The Witches' Influence on Macbeth - Research Paper Example

The Witches' Influence on Macbeth The Tragedy of Macbeth is a ic story penned by William Shakespeare that depicted how a man will fall into self-destruction with his excessive greed and inordinate ambition. Although there were several factors that led to Macbeth’s self-destruction that includes his ambition and the machination of Lady Macbeth, it was the witches who led him into self-destruction with his murderous spree beginning with the assassination of the King (Duncan), to murdering his friend Banquo, to the massacre of Macduff’s wife and children in a gratuitous act of violence whose only motivation is revenge. Under his rule, Scotland becomes a country ‘‘where sighs and groans and shrieks that rend the air? Are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems? A modern ecstasy’’ (Tarantelli 1483). The Witches, being despicable in nature yet seductive in their prophesies were an abomination during Shakespeare’s time that it was not considered a crime to hunt and burn them (Perkins 53). The debauchery of their morals were evident in the opening scene in the play that they cried in unison in Scene I Act I “fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air” (Shakespeare). It attests their turpitude to bend what is right and wrong by corrupting what is fair to be wrong that being foul is fair. They are out to cast evil to anyone whom they come in touch with which in Shakespeare’s play, was the unfortunate Macbeth. The prophesies of the Witches or the weird sisters appealed to Macbeth’s ambition because it served him well to be King. Such that when they prophesized that he will become thane of Glamis, thane Cawdor and then King, the idea just proved to be irresistible for Macbeth to overcome. “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!, All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!, All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter! (Act I Scene III). From then on, Macbeth became consumed with the ambition of being a King that he went as far as killing anybody that stood his way. When he became King of Scotland, he was unloved by his subjects and his reign was filled with the snares of watchful tyranny that when he was slain by McDuff, he was referred to as “this dead butcher” (Tarantelli 1483). Macbeth begun to entertain the idea that he can be King of Scotland when the prophesy that he will be thane of Cawdor came true after he defeated Norway during a battle and killed the thane of Cawdor. He then believed that indeed the Witches can see the future which no man can see and the prophesy that he will be King is a very seductive idea (Ghose 236). But for the prophesy to come true, that would mean eliminating the current King, Duncan who sits at the throne. Although Macbeth was adamant at first, he eventually acceded to the idea of assassinating Duncan after Lady Macbeth persuaded or manipulated him to do so. Both of them conspired to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth would spike the drink of Duncan’s servants with liquor and on her signal Macbeth would stalk into Duncan’s room to carry out the murder. Not contented with his initial kill, Macbeth became consumed with murder that he also killed Duncan’s servants so that there will be no witness of his crime. It may be Lady Macbeth’s machination that finally compelled Macbeth to carry out the murder of Duncan to become King but it was the third Witch who first gave him the idea exclaiming in Act I Scene II “all hail Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter! From then on, Macbeth became a disturbed man. It only took a little prodding and machination from Lady Macbeth for him to finally give in and murder Duncan. The idea was already implanted by the Witches in Macbeth’s ambitious subconscious and Lady Macbeth only prodded him to act on it. Only unfortunately, it requires a series of murder. Now that Macbeth is King, the Witches grip on him is already undeniable as he take their prophesies with certainty and almost an absolute truth even if the idea was absurd, vague and again requiring murder. It also made him a fool for it gave him a false sense of security that further contributed to his downfall and demise. He was again given three prophesies that made him feel invisible as the witches foretold “be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn. The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth” (Act IV Scene I). He assumed that since all men are born of a woman, he believed then that no man could ever possibly harm him. His haughtiness as a King was aggravated when he was told by the apparition to “ be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him (Act IV Scene I). Again Macbeth took the apparition of the Witches literally for it served him well. This made him believed further that he will be king forever and unharmed because he thought that it will be impossible to move or unroot the forest of Birnam to move to Dunsinane. The third apparition made Macbeth a consummate killer because it requires the murder of his friend Banquo and Mcduff. With regard to Mcduff, the apparition told; “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough (Act IV Scene I). After hearing this apparition, Macbeth was bent on killing Mcduff. But as McDuff fled to England, Macbeth instead foolishly ordered Mcduff’s family to be slaughtered. This decision of Macbeth to massacre Mcduff’s family proved to be fatally wrong as it cost him his life later. This is despite the Witches prophesies that no man who is born of a woman could harm him. Now, he really has to “beware the thane of Fife”. The evidence that the Witches influence towards Macbeth is already unquestionable was evident when it prophesized that “the seed of Banquo Kings!” or Banquo’s son will succeed the throne. It also made Macbeth a consummate killer because unlike the others whom he ordered to be murdered or murdered himself, Banquo was dear to him because he was a friend. Yet, out of