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.
Chapter 8
