Macbeth Essay

Have you ever wondered how much of your future is planned out for you? In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare the protagonist is called Macbeth he is married to Lady Macbeth, extremely loyal to the king and he is a high ranking officer with the title of “Thane of Glamis”. It seems as though he has everything desirable. Until one day when three weird sisters told Macbeth they could foresee his future as Thane of Cawdor and King. Obligingly, Macbeth feels the urge to make these prophesies come true even if it means harming himself and the ones he loves in doing so. Overall, it can be argued that although the three weird sisters predict Macbeth’s future, they are not responsible for his actions thereafter.

After capturing the king’s traitors Macbeth proves his loyalty to King Duncan. As a reward, the king makes him the Thane of Cawdor as prophesied by the three weird sisters. Act1, scene3:

“And, or an earnest of a greater honour, He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor: In which addition, hail, most worthy Thane! For it is thine”

At first Macbeth feels very happy that he is ascending to higher positions in the king’s court but then the ambition of becoming the king comes to his head and floods his thoughts with murderous scenes in which he takes the life of King Duncan. Macbeth is then compelled to send his wife a missive containing the good tidings their prophesied future holds. As a result of this letter, his impatient wife wants these prophesies to come true swiftly and presents an ultimatum to her husband claiming that she would murder her children if he would not act. The king was supposed to come and lodge with them in Glamis and she suggests taking that opportunity to murder him.

Influenced by his wife ultimatum Macbeth stabs and murders King Duncan. After his death, Macbeth doesn’t feel as guilty as he first thought he would. He is then crowned king and becomes obsessed with the newly acquired power and the possibility of someone else murdering him and taking over the throne.  Macbeth constantly reflects on the weird sisters prophesies and frequently remembers his best friend Banquo’s prophesy that one day from his blood line would kings be born. For Banquo’s descendents to become royalty it could only mean that Macbeth would be overthrown by Fleance, Banquo’s only child at some point in his life. Macbeth wants to ensure that his own blood line remains royalty but he comes to the conclusion that such can not be achieved without shading his best friend son’s blood. Act3, Scene1:

“Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown And put a barren scepter in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If it so be, For Banquo’s issue have I filled my mind.”

In the conclusion of Act 3, Macbeth sends professional murderers to assassinate Banquo and Fleance. The murderers succeed to kill Banquo but are unable to kill his son, which brings much grief to Macbeth. But since Banquo’s son is still very young Macbeth knows that he has nothing to fear for many years.

At last, Macbeth feels that all the prophesies have been fulfilled and craves for further knowledge of his future. At this point in the play, Macbeth feels invincible and that nothing and no one can harm him. He tells his wife he will go and meet the three weird sisters again to try to obtain further information into the future. Act3, Scene4:

“I am in blood Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er”

At this very moment we see that Macbeth has shed so much blood and his heart has become so corrupted that he knows there is no way back from his chosen life course. Macbeth seeks the three weird sisters and requests them to prophesy regarding what his future holds. The weird sisters make three prophesies in the form of riddles:

·         Beware of Macduff;

·         Be cautious of any man born of a C-section;

·         and that no one will ever harm him until the forest of Birnam enters his castle;

Based on these prophesies Macbeth feels confident he can withstand anything and anyone that may attempt to challenge his rule, therefore he sends soldiers to kill Macduff’s wife and children since his enemy was not within his reach. He also orders the forest of Birnam to be cut down to prevent the prophecy being fulfilled.

In the play’s conclusion, the English army invades Macbeth’s castle disguised as bushes from Birnam forest and Macduff is able to kill Macbeth because he feels intimidated when he realizes that his foe was born of a C-section.

Therefore, in my opinion the three weird sisters were only allowing Macbeth to know what the future held for him. The decisions he made with the information he was given were pure corruption of the easily influenced human mind. Macbeth knew what was destined to be but as many of Shakespeare’s heroes he had a tragic flaw, he was impatient, he wanted everything to occur now and not in its due time. As a conclusion, my opinion is that the three weird sister were not responsible for the events and actions set in motion by Macbeth’s human imperfections.