Who Is To Blame In Macbeth

The tragedy of Shakespeare’s title character Macbeth leads us to believe that there is evil in all of us. Was Macbeth acting on his own free will or was he controlled by the evil witches that seemed to toy with the protagonist and relish in his demise? Are these Witches ultimately to blame or must Macbeth take full responsibility for all of his decisions? To answer these questions we have to look at how the witches spoke to Macbeth, their own evil intentions and the apparitions that he saw.
One of the biggest factors that pushed Macbeth to commit evil acts throughout this play were the three apparitions that he saw. In the first apparition it warned Macbeth to watch out for Macduff since he was smart and could take the throne away from him. …show more content…
The witches used their manipulative instincts to plant the seed in Macbeth’s head that being king was the most important thing. They knew how much Macbeth wanted to be king so they told him things that he would want to hear to get him to constantly think about being the one in power. He became so infatuated with the idea of taking the throne that he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve it. The first witch said, “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (1.1.11) This refers to a change in their values, by saying evil is good and good is evil to them. This could be a reason to why they wanted to manipulate Macbeth since he was good at the start of the play. The witches have supernatural powers that they use towards their wicked actions within the play as …show more content…
The first time that Macbeth meets the witches, he is accompanied by Banquo. The witches also gave Banquo a prophecy as well that told his future. The witches said, “Your descendants will be kings, even though you will not be one. So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!” (1.3.67-68) Macbeth was upset that he killed the previous king to obtain the crown and will not stay in his bloodline. Macbeth then devised a plan to kill Banquo and his son so that his bloodline would not get the throne. Macbeth was greatly influenced by the witches and stated that he will be king one day. When Macbeth went to go meet the witches for the first time they said, “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.50-51) This says that Macbeth is destined to be king. However, Macbeth was an impatient man and wanted the title as fast as possible. Driven by the thought of power, he kills the current king to obtain the throne. Both of Macbeth’s encounters with the witches entailed a convincing story about how his future was going to unfold. When Macbeth goes to visit the witches for the second time, one witch says, “Say if thou’dst rather hear it from our mouths, or from our masters?” (4.1.62-63) Macbeth wanted to hear it from a higher power to just ensure that what was being said to him was completely true. The things that the witches said to Macbeth had a huge impact on