Influences on Macbeth’s Actions
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the best playwrights in history, and one of his most famous plays is Macbeth. In Macbeth, the title character is a Scottish nobleman who kills his king in order to take the throne for himself. This act leaves him wracked with guilt and causes his actions to become more violent as the play progresses. Macbeth did not kill Duncan, the king, by himself, though; his wife, Lady Macbeth, helped him to plan the murder and to hide the evidence. Macbeth first becomes prompted to kill the king when three witches promise him the Scottish throne, after which he decides to kill Duncan in order to obtain the throne quicker. The witches played on Macbeth’s own ambitions for the throne in order to set the events of the play into motion. All of the influences listed above coerced Macbeth into killing Duncan and many other characters in the interest of his throne.
The three witches influence Macbeth’s actions before any
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of the other factors, by sharing with him his fate. The third witch greets Macbeth by saying, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Shakespeare 1.3.51). By addressing Macbeth as the future king, the witch creates a desire in him for the throne, which plays on his hidden ambitions for power. This prophecy issued by the witch sets the events of the play into motion because she gives Macbeth a new hunger for the crown and forces him to think about the possibility of taking the throne for himself. The thought of being king, coupled with his ambition and desire for power, eventually convinces him to claim the throne. After the witches place the idea in Macbeth’s head that he will be king, Lady Macbeth ensures that Macbeth carries out his desire. She formulates the plan for Duncan’s murder and refuses to allow Macbeth to back out of the plan. Whenever Macbeth begins to have doubts about killing Duncan, his wife convinces him to commit the crime, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man,” (Shakespeare 1.7.49-51). She tells him that taking the throne will make him more of a man, and shares with him her plan for Duncan’s slaying. The arguments of his wife ultimately convince Macbeth to carry out her strategy with her assistance. Although there are several outside factors on Macbeth’s actions, he commits the crimes of his own volition due to his ambition.
His eagerness for the throne, combined with his ambition allow other characters to coerce him into killing Duncan. The murder of Duncan was planned by Macbeth and his wife together, but he ordered the deaths of Banquo, Fleance, Macduff’s children, and Lady Macduff without any prompting from other characters; their murders were solely the result of Macbeth’s ambition. Macbeth is alone as he rationalizes his decision to kill Banquo and his son, “To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list, And champion me to th’ utterance,” (3.1.73-75). Instead of giving the throne to Banquo’s sons, as the prophecy suggests, Macbeth decides to kill Banquo and his son to prevent the prophecy from occurring. He makes the choice to murder Banquo purely due to his own ambition, without any assistance or prompting from other
characters. Shakespeare’s Macbeth displays the story of a Scottish nobleman hungry for power. His desires and actions are influenced by the actions and arguments of other characters in the play. The witches give him the idea that he will be king, prompting him to take action to fulfill the prophecy. His wife, Lady Macbeth, refuses to allow him to renege on his desires for Duncan’s death, and his own ambition convinces him to kill many other characters to protect his claim to the throne. Without Lady Macbeth, the witches, and his own initiative Macbeth would not have killed Duncan, or of the other characters in the play.
When the play started Macbeth was a very loyal person towards the King, therefore the King treated Macbeth like a son. The king tells Macbeth that he is in great debt to Macbeth and there is no amount of money or land to repay Macbeth for his services. Macbeth responds to the King telling him that all he wants is for the King to accept his services and duties to his throne and kingdom (Act I, scene IV). Macbeth shows a great deal of friendliness when he invites King Duncan to his house (Act I, scene VI ). Macbeth is thoughtful and very compassionate in the way of the king but without the King's knowledge he has a plan to kill the King while the King is sleeping.
It all began when “three strange figures” who later turned out to be three witches “told [Macbeth] he would become king (Nuttall 1). Macbeth at this time was a loyal kinsman to Duncan, the current king. While it was a thought in the back of his mind that Macbeth would eventually like to take the throne, it never occurred to him that he would have the murder Duncan in order to do so. The witches added turmoil to this idea by talking about Banquo as well and stating that Banquo’s sons will become king as well. This prophecy made it inevitable that murder would eventually take place. Although hesitant at first, Macbeth, with the persistent help of Lady Macbeth, followed through with the murder and took the throne as King. Had the witches not told Macbeth his prophecy, Macbeth would more than likely not have resorted to the tactics and actions it took for him to in due course become king. At this point in the story, Macbeth is not a cold-blooded murderer who he is destined to become later. Duncan’s murder was Macbeth’s first time to kill another man; however, this wouldn’t be his last as a cover-up would be needed. “[Macbeth] require[ed] a clearness” so t...
