macbeth-jennifer lee p.1 t7

Jennifer Lee

Period#1

MACBETH

            In the play Macbeth, by Shakespeare, the protagonist Macbeth faces several external and supernatural influences. The most significant forces are the three witches, Lady Macbeth, and the apparitions. They, along with Macbeth's greed for power, are the main driving force for his actions. All together they’re actions have spun Macbeth’s fate.

                “First Witch: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!

Second Witch: All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!

Third Witch: All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”(Act I scene 3)

When the witches first meet Macbeth, they give him three titles. One is the title he already has and the other two are predictions of what is to come. Macbeth implores the witches to explain what they meant by calling him thane of Cawdor, but they disappear. Ross and Angus than emerge to tell Macbeth that he have received the title of thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is shocked that the witches’ prophecies have come true but this also awakens his ambitions. He then begins to wonders whether the crown would simply fall to him or whether he would have to perform a dark deed in order to gain it.

                In Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth reads to herself a letter she has received from Macbeth. The letter states Macbeth’s promotion to the thaneship of Cawdor and talks about his meeting with the witches. She decides to convince her husband to seize the crown by whatever force necessary.

“…you spirits
that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty!”(Act I scene 5)

Macbeth declares that he no longer intends to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth is outraged and calls him a coward, questioning his manhood. Finally he is convinced to go through with killing Duncan. This shows how much Lady Macbeth influences him throughout the play.

            The last to influence him are the apparitions. When Macbeth goes back to visit the witches he asks them to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him. To answer his questions, they summon ghastly apparitions. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff.  Then a bloody child appears and tells him that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth”. Next, a crowned child holding a tree tells him that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. Hearing all this reassures him that he is safe because he believes none of this shall ever happen. This gives him more confidence and boosts his ego.

            The three witches, Lady Macbeth, and the apparitions all show Shakespeare’s use of perception of how fate affects mans actions. Using them as characterizations, he clearly points out what was the driving force that led Macbeth to his end. I also believe that Macbeths thirst for power also leads to his demise.