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Duncan's Prophecies In Macbeth

756 Words4 Pages

Prophecies can often cause one to take poor and erroneous decisions. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the three witches are morally responsible for King Duncan’s death as they prophesy to Macbeth that he will become the king of Scotland and ultimately results in protagonist to take a series of misguided actions. Macbeth would not have chosen the action of murdering King Duncan for the fulfillment of his ambition without the witches’ prophecies, and the tragedy occurs when Macbeth foolishly trusts the witches and believes in the ambiguous information that witches provide him. One of the factors that the three witches are morally responsible for King Duncan’s death is that they awakens the evil side of Macbeth’s mind by prophesying …show more content…

When the Witches greet Macbeth and Banquo on the heath, the Witches say, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! / All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! / All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.51-53). Although he does not completely believe the prophecies at first, it creates ambition and greed within Macbeth. Hearing that he will become king also inspires the thought of murder within him. After Ross and Angus tell Macbeth that he has been given the title of Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth says to himself, "Two truths are told / As happy prologues to the swelling act / Of the imperial theme" (1.3.140-142). At this point, Macbeth nearly entirely trusts the witch’s prophecies. This further deepens Macbeth’s ambition to become king and creates uncertainty in him. After learning that king Duncan has made Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland and heir to his throne, Macbeth thinks to himself "Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires. / The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be / Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see" (1.4.57-60). This further shows Macbeth’s greed and intent to become king has grown. It also reveals that he does not want people to know what he is thinking as his thoughts are sinister. Therefore, the witches’ prophecies unleash a

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