Macbeth's Guilty Conscience Essay

Humans will do anything to ease their guilty conscience. It's in our nature to ensure that we feel good about our choices, no matter the infraction that inspired guilt in the first place. This idea is apparent in Shakespeare’s Macbeth as the lead character, Macbeth, battles with his morals and sense of self after committing atrocities that were supposedly due to being influenced by supernatural beings. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is faced with three witches and their premonitions of a future yet to come; taking their words as confirmation that his unspoken desires are meant to be fulfilled, he acts rashly, laying waste to Scotland and those who stood in his way in the pursuit of power. The question of what these witches actually are

The other characters remain mostly ignorant of these specific events, save for certain supporting characters. The night that Macbeth goes through with his wicked plan of murdering Duncan, the king of Scotland, animals were acting strangely. Duncan’s horses, in particular, reportedly broke free of their confines and attacked one another with no obedience to be seen. (Act II, Sc.4, 12-22) This would foster the idea that maybe things aren’t as simple as they seem and that the witches are real people with what appear to be peculiarities but, in actuality, extend into supernatural territory. As the chaos continues, the witches are met with their leader, Hecate, the goddess of the black arts. While strange for such a character to appear, it confirms the existence of the supernatural in the world of Macbeth. Hecate expresses her displeasure with the sisters for meeting with Macbeth without her and knows how to best rectify their mistake; Macbeth will seek them out the following day. (Act III, Sc.5, 2-32) Together the witches and Hecate plan to lead Macbeth astray, bolstering his confidence in his next endeavours to ensure his downfall. To keep Macbeth’s faith in their prophetic abilities, when he seeks them out, the witches are chanting and dancing around a bubbling cauldron, brewing a spell. After Macbeth declares that he would prefer the universe to fall into chaos than be denied his answers, the prophecies are spoken by apparitions; a head wearing a battle helmet, a blood-covered child, and a child wearing a crown and carrying a tree. They tell him exactly what he wants to hear; “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (Act IV,