The Peripeteia In Macbeth

Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, experience peripeteia. Macbeth, a war hero, and his friend, Banquo, meets the witches on their way back from war. This meeting marks the start of their peripeteia. Eventually, Macbeth goes from being a respected hero of war and the Thane of Glamis to becoming the king of Scotland and a traitor who wrongfully entered the throne. Throughout the play, many scenes portray Macbeth’s peripeteia and downfall. The witches, Macbeth himself, and Lady Macbeth are responsible for the peripeteia experienced by Macbeth and his wife. The witches are the main reason why Macbeth turns into who he is and why he falls so far down into ruin. When Macbeth and Banquo are returning from battle, they are greeted by the three witches. The witches enlighten Macbeth and Banquo of their prophecy and from that point on, Macbeth’s peripeteia begins. “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!” (I. III.51-53). In this scene, the witches just met Macbeth but are hailing him as some sort of king and important being. While Macbeth doesn’t believe what they are saying at first, he finds out that he will in fact become the Thane of Cawdor after the previous thane was killed for treachery. After finding this out, he starts to believe their words and becomes curious as to how he will rise

After the witches initiate it, Macbeth and his wife’s greed leads them further down into ruin and despair. The guilt that Macbeth experiences afterwards leads him to committing suspicious actions. This guilt also makes Macbeth hallucinate the dagger and the ghost of Banquo. The outcome of Macbeth and his family might have been different if Macbeth never met the