The Weird Sisters start the play off. The first thing they do is tell Macbeth that he is going to become king. This plays a major role in Macbeth s greed. This is also a foreshadow. Denton Snider states: Manifestly the fate of the two heroes is mysteriously wrapped up in these oracles, which in part foreshadow, and in part cause what they foreshadow (Snider 215). What Denton Snider means is that the witches foreshadow the play, but also through that the build up the greed to have Macbeth cause what they foreshadow. This supports my thesis. Since Macbeth knows he is going to become king, he thinks why should he not become king now, instead of having to wait. Hazlitt stated that the reason for all of Macbeth s crimes were the witches, who surprised him, and he was impatient to verify their predictions, causing Duncan s murder (Hazlitt 11). Hazlitt noted that

11. Wills, Gary. Witches & Jesuits. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Macbeth in the beginning was a blameless character. He would not have even thought about becoming king if the Weird Sisters did not come to him. It was hard for him to believe that he was Thane of Cawdor, and they said he is going to become king. As Steevens put it: Macbeth deceived by the illusions of witchcraft was a religious, temperate, and blameless character (Steevens 464). This quote means that Macbeth was a blameless character, but he was deceived by the Weird Sisters whom made him a murderer.

Toward the end of the play, he became scared that someone will try to take everything away. Therefore, he went to the witches and received his last apparitions. The first apparition was: Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff! (Shakespeare IV.i.81). This apparition scared Macbeth just slightly. Just to make sure the apparition will not come true, he decides that he will kill him later.

During the time Macbeth was on the throne, his mind kept coming back to the witches. This shows how much they influenced him so much that he could not stop thinking about them. During this time in the play he became a complete monster, trying to kill anyone who might be a threat.

10. Watson, Robert. Thriftless Ambition, Foolish Wishes, and the Tragedy of Macbeth . Shakespeare and the Hazards of Ambition. Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress, 1984.

T.W. thinks that the prophecy that Macbeth will not be killed by anyone of woman born and until the forest walk make Macbeth feel invincible which is a good thing in his opinion since it makes a shocking ending (T.W. 290). His statement states this exactly: The prophecy of the witches, That none of woman born should be able to hurt Macbeth, and that he need fear nothing till Birnam wood should come to Dunsinane, have when fulfilled in a sense different from what the words seemed to import, an excellent effect in reading the fall of the bloody tyrant dreadful and shocking (T.W. 290).

6. Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.

As you have seen, the witches influenced Macbeth, and in doing so shaped the play. If they had not told him that he would become king, he would not even imagine that. But since they did tell him, he received new ambition and greed to finally kill the king and become king himself. After he was firmly on the throne, he began to get scared that someone was after him and the throne. He went to the witches and received influence again. He received three apparitions, but of two types: one that stated that he was going to be killed by Macduff, and two that stated that he should not be scared, because he is going to be killed by someone that is not woman born, and before that happens a forest of trees has to walk.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1990
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)