Macbeth: The Witches Prophecies

A detailed Summary of Macbeth: The Witches Prophecies


The Effect of the Witches Prophecies

William Shakespeare's tragedy MacBeth is an unfortunate one. Although MacBeth does take the actions that lead to his downfall, he is not fully responsible for his behavior. After coming in contact with three witches who foretell the future for him, he wants to believe them since everything they told him is good on his part. It is said that the witches were just figments of his imagination. In either case, the prophecies told act as a vehicle to plant ambition in him which lead him to be greedy with his new found happiness, lie to all those he trusts, and eventually to multiple murders.

Although the first and second prophecies that the witches foretell come true, they only turn MacBeth greedy. After MacBeth becomes Thane of Cawdor, MacBeth is amazed with the predictions made so far. "Look how our partner's rapt." From having the first divination come true, MacBeth imagines the possibility of the other predictions to come true, but he is skeptical at first:

MACBETH: (Aside) This supernatural soliciting

Cannot be ill, cannot be good; if ill,

Why hath it given me earnest of success,

Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor:

If good, why do I yield to the that suggest


Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown

Eventually, after lying only come more bad things such as murder: the deadliest sin. After hearing the last prophecy about Banquos' sons becoming Kings, it is the only thing he must take care of to get his way. He plans to take care of this the way he took care of Duncan. Just like then, to become king is to murder who's in your way:

And put a barren scepter in my gripe

Against the use of nature? (1.3.130-137)

MacBeth plots to kill Banquo and Fleance for the sake of the prophecy not to come true but he stingly believes that it would have. MacBeth has let the prophecies become him by giving into the witches through murder.

It now seems that if MacBeth had not tried to fulfill the witch's prophecies, he would probably have been living as the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor at the end of the play. It could be said that he was responsible for his own downfall. However, as proved, MacBeth only took these actions to fulfill the prophecies of the witches by giving into the greed, the lying, and the murder that came with it.



Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 875
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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