Witches 'Prophecies In William Shakespeare's Macbeth'

1. In the tragedy, Macbeth (1623), William Shakespeare implies that not everything should be easily trusted because some things can have really bad intentions but they are just good at hiding it. The author supports this claim in many ways one being how the witches’ prophecies and apparitions seem to benefit and be good for Macbeth when in reality they only trick Macbeth into letting him think what he wants them to think by only giving him half of the story. The author’s purpose is to show that not everything should be easily trusted in order to show it was this mistake that many of the characters such as King Duncan and Banquo made when they trusted Macbeth too easily and it lead to their murder. The intended audience appears to be those who trust things too easily whether it be people or other things such as in this case the witches’ prophecies which only brought chaos due to the fact that Macbeth trusted what he was being told too easily.

2. – Factual: Why did Macbeth go back to ask the witches for help?

-Interpretive: Why does Macbeth order the murder of Macduff’s family when he does not even know for sure that he is conspiring against him?

-Evaluative: Why does Malcom keep urging Macduff to use the pain he feels upon finding out that Macbeth murdered his

Macbeth goes back to them because he wants answers which is really just him trying to get another look into his future. The witches give Macbeth riddles and half answers that are really open to interpretation but Macbeth is so naïve and paranoid that he sees what he wants to see to calm himself down. The witches’ prophecies and answers are designed in a way that Macbeth interprets them to mean that he is safe which is not true and that leads to his wrong decision makings. The witches are manipulating him and pulling his strings without Macbeth even realizing