Importance Of Prophecies In Macbeth

In Macbeth the prophecies made by the witches have a huge impact on the story. Several prophecies in Macbeth are self fulfilling as the titular characters the knowledge of them are often the reasons the prophecies come true such as when he decided to kill duncan and when he killed macduff 's family. The first set of prophecies put the events of macbeth into motion as it makes macbeth believe what the witches say. The prophecy that makes him believe is “all hail Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of cawdor!”. At first Macbeth seemed skeptical of what the witches were saying until the title of thane of cawdor is actually bestowed upon him. Another prophecy the witches gave was “ all hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”. The witches telling him he will be king inspire him to plot the death of duncan the current king so can become the king of scotland. Macbeth acting on this prophecy eventually sets into motion the entire events of the play. The last of the first group of prophecies is when the witches say to banquo “ Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”. This line doesn 't have as much significance until macbeth becomes king

After becoming Thane of Cawdor Macbeth immediately believes in the prophecies and that he 's gonna be king. This is the prophecy that cements the idea into Macbeth 's head that what the witches say is true and affects several of his decisions throughout the play. One way the knowledge of the prophecy had influenced his decisions is by knowing he would be king makes him decided to kill Duncan which he wouldn 't have decided to do without knowing prophecies. After becoming king Macbeth wonders about the third prophecy and decides to try to kill Banquo and his son so his descendants don 't succeed him as king. Macbeth decision in this is heavily influenced by the prophecy and wouldn 't of happened if he didnt