sheer ambition and greed, Macbeth ordered his friend and his son to be killed to ensure his perpetuity as a king of Scotland as prophesized by the Witches. As a King, Macbeth also proved to be insecure of Banquo as he; “fears in Banquo Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares; And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear: and, under him, My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said, Instead of appreciating a friend who has a royalty of nature and a wisdom that doth guide his valour, Macbeth took him as a threat that indeed Banquo’s seed will reign after him because there is greatness in Banquo’s blood. The murder of Banquo and his son made Macbeth the wretch that the Witches would like him to be; to make his foul deeds fair and for him to hover through the fog and filthy air. Macbeth no longer distinguishes friend or foe in advancing his ambition or in his efforts to keep his throne. After this series of murder, Macbeth’s conscience finally troubled him. He began to act like a disturbed man especially when Banquo’s vision visits him in banquet that made him look like a mad man in terror in the presence of his guests. Macbeth also begun having nightmares and troubled sleep, nor can he eat well. It is in this condition that Macbeth psychologically met with the Witches when they asked in Act I Scene “where the place?” whereby the second Witch responded “upon the heath” and “there to meet with Macbeth” (third Witch) because in this state, Macbeth can already be considered as a heathen, just like the Witches. Macbeth’s psychological agony is only a prelude to his final downfall and demise. Just like any morality play where the evil never triumph, the Witches deception towards Macbeth was finally revealed in the end. Despite the prophesy’s assurance that no man that is born of a woman can ever harmed Macbeth or until the Birnam forest was removed, Macbeth was still harmed and fell in the hands of a man. Perhaps this is the only true prophesy among the Witches’ prediction that he should beware of thane of Fife, Mcduff because in the end, this is the man who would slay him. But it could have been a self-fulfilling prophesy, Mcduff would not have moved to slay Macbeth had his family been kept unharmed by Macbeth. Macbeth on the other hand was only prompted to order the murder of Mcduff’s family when the witches prophesized to beware of thane of Fife, Mcduff. So as a pre-emptive measure, Macbeth struck first. And in his fury when Mcduff escaped to England, had Mcduff’s family killed instead. Without the Witches’ prophesy, none of the slaying would have ever happened. The prophesies took a life of its own until it fulfilled itself such as Macbeth should beware of thane of Fife, Mcduff. The Witches trickery of Macbeth was also exposed in the end as it showed how Macbeth has been duped. Perhaps blinded by inordinate ambition and intoxicated by power to discern, Macbeth failed to recognize that not all men are literally born by a woman. There are some who were delivered (not necessarily born) by a woman through caesarian and being such, not literally born but “operated out” of a woman’s womb. To Macbeth’s folly, even when he realized how he was deceived by the Witches, he still continued to fight Mcduff knowing that he is the nemesis of the prophesy. As expected, Macbeth was slain and his fall was referred to as “death of the butcher”. Perhaps a fitting description considering the number of people he murdered just to advance his ambition and to keep himself in power. None was spared even his friend Banquo and his son nor the innocent family of Mcduff who had nothing to do with Macbeth’s prophesy who was just ordered to be killed out of his fury. Many times, Macbeth repeated the Witches prophesy that no one can harm him until the Birnam forest moves toward Dunsinane. Coupled with the false belief that no man can harm him because none is not born of a woman. This gave him a sense of invisibility that made him act foolish even if the turn of events ran counter to the witches prophesy. To paraphrase Macbeth’s folly; “Bring me no more reports; let them fly all: Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, I cannot taint with fear. . . The spirits that know All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus: 'Fear not, Macbeth; no man that's born of woman Shall e'er have power upon thee.' Then fly, false thanes” (Act 5 Scene 3). He did not know that trees are also used as a camouflaged by soldiers. So during his confrontation with McDuff, the Birnam trees/forest “is moving” toward Dunsinane because it was used to hide the soldiers. But perhaps Macbeth is already consumed with his folly that he still wanted fight that eventually led to his unceremonious death. This story of William Shakespeare demonstrates how inordinate ambition can corrupt a good man such as Macbeth. Once a loyal general of Duncan, became a treacherous and murderous man that spared no one to advance and keep himself in power. The story also teaches us how unbridled greed can make a man foolish and vulnerable to deception (Kranz 382). For how easy it was for the Witches to influence Macbeth to take the path towards perdition by just appealing to his lust of power, that the once a loyal general became a heath. Works Cited Ghose, Zulfikar. “Macbeth: The Feverous Earth.” Shakespearean Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Incorporated, Vol. 25. 1986. 235-244. Kranz, David L. “The Sounds of Supernatural Soliciting in Macbeth”. Studies in Philology, 100.3 (2003):346-384. Perkins, William.” A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft, So Farre forth as it is revealed in the Scriptures, and manifest by true experience”. London: Cantrell Legge, Printer to the Universitie of Cambridge. (1618) Tarantelli CB. "Till destruction sicken": the catastrophe of mind in Macbeth. The International Journal Of Psycho-Analysis [Int J Psychoanal],91.6 (2010): 1483-150.1 Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. 1623 Read More