Fear motivates us to do things whether right or wrong. One of the major themes in Macbeth is fear. Fear is a motivating factor all throughout the play. Everything Macbeth did was an effect of what fear had caused him to do. Lady Macbeth also acted on fear. She was afraid of being caught after committing murder and that Macbeth would not go through with the murder. Fear motivates many of the actions in the play Macbeth.
One of the first times fear affects Macbeth’s actions is after the witches’ prophecies. He is fearful of the prophecies, but he is also somewhat happy about them. He questions if they are true but also doesn’t object them. He is fearful that the witches know about his wishes to have lots of power, and he does not want people to also know about this sinful desire. The witches begin to say, “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
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There is a lot of fear involved in this plan. Lady Macbeth is pushing very hard for Macbeth to commit the murder, but Macbeth is fearful that something will go wrong and thinks he will get caught. Lady Macbeth continues to push the plan on to Macbeth and he is not all on board with it, “When Macbeth backs out of the thought, she brings him around by a combination of mockery, belittling of his manhood, and accusations of cowardice” (playshakespeare.com, Lady Macbeth). Lady Macbeth becomes aggravated that he does not want to follow through with the plan. She becomes fearful that Macbeth will not go through with it and begins to manipulate him. She begins to call him a coward and that he has never been a man. She says, “When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.55). She uses this kind of talk to her advantage. She knows that Macbeth fears her and if she accuses him of never being a man, he will do whatever it takes to prove to her that she is