Macbeth is captured by his wild ambition at the opening of the play when he and Banqou meet the three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor, and later will be king. They tell Banquo that his sons will be kings. Instantly Macbeth started to fantasize how he is going to be king. He understood that in order for him to become king he has to kill Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical”(Act 1 Sc. 3, p.23). He was pondering about the assassination until the moment that he could no longer control his emotions. “To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other-“(Act 1 Sc. 7, p.41). Because of his “vaulting ambition” he killed Duncan.
Macbeth’s ambition is to remain king for as long as possible and he will kill anybody who stops this from happening. Macbeth feels as if he was given a childless rule, and that his legacy will not continue on in fears his rule will be taken away by someone outside his family. Macbeth states, “For Banquo’s issue, I have filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murder 'd, put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them, and mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man. to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings”(Shakspeare 3.1.64-69). Macbeth had committed murder, poisoned his own mind, and destroyed his soul only to end up benefiting Banquo’s heirs. Macbeth, being the paranoid character that he is, feels threatened by this and orders both Banquo and Fleance to be killed. In Act 3, Macbeth says that, “and mine eternal jewel, given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!” (Shakspeare 3.1.67-9). Seeing this choice of act, leads Macbeth’s blind ambition doing all he can, in order to remain where he is, even if he is ‘blind’ to what it going on and fails to truly understand the concept of his choices in killing Banquo, which only further deteriorates his mind because of his thirst for power, causing
Later in the play Banquo starts to have a bad feeling about Macbeth. "Thou hast it now: King, Cowdor, Glamis, all,/ as the weird women promised, and I fear/ thou play'dst most foully for `t." III i 1-3, this is a quote from Banquo explaining how he feels about Macbeth's predictions coming true. Macbeth realizes this about Banquo and he starts to have feelings about killing Banquo. This isn't the only reason he feels this way, the witches had also made predictions for Banquo. "Thou shall get kings, though thou be none." I iii 67, Macbeth doesn't want any of Banquo's family to rule Scotland; he wants his own family to continue to rule. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his on Fleance. The murderers end up killing Banquo, but Fleance gets away.
Macbeth knows from even before he kills Duncan that Banquo’s loyalty lies with Duncan (2.1.26-28). Banquo suspects that Macbeth killed Duncan. (3. 1.1-4). Banquo suspicions of Macbeth seem to show later in the scene in lines 15-18. He says he is bound to serve the king, but this line in much colder than the interactions between Macbeth and Banquo in Acts One and Two. This possibly tipped Macbeth off to the fact that Banquo was doubting his loyalties. Also, Macbeth knows of the witches’ prophecy to Banquo that his descendants will be kings. (1.3.65-68). Macbeth fears that everything he has done will go to Banquo’s heirs even due to the fact Macbeth does not have children and the possibility of what the witches said coming true (3.1.63-64). Macbeth fears for his throne due to this prophecy and Banquo’s questionable loyalties. He decides he needs kill Banquo to ensure that he has absolute security in his throne and not allow Banquo’s heirs to inherit the throne without any
Macbeth’s other decision to kill Duncan while he is sleeping is also wise as Duncan will be unable to defend himself. This contrasts Macbeth’s decision to have Banquo and Fleance killed while they are awake and able to fight back. These wise decisions produce a better plan for Duncan’s murder, causing it to be more successful. Secondly, the plan for Duncan’s murder includes who will be framed for the deed while the plan for Banquo's murder misses this important detail. Before Duncan is killed, Macbeth has an idea to frame the chamberlains by using their daggers and spreading Duncan’s blood on their faces. As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan their strategy to murder Duncan, Macbeth schemingly
The second malicious decision chosen by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was to have Banquo and his sons killed. This would cancel out the possibility of Banquo's sons becoming kings. In Act III scene 1, Macbeth states that Banquo and his sons would be murdered by saying, "Banquo, thy soul's flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight." (p.91) The consequence of the decision to kill Banquo and his sons started when Macbeth felt more guilt and developed a worried conscience in the form of a vision of Banquo's ghost.
