this play, are that the protagonist Macbeth will become the king of Scotland, Banquo will be the father of the king of Scotland, and Macbeth will not be killed until the Birnam wood moves to Dunsinane hill. The sources of these prophecies are the witches who put together the devious words into Macbeth 's mind, which demonstrates

The third apparition says, ?Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him?. (4.1.105) To Macbeth, this seems silly. Again, logically thinking, a forest is not going to come to Macbeth?s castle. Little does he know that that is just how it is going to play out, but not in that way. The army cuts branches off the trees in Birnam Wood

The witches prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s influence intensifies his ambition and drives Macbeth to obtain and maintain his title of Scotland by whatever means, even murdering his best friend, Banquo. “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, ...no son of mine succeeding. If’t be so, for Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan I have murder’d; ...To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (Act III. sc.I) At this point Macbeth’s passion becomes more and more extreme to the point where no one stands in his way. His greed, violence, and hunger for power drastically declines his

The three apparitions which appear to Macbeth are, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife. / Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man; for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. / 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." Macbeth translates these prophecies as a meaning that he will reign as king until the day he dies of natural causes and will no longer have to fear Macduff for he can do no harm to him. Although he is assured by the equivocate predictions, his uncertainty gets the better of him. This can be seen in his actions; he kills Macduff 's family but leaves the man himself alive, he enters into battles screaming that no man of woman born shall ever harm him, not knowing that Macduff was born of Caesarian section, and eventually his foolish actions lead to his death at the hands of Macduff.

If you were directing the scene where the witches appear and speak their prophecies, what stage directions would you incorporate and what props would you use to enhance what the witches are saying?

Macbeth and Banquo was coming home from battle and stumbled onto the witches. There they were given their fates, Macbeth prophecy was to be thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and finally king of Scotland. As king he couldn’t be killed by anyone of woman birth and he couldn't be defeated unless the Birnam Woods march on Dunsinane. The witches were tricking and deceiving Macbeth into thinking he is invinceable.

In the beginning of the play in Act 1 Macbeth starts with Banquo and Macbeth running into 3 witches. The witches give them three prophecies: Macbeth shall be named as Thane of Cawdor and then king; Banquo, although he shall not himself rule in Scotland, will be father to future generations of kings. After the witches left a terrible thought comes across Macbeths head. “Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings: My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,

Throughout the play “Macbeth” Shakespeare uses multiple examples of strong diction, paradox, metaphors, and imagery to demonstrate the theme that fate is inevitable. These examples also help emphasize that the witches are in control of Macbeth's severe and hostile actions throughout the tragic play. Without the witches prophecies the idea of murder would have never crossed Macbeth’s mind. After the witches informed Macbeth that he would soon become king he was willed to do anything to make sure this bizarre prophecy would come true.

Yet after his encounter with the witches, his mind was going back and forth trying to figure out how he should act upon the prophecy of becoming king! It was by then that the idea of fate had been planted into his head, and with such good title to come with it, why wouldn’t he want to believe his ‘fate’? Something that I found very interesting about the witches was that looking closely at line 24-25 when one of the witches says, "Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tossed." From what I seemed to understand, these lines seemed to really show the limitations to the witches’ powers, because they were basically saying that they could only make life rough for the clueless captain, but they could not kill him. I think that this is really important to all the people who thought that the witches had ‘written out’ Macbeth’s fate because in the same way as the previous stated scene they can tempt Macbeth with predictions about his future, but they cannot make him choose evil. Meaning that in this scene, one of the conflicts is obviously fate vs. free will! All the witches really did was find a way of stirring up evil, by tempting Macbeth into choosing to opt for evil instead of good. “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir.” (Act 1. Scene iii. Line 10). Here, Macbeth seems content to leave his future to "chance." If "chance" will have

The apparitions profess three things MacBeth believes are incapable of happening. Lennox enters the scene and recites to MacBeth "MacDuff has fled to England (IV,i,160)." MacBeth believes there is no person on Earth that could fit the description one must be in order to conquer him. In an aside at the close of IV,i, MacBeth declares he will "surprise" the "castle of MacDuff (IV,i,171)." Since MacBeth believes humans are not able to kill him, this is where the "trouble (IV,i,10)" begins.