Lack Of Power In Macbeth

In the shakespearean play, Macbeth, there are three witches that tell the main character, Macbeth, the prophecies of his future. Yet with all magic, like seeing the future, there are limits of power. The witches tell Macbeth about his future as a king, then later of his death. His downfall is unknowingly caused by himself and his own free-will choices. The witches do not tell Macbeth how he will come to fulfil the prophecy of king or death to which Macbeth accomplishes on his own. As what the witches reveal is not brought about by their own doing, they merely tell of the future yet to come. The witches show power in conjuring apparitions in act 4 scene 1 when Macbeth approaches the weird sisters and of their power of nature in Act 1 scene 3. Both appearances of the witches display how much magic they possess. For example, the witches want to make a sailor’s wife pay by messing with the sailor himself. Yet, the witches do not outright kill the sailor, because it would take away the interest of the mythical witches and replace them as an antagonistic force. Consequently, the witches use their powers over nature to deprive the

The witches hope to increase Macbeth’s confidence to the point of recklessness, however, each prophecy they reveal is actually truth. Therefore, since they cannot lie about their prophecies, the prophecies are binding. Although the witches can bend the outlook of their prophecies, to seem as if they are something else, they use that to their advantage. For instance, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth.” (IV.1.81), the witches tell Macbeth that no man born of a woman will kill him, to which Macbeth views that no one has the ability to kill him since everyone was technically born from a woman. The key word is “born”. The character Macduff, who kills Macbeth, was in fact not born but birthed via