Macbeth did not have to kill all of the innocent people he had murdered. Instead, he could have turned himself in and said he killed the king. Like most people he didn’t want to die, so he decided to keep this as a secret and tried to live life as best as he could. In order for this to stay a secret he needed to murder a few people. He first had murderers go out and kill Banquo and Fleance. The murderers were able to kill Banquo, but Fleance escaped. Macbeth felt better that Banquo was dead since Banquo knew about the witches rules in order for Macbeth to become king. Therefore, Banquo would assume that Macbeth murdered the king. Now, there would be no assumption from Banquo that Macbeth killed Duncan. Macbeth wanted Fleance to be dead, since the witches said that Banquo’s sons will become the next kings after Macbeth, but Macbeth wanted his family to be the royal family forever. The next person that gets murdered by Macbeth is: Macduff’s family. Macbeth had people hired to kill Macduff’s family. This led Macduff and ten thousand soldiers from England to defeat Macbeth and ultimately kill the villain. All of the murders and the stress that people had to go through because of Macbeth made him a
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth tells the story of a general who commits a regicide in order to become king. Early in the play, Macbeth is conflicted as to whether or not he wants to kill his kinsman, the king. In the first two acts Macbeth is not portrayed as a ruthless killer; he is a sympathetic character who succumbs to the provocation of his wife and a prophecy foretold by three mysterious witches. In contrast, Lady Macbeth is a manipulative, immoral woman.
In fact, the actions made after were cause of the downfall of killing Duncan. Macbeth plots, independently, a crime that was not even predicted by the Wyrd Sisters. He plots an attack on Banquo, the only other person to know of the prophesies. Macbeth is, in fact, trying to go against fate with this actions when he states, “Rather than so, come fate, into the list,/and champion me to th’utterance!” (Shakespeare III. i. 71-72). With the meaning of “champion me to th’utterance” being literally “fight against me to death”, Macbeth is completely trying to go against fate. He is attempting to prevent the last prophesy told by the Wyrd Sisters from coming true, that Banquo’s descendants will be heirs of the throne. With his own will Macbeth plans out the murder and is responsible for the killing of Banquo. He takes accounts into his own hands and solely is responsible for planning and committing the murder of
The death of Duncan was originally planned by Lady Macbeth when she learned that Macbeth was going to become king because Lady Macbeth was questioning Macbeth's masculinity, while Macbeth was the one who planned the death and Banquo. This shows how Macbeth has grown to be more cruel after the killing of Duncan causing him to end up coming up with a plan to kill Banquo. This also shows how by Lady Macbeth coming up with Duncan’s death that Lady could be seen as more cruel than Macbeth but that later turn around throughout the play. In addition to the deaths of Duncan and Banquo being different, it can be seen that Macbeth views both death completely different, by when he kills Duncan he states, “ Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand” (II, ii, 61-62), and when Macbeth kills Banquo he starts to see the ghost of Banquo.
He takes extreme measures by killing his best friend Banquo for three reasons: he was suspicious of Macbeth killing Duncan, he knew about the prophecy, and that he was the father of kings. Macbeth's tragic flaws causes him to become a tyrant. After everything he has been through, he fears for his own life. By the end of the play Macbeth is beheaded by Macduff. He dies a tragic hero
Ashley Fikes Mrs. Dean English 12 6 January 2016 How did the witches’ prophecies affect Macbeth? The witches are a very important part of this play. The witches are the real trigger to Macbeth's deep and hidden desires. The presence of the witches raises the battle between good and evil. The three witches are also known as the three weird sisters and are referred to throughout the play.
Macbeth is an ambitious character who has greed and impatience of control and power. Banquo is a selfish warrior, however he is observant and wanted the best for his kids. Macduff is a unselfish character who wanted the best for Scotland. These three characters are battling for various reasons. Macbeth is an overly ambitious character, who is hungry for power, and is evil. He is an unique character, the condition that separates him from Banquo and Macduff is the ambition and desire he has. His desire to become the ruler of Scotland is the vital part of his life, he will do anything to get there. Macbeth first murders King Duncan, he was anxious and eager to kill him as it states “ I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell ” ( Act II , Scene 1, Lines 62-63 ). This statement reveals to us that Macbeth had finally killed Duncan and he was kind of relieved. We know Duncan died because typically in Shakespeare, violence takes place off stage and the word knell means that a funeral bell has rung to announce a person's death. Macbeth also kills Banquo because he considered Banquo as a threat due to his children. Banquo suspect Macbeth of doing something foul or bad and so Macbeth killed him too. These horrific activities of killing it just shows how seriously Macbeth actually wanted the throne. Macbeth's impatience for power originated from the witches. One of the prophecies they told Macbeth was about him being the king in the future. When he got the expectation of getting to be the king in his mind he couldn't get it out. Especially through the play Macbeth is evil, due to all the murderous events he did. Banquo is a faithful, selfish, observant and clever character in the play. Banquo is unique in relation to both Macbeth and Macduff due to his priorities and focus. Banquo is a quiet person so he doesn’t tell anyone