The Three witches in the tragedy Macbeth are introduced right at the beginningof the play.
They tell Macbeth three prophesies, he will be Thane of Cawdor,Thane of Glams and King. These prophesies introduce him to ideas of greatness. Macbeth will eventually follow through on killing king Duncan. This brings intothe play, idea of fate and the role with which it has in the play. The witchescould foretell the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth, butthey can not control his destiny.
Macbeth creates his own anguish when he isdriven by his own sense of guilt. This causes him to become insecure as to thereasons for his actions which in turn causes him to commit more murders. Thewitches offer great temptation, but it is in the end, each individualsdecision to fall for the appeal, or to be strong enough to resist theircaptivation. The witches are only responsible for the introduction of theseideas and for further forming ideas in Macbeth head, but they are notresponsible for his actions throughout the play.
Lady Macbeth is shown early inthe play as an ambitious woman with a single purpose. She can manipulate Macbetheasily. This is shown in the line “That I may pour my spirits in thineear”. (I,V, 26) Before the speech that Lady Macbeth gives in act one scenefive, Macbeth is resolved not to go through with the killing of the king. However, Lady Macbeth says that it would be on his manliness and his bravery ifhe didnt. This then convinces Macbeth to commit regicide.
Although Macbethhas the final say in whether or not to go through with the initial killing, heloves his wife and wants to make her happy. She is the dominating individual inthe relationship which is shown in her soliloquy, This have I thought good todeliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose duesby rejoicing by being ignorant of what greatness is promised the. Lay it to thyheart, and Farewell. (I, V, 7-10) Once Macbeth kills for the first time, hehas no choice but to continue to cover up his wrong doings, or risk loosingeverything he has worked so hard for. In the end, it all comes to Macbethhimself. Everyone is responsible for his own destiny.
This is an essential themein this tragedy. Macbeth, chooses to gamble with his soul and when he does this,it is only him who chooses to lose it. He is responsible for anything he doesand must take total accountability for his actions. Macbeth is the one who madethe final decision to carry out his actions. He made these final decisions andcontinued with the killings to cover that of King Duncan.
The killing of Duncanstarts an unstoppable chain of events in the play that ends with the murder ofMacbeth and the suicide of Lady Macbeth. In the beginning, Macbeth had all ofthe qualities of an honorable gentleman who could become anything. This is allshattered when his spirit overrides his sense of honorability. Although Macbethis warned as to the validity of the witches prophesies, he is tempted andrefuses to listen to reason from Banquo. When the second set of prophesiesMacbeth receives begin to show their faults Macbeth blames the witches fordeceiving him with half truths.
While the witches are not totally responsiblefor the actions of Macbeth, they are responsible for introducing the ideas toMacbeth which in turn fired up Macbeth’s ambition and led to a disastrous andunnecessary chain of events.Shakespeare
