Macbeth Essay- Period 4 Asher

Marika Stanford-Moore

December 7, 2011

Period 4

Macbeth essay

In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth follows the prophecies that the witches have foretold him. Believing that his fate has been established, the prophecies lead Macbeth to take actions and to mistakenly assume he is immune from his evil deeds. In the play, sisters or witches determine the fate of Macbeth (only once are they referred to as witches in the play, but mostly called “weird” coming from the Old English term of “wyrd”, meaning fate). The “weird sisters” prophecies shaped Macbeth’s destiny and controlled his actions, leading him to commit murder and tyrannous acts.

Macbeth was intrigued by the prophecies since the first time that he encountered the witches. Shakespeare describes him as being ‘rapt’, deeply engrossed in his fate. In Act One, the witches prophesize that Macbeth will become king; although it was Macbeth’s idea to kill Duncan to secure his spot as the future king. Macbeth would not have killed Duncan if he’d had no prophecy of becoming king. His perception of fate affected his actions. The witches’ prophecies lead him to his downfall. Shakespeare characterizes Macbeth as egotistical and overly confident, as well as easily manipulated by Lady MacBeth. When Macbeth hears the prophecy that he will be king until the forest moves to the castle at Dunsinane and that he cannot be killed from any man born of a woman, he is overly confident that he is immune to mortal danger. When the army carries trees to hide themselves and Macduff is able to kill Macbeth because he was born from cesarean section, Macbeth has finally followed his fate to his death because of his own perceived actions causing the prophecy to come true.

Although it is argued that the witches determine Macbeth’s fate, their prophecies only tell him what the future will be. The witches do not tell him how he will become king, but Macbeth analyzes the prophecies with his own ambitions and ego clouding his judgment into convincing himself that after murdering Duncan in order to be king himself he will be immune to all other threats to him Therefore, the witches have merely foretold Macbeth’s fate, causing him to believe he has to act upon his prophecies in order for his fate to come true. Before each of his treacherous actions, MacBeth considers his options and debates with himself the right course of actions. He seems to believe that he is acting of his own free will; helped by the information the weird sisters gave him. In MacBeth, Shakespeare is trying to show that a person may sometimes believe his future lies in his own hands, and sometimes is fate.