The Witches Role In Macbeth Essay, Research Paper

The three witches in the tragedy Macbeth are introduced right at the beginning of the

play. They recount to Macbeth three prophesies. That Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor,

Thane of Glamis and King. These prophesies introduce Macbeth to ideas of greatness.

Macbeth will eventually follow through on killing king Duncan, a destruction of the natural

order; it was sometimes thought that the witches had the ability to reverse the natural order of

things. This brings into the play idea of fate and the role with which it has in the play. One

can 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 as in the end it was he who made the final decisions.

Banquo says in line 24, “The instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with

honest trifles, to betray ’s / In deepest consequence.” He thinks and says bad things of the

witches. He calls them instruments of darkness and the devil. He might believe that these

prophecies will only bring harm even before anything begins to happen. So Macbeth is

warned by his best friend before he makes any decisions that the witches are evil, and what

they suggest is evil.

The witches could foretell the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth,

because they had told Macbeth that he would be King he became impatient and tried to hurry

it as quickly as he could. but they can not control his destiny. Macbeth creates his own misery

when he is driven by his own sense of guilt. This causes him to become insecure as to the

reasons for his actions which in turn causes him to commit more murders. The witches offer

great enticement, but it is in the end, each individuals decision to fall for the temptation, or to

be strong enough to resist their captivation. The three Witches are only responsible for the

introduction of these ideas and for further forming ideas in Macbeth head, but they are not

responsible for his actions throughout the play.

Lady Macbeth is shown early in the play as an ambitious woman with a single

purpose. She can manipulate Macbeth easily. This is shown in the line “That I may pour my

spirits in thine ear”. (I,V, 26) She is selfless, and wants what is best for her husband. Before

the speech that Lady Macbeth gives in act one scene five, Macbeth is resolved not to go

through with the killing of the king. However, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth’s

self-esteem by playing on his manliness and his bravery. This then convinces Macbeth to

commit regicide. It is like a child who is easily guided. Lady Macbeth knows this and acts on

it accordingly.

Although Macbeth has the final say in whether or not to go through with the initial

killing, he loves Lady Macbeth and wants to make her happy. Lady Macbeth is the

dominating individual in the relationship which is shown in her soliloquy in Act 1 Scene. It

seems that she can convince him to do anything as long as she pushes the right buttons in. (I,

VII, 39) She says “ Art thou afeard/ To be the same in thine own act and valour, As thou art in

desire?”

On the other hand, as the play progresses, and Duncan is killed, there is a reversal of

natural order, and Macbeth becomes the dominating partner again. Lady Macbeth becomes

subservient. She becomes pathetic and only a shadow of her former self. Ambition plays a

large role in this tragedy. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have “vaulting ambition” that

drives them. Lady Macbeth’s ambition drives her to manipulate Macbeth into committing

regicide. Macbeth’s fierce ambition is present before the witches’ prophesies. He would never

have thought seriously about killing Duncan without the witches. Yet the combination of both

his ambitious nature and the initial prophesies leads him to kill the king. It is Lady Macbeth

who states “Thou wouldst be great/ Art not without ambition.” Macbeth states that it is “his

besetting sin: I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition.”

Macbeth’s continued ambition is present in his wanting to have a succession of kings after

him. Macbeth’s ambition is deep within him and because of this, both the witches and Lady

Macbeth are able to sway him to evil. It is this ambition that gets him into so much trouble

initially.

Once Macbeth kills for the first time, he has no choice but to continue to cover up his

wrong doings, or risk losing everything he has worked so hard for. In the end, it all comes to

Macbeth himself.Everyone is responsible for his own destiny. This is an essential theme in

this tragedy. Macbeth chooses to gamble with his soul and when he does this it is only him

who chooses to lose it. He is responsible for anything he does and must take total

accountability for his actions. Macbeth is the one who made the final decision to carry out his

actions. He made these final decisions and continued with the killings to cover that of King

Duncan. However where as some facts show that the results were all of his own doing, in act

IV he returns to the witches voluntarily to find out his fate in order to see what actions he

should take. This shows that maybe the witches did have a great influence on his actions.

The killing of Duncan starts an unstoppable chain of events in the play that ends with

the murder of Macbeth and the suicide of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth chooses to murder

Duncan. Macbeth, in the beginning had all of the qualities of an honourable gentleman who

could become anything. This is all shattered when his ambition overrides his sense of

morality. Although Macbeth is warned as to the validity of the witches prophesies, he is

tempted and refuses to listen to reason from Banquo. When the second set of prophesies

Macbeth receives begin to show their faults Macbeth blames the witches for deceiving him

with half truths. While the witches are not totally responsible for the actions of Macbeth, they

are responsible for introducing the ideas to Macbeth which in turn fired up Macbeth’s

ambition and led to a disastrous and unnecessary chain of events.