Who Is To Blame In Macbeth?

For hundreds of years, people have relied on supernatural powers, like prophecy, to appease their curiosity about their own futures. This occurrence is also present in Shakespeare’s tragic drama, Macbeth, because the witches can foreshadow the future. The play follows the life of a man named Macbeth and his ambitious journey for more power. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth does not care about his level of authority; however, when he comes upon witches who foresee parts of his future, his curiosity increases, and he keeps returning to the witches for more information about his upcoming power. Although the witches give him a clear picture of what should happen in his future, their information leads to his death. The witches are responsible

However, Banquo’s prophecy from the witches incites anger in Macbeth and brings him closer to his own death by causing him to do something unthinkable: order someone to be murdered. After Banquo asks the witches about what should happen later in his life, the witches say, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (1.3.65). In other words, the witches tell Banquo that he himself will not be king, but his sons will be kings. This paradox implies Banquo’s descendants will get a chance to be powerful, unlike Banquo. Eventually, this information drives Macbeth, in his quest for never-ending power, to make sure no one will take the position of king from him. Following Macbeth hearing Banquo’s suspicions about who murdered Duncan, Macbeth explains, “Our fears in Banquo / Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature / Reigns that which would be fear’d” (3.1.50-52). To put it differently, Macbeth voices his concern about Banquo’s ability to overtake him so that his own sons can become king more quickly. Shakespeare uses a metaphor to compare fears to thorns that “stick deep.” While keeping the witches’ prophecy in mind, Macbeth comes to terms with the possibility of Banquo taking power from him, and he knows he must do something about it; his solution is getting others to murder Banquo and his son. Soon after he realizes this, Macbeth calls murderers to meet him and tells them what to do: “That I to your

This decrease in integrity is mostly due to the prophecies from the witches. By giving him unneeded information about his future, the witches cause a seed of unstoppable determination to be planted in him. Eventually, Macbeth becomes responsible for the murders of several people due to his ambition, which brings him closer to his eventual demise in battle. The final straw happens when Macbeth is sure that Macduff cannot harm him due to the witches, but he ends up being wrong. This situation results in Macbeth’s death by Macduff. In Macbeth, the witches not only play an important role in determining Macbeth’s actions, they also help to develop the recurring motif of prophecy. Throughout the play, the witches either give the prophecies or call upon others to give them. Additionally, the witches help to represent the darkness and evil in Macbeth that constantly battles the good. The witches are the root of evil in the play, and they do their best to make Macbeth succumb to their wicked ways; however, in the end of the play, the wrongdoing they represent is ended. The good beats evil as Macbeth is killed and as the honorable, noble Malcolm becomes