Significance Of The Three Prophecies In Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth is first given three prophecies by three witches. These prophecies state that Macbeth will be the king of Glamis and the king of Cawdor and that he will be the future king. Macbeth is confused by these prophecies because he is already the Thane of Cawdor, and there is already a Thane of Glamis, which is King Duncan. However, these prophecies are very appealing to Macbeth, and will influence his actions and overall change his character as the play continues. In the beginning of the play after Macbeth is given the three prophecies, he writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth. She seems more than excited to hear this news, so much that she tells Macbeth that she wants him to murder the current Thane of Glamis, King Duncan. At first, Macbeth is against killing …show more content…
On the way to kill the king, he hallucinated an imaginary dagger that was floating in front of him: “Is this a dagger that I see before me,”(2.1.44). After he kills the king, Duncan’s sons flee, which leaves Macbeth to be king. When the three witches gave Macbeth the king prophecies, they also tell Banquo that his sons are in the line of the throne. This intimidates Macbeth, so he sees only one way to fix it, which is by killing Banquo. This is Macbeth’s turning point because instead of not trying to kill anyone, he is willing to do whatever it takes to become the one and only king, even if it means killing his best friend. While it was Macbeth’s idea to kill Banquo, this action also contributes to Macbeth’s insanity. The night of Banquo’s death, Macbeth hosts a banquet, where he sees Banquo’s ghost coming back to haunt him: “Gentlemen, rise: his highness is not well,”(3.4.63). When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, he freaks out and leaves his guests suspicious and confused. At this point, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth know that they look suspicious, and the roles switch between the