The Witches In Macbeth

Macbeth, although manipulated by the witches and persuaded by his wife, is ultimately responsible for his own actions. At the beginning of the play, he is portrayed as the noble and courageous hero; by the end, however, the audience sees his brutal and power-hungry character drives him to fulfil his ambition. The three witches manipulate Macbeth through prophecies foretelling his fate. Lady Macbeth is also partly to blame for her taunting and eventual encouragement of her husband, leading him to his immoral choices. In the end, it is Macbeth’s many character flaws that drive him to his poor decisions and fateful end.

Throughout this tragic play by Shakespeare, Macbeth is faced with the question of fate or free will. While fate is a force or power that predetermines events, free will is the ability to decide actions according to oneself (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Throughout the play, Macbeth’s choices were influenced by many other characters which in turn alter his future. In the opening of the play, there were the 3 witches who sparked his initial interest to become King. Then came Lady Macbeth who, by telling him her opinion and persuading him, gave him the idea to kill King Duncan. But in the end it was his own ambition which resulted in his death, because as the play progressed Macbeth’s character took a drastic turn from good to evil. Even though the witches and Lady Macbeth also played a great role in his decisions, they didn 't force him to commit any of the crimes, and so ultimately it was his own choices that led to his downfall.

Blood, whether it be the color, smell, or importance is vital to life itself. However, almost exceeding the importance of physical blood is the imagery of blood found throughout William Shakespeare's, Macbeth. The continual presence of blood in Shakespeare's, Macbeth is constantly reminding the audience how significant the consequences of the characters actions are. The imagery of blood in Shakespeare's, Macbeth represents the guilt felt by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth due to their brutal actions, thus developing the theme ‘the corrupting power of unchecked ambition’. As their guilt grows, so does the importance of the blood imagery and how it haunts both characters, staining their soul.

     Despite the use of blood as a good connotation, Shakespeare uses blood to describe other connotations. In many instances, blood is what haunts Macbeth before and after the murder. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red” (II.ii.78-81). No matter if it is a little water or a whole ocean of water, Macbeth feels that no amount of water will clean the blood off his hands. Blood used in this context is sinful and evil. With guilt, he knows that what he has done will never be undone like the blood on his hands. When hallucinating the dagger, Macbeth sees that the blade has “gouts of blood, / Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. / It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes” (II.ii.58-61). The imagery of blood on a sharp knife brings evil connotations and foreshadows the violence and goriness that is anticipated. Macbeth refers to the

The role that blood plays in Macbeth, particularly immediately following Duncan’s murder and later in the play. Blood symbolize fear and guilt for Macbeth and his wife. Not until after the murder of Duncan that the guilt beings to grow.

In the play Macbeth, we see an innocent man who is also recognized as a great warrior and hero, till the witches appeared and we begin to see changes in his behavior. When the witches’ prophecies comes true, you begin to wonder, was it the witches’ doing in causing Macbeth’s downfall or was it Macbeth’s own choice that he made himself? Macbeth shows a few signs of it being him that’s making those decisions. In the five acts we see a transition between fate and free will and both seem to act on each other throughout the play.

Blood coats the play Macbeth from the beginning to end. It plays an important part in this play and is mentioned over 40 times. (english) Blood itself is a source of life and shocking to see. The constant presence of blood in Macbeth repeatedly reminds the audience about how serious the consequences of the characters actions are. The blood remains on the hands of faces of the murderers. They are unable to remove the feel , or stain of the blood therefore showing their immense guilt. Just before he kills King Duncan,

The three witches in the tragedy Macbeth are introduced right at the beginning of the play. The scene opens with the witches chanting three prophesies: Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis and King. These prophesies introduce Macbeth to his plan of defeat and to over power. Macbeth will eventually follow through in killing king Duncan. Some people believe that the witches had the ability to reverse the order of things. This brings into the play idea of fate and the role with which it has in the play. One can only wonder if Macbeth ever had a chance of doing what was right after he met with the witches. It is however, more realistic to believe that Macbeth was responsible for his own actions throughout the play and in the end,

Blood is mentioned throughout the play and mainly in reference to murder or treason. The first reference to blood is in MacBeth's soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 33-61, when Macbeth sees the bloody dagger floating in the air before him. Also in this soliloquy on line 46 he sees "on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood", this means that there is blood on the handle and spots of blood on the handle. This is implying that the dagger was viciously and maliciously used on someone. Shakespeare most likely put this in

Blood is essential to every human beings survival. It is a fluid circulating throughout the body that carries nutrients and oxygen to the tissues in exchange for life and if this was somehow lost then the life would also be lost. It represents life, death, and injury. It is an essential part of life. Without it, we would not live. As a symbol and major theme in Macbeth, Blood is used most often to represent injury and death, but also life. In Macbeth, he uses blood to represents impurity. Shakespeare often accompanies the image of water with the image of blood. The water represents cleansing and purity.

Macbeth was completely driven by his own free will in making the choices that he did in Shakespeare's Macbeth. If he were controlled by destiny, he would not have felt so guilty of his actions. The witches may have predicted the future, but they are not the direct reason that made Macbeth so ruthless on his journey to the crown. His ambition is what caused him to make such blatant choices. He set himself up for his dramatic downfall through his own decisions.

In the beginning of the play, blood imagery is very important. "Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chaps, / and fixed his head upon our battlements"(I.ii.22-23). Macbeth has just killed the enemy and become a hero; Macbeth killed the enemy not for fame or fortune but to defend his land and people. In this next quote Macbeth's

One of the first references to blood represents a feeling of honour, and bravery. It is in Act I scene 2 line 1. Duncan says, “What bloody man is that?” when he sees the injured sergeant. Then, from lines 9-33 (The Merciless Macdonwald, etc…) the sergeant tells the story of Macbeth’s heroic victories over Macdonwald and the King of Norway. The telling of this story is, in itself, heroic. It is symbolic of the brave fighter who

Blood reveals Macbeth’s feelings about murder. For example, blood symbolism exposes the apprehensiveness of Macbeth before he kills Duncan . Macbeth hallucinates a dagger floating before him, guiding him towards

will be not so happy because he will have an early death, but he will