Macbeth: Someone Wicked This Way Comes

Someone Wicked This Way Comes Ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus once said that “In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend” (brainyquotes.com). In Macbeth, the tyrant Macbeth betrays his friend Banquo and arranges for his death because Banquo knows information that could ruin Macbeth. Initially, Macbeth trusts his wife with everything, but as the play progresses, he confides with her less and less. While Lady Macbeth’s ambitions were the catalyst for Macbeth’s violence, she does not deserve all the blame for his bad choices. The witches tempted Macbeth with appealing predictions, encouraging Macbeth’s hubris. Although Lady Macbeth and the witches deserve partial credit for Macbeth’s fall, …show more content…
Macbeth first meets the witches in the third scene of the play. Immediately, the witches begin “To trade and traffic with Macbeth / in riddles and affairs of death,” by greeting Macbeth with his titles, adding that Macbeth “shalt be king hereafter” (3.5.4-5, 1.3.48). This “prophetic greeting” by the witches surprises both Macbeth and his friend Banquo, and Banquo asks Macbeth whether they had “eaten on the insane root” and started hallucinating (1.3.76, 1.3.82). The witches suggest the murder of King Duncan, playing on Macbeth’s “black and deep desires” (1.4.51). He determines to seize this future. Macbeth takes the crown, then arranges for the death of Banquo before returning to the witches to seek further guidance. The witches warn Macbeth of the traitorous actions of Macduff and lure him into overconfidence, since “security / Is mortals’ chiefest enemy” (3.5.32-33). Macbeth leaves the meeting with the belief that “none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth,” and that he shall not be defeated until Birnam Wood, a distant forest, comes to Macbeth’s castle (4.1.79-80). These confusing riddles convince Macbeth that he cannot be conquered and that taking action against Macduff is the correct path to take. Believing himself to be invulnerable, Macbeth brings terror to the kingdom, which leads to a …show more content…
When Macbeth heard of the possibility of becoming king, he immediately thought of removing King Duncan to get the throne. Although he had his doubts, he relayed the witches’ words to his wife, who then convinced him to take Duncan’s life. It took some prodding for Macbeth to commit murder for personal gain, but ultimately he was the one who killed his friend. While Macbeth was “afraid to think [of] what I have done” to Duncan, he framed Duncan’s servants to cover up his own actions (2.2.54). Additionally, Macbeth lies to his good friend Banquo by telling Banquo “I think not of them,” when Banquo asks whether or not Macbeth had thought about the witches and their predictions (2.1.22). Banquo then becomes Macbeth’s next target, since “There is none but he [Banquo], / Whose being I do fear,” since Banquo witnessed the witches’ prophecies and believes that Macbeth “played’st most foully” to become king (3.1.55-56, 3.1.3). For Banquo, Macbeth arranges an assassination. He finds three low-life criminals with grudges against Banquo and tells the future murderers that it was Banquo who “hath bowed you to the grave,” and ruined their lives (3.1.88-89). The murders of Duncan and Banquo are only the beginning; Macbeth has Macduff’s “wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / that trace him in his line” brutally slaughtered as retribution for Macduff’s rebellion against Macbeth’s