The Three Witches Essay

act four, witches tell Macbeth three prophecies about his nobleman, Macduff. The predictions are intentionally vague, and Macbeth interprets them to be in his favor, he later discovers that they are not. As the story unfolds the witches' premonitions come true one by one, but not as expected. While the reader knows that these witches do not have Macbeth's best interests at heart, they have led him to his greatest success. And since he no longer has a reason to distrust or doubt the witches, he…

where he does not care when he finds the love of his life committed suicide. Macbeth was willing to purposefully or inadvertently murder four people, including his wife, and his best friend. Firstly, we see Macbeth’s downfall begin after the three witches tell him his future. “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis. / All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor. / All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, that shalt be king hereafter.” (Macbeth 1. 3. 46-48). This…

decisions; his violence causes his country to turn against him, and hallucinations cause both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to become insane. The pressure put on Macbeth and the witches’ prediction eventually override his good motives, allowing greed to take control. “Macbeth and another of the king’s general’s, Banquo, encounters three witches, who greet Macbeth as thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and future king”( Dominic, Catherine C., Ed “Shakespeare’s Characters for Students New York: Gale,…

As Macbeth progresses through the three murders, his state of mind deteriorates, and there is lots of evidence that shows the growth of his ruthlessness and thirst for power. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to murder King Duncan, this is the beginning of Macbeth’s thirst for power. When Macbeth and Banquo first come across the three witches, they hail to Macbeth as Thane of Glamis than Thane of Cawdor and lastly as the King of Scotland. As the witches prophecies begin to come true, this…

he thought he had no worries. Macbeth knows that Banquo knew of his plan to kill Duncan, so Macbeth hired three murders to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They killed Banquo, but Fleance got away. After Macbeth heard of the success of the murder he went crazy. Macbeth went to the witches to see what he had to fear. The witches showed him some ghosts that told him what to fear. There were three of them. The first one said to look out for the Thane of Fife, which was Macduff. The second…

time the number three is seen. To begin, every time the number three comes up in this play, a hapless event is sure to follow. Macbeth starts with the appearance of three witches. These three come up time and time again to toy with Macbeth. In the very beginning, the witches foreshadow their coming appearances when the first witch asks "[w]hen shall we three meet again/In thunder, lightening, or in rain" (1.1.1-2)? They appear several more times as the play unravels. The three witches, also…

Ambitions control much of society. The struggle to achieve goals often leads individuals to become arrogant once their dreams are realized. It is only when these desires are achieved through dishonest means, that humans express true regret. William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Macbeth, is the embodiment of excessive vanity and ambitions to accomplish the inconceivable. Particularly, the protagonist attempts to send a powerful message to the Elizabethans; when something is achieved with dishonesty,…

Macbeth a Tragic Hero? The tragic hero is Macbeth in the play Macbeth because he’s a good person but has many flaws in his personality making him a tragic hero. In the beginning Macbeth seems like he has a lot of power because of the prophecies the witches said in the start of the play. He is given a name with power that makes him seem very worthy. The name Thane of Cawdor is an important name especially in political manner. Even people who are higher power start to notice he is worthy to be…

vulnerable, the perfect environment for evil to plant its seed. All that is needed for this evil seed to grow now was the presence of negative influences enabling him to become someone he is not. Among these influences were the three old witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Witches, in theme, are generally seen as…

In the fifth scene of act one, she is reading a letter from Macbeth that describes his encounter with the witches. After she reads the letter she becomes excited and wants to aid her husband in anyway she can. She fears that he won’t be able to complete the task without her help. “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.”(1.5.16) Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything to help her husband become king. She is willing to take control to ensure…