Macbeth’s Choice
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth we find fighting the consequences of a choice. It starts with Three witches who speak to Macbeth and Banquo, both of which are Generals of the King of Scotland. The Witches prophecy, hailing Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, which is his current title, as Thane of Cawdor, the title of another noble, and as the future King, then hailing Banquo as the father of a long line of Kings, though he would never himself rule. The two Generals shrug it off until two lord come and announce to Macbeth the King’s decision to make him Thane of Cawdor. That night, the King visits Macbeth’s castle, and Macbeth chooses to assassinate the King and seize the Throne. In the scenes leading up to the assassination Macbeth keeps trying to call it off, but gets pushed into it by his wife, and some Hallucinations he receives. Throughout the rest of the play the Witches give Macbeth more prophesies, many of which he tries to thwart or escape …show more content…
The entire play seems focused on a man who impatiently chose to speed up his Fate, then tried to fight it when it backfired. It almost feels like a warning from Shakespeare against messing with Intrigue. Macbeth decides not to wait on Fate to kill off King Duncan, and speeds his death up a notch. Once he is king, he starts to become paranoid with Banquo’s prophecy, and decides to fight it, sending assassins to kill him and his son, Fleance, which backfires when Fleance gets away. Another trip to the Witches and this time he chose to assassinate Macduff and his family, but Macduff is out of the country. At every twist and turn that he tries to directly fight what has been prophesied it backfires and leads him steadily to ruin. What would be the point of having this play with all of the choices that Macbeth takes, if he really didn’t have a choice in what he
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth we find fighting the consequences of a choice. It starts with Three witches who speak to Macbeth and Banquo, both of which are Generals of the King of Scotland. The Witches prophecy, hailing Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, which is his current title, as Thane of Cawdor, the title of another noble, and as the future King, then hailing Banquo as the father of a long line of Kings, though he would never himself rule. The two Generals shrug it off until two lord come and announce to Macbeth the King’s decision to make him Thane of Cawdor. That night, the King visits Macbeth’s castle, and Macbeth chooses to assassinate the King and seize the Throne. In the scenes leading up to the assassination Macbeth keeps trying to call it off, but gets pushed into it by his wife, and some Hallucinations he receives. Throughout the rest of the play the Witches give Macbeth more prophesies, many of which he tries to thwart or escape …show more content…
The entire play seems focused on a man who impatiently chose to speed up his Fate, then tried to fight it when it backfired. It almost feels like a warning from Shakespeare against messing with Intrigue. Macbeth decides not to wait on Fate to kill off King Duncan, and speeds his death up a notch. Once he is king, he starts to become paranoid with Banquo’s prophecy, and decides to fight it, sending assassins to kill him and his son, Fleance, which backfires when Fleance gets away. Another trip to the Witches and this time he chose to assassinate Macduff and his family, but Macduff is out of the country. At every twist and turn that he tries to directly fight what has been prophesied it backfires and leads him steadily to ruin. What would be the point of having this play with all of the choices that Macbeth takes, if he really didn’t have a choice in what he