Role Of Prophecies In Macbeth

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Macbeth’s decision to act on the prophecies of the witches leads to his downfall and the death of many people, including a loved one, and all the meanwhile shedding light on his true personality. William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth was a very popular play back then and still today. It was written about Macbeth and Banquo were riding back to his castle when they spotted the witches. In the play when he talks to the witches Macbeth is given three prophecies to be specific I’ll only give the last one, “...All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.2.50). That intrigued Macbeth's actual ambition, because he was always concerned with being the best. In Act 1 scene 3, He continues to talk to Banquo about the prophecies given by …show more content…
From the play Macbeth states, “ Know Banquo was your enemy (3.1.114) By stating this he knows that Banquo is a threat to if left alive. That shows ruthlessness, because he’s willing to do anything he has to do to stay the king. So in Act 3, scene 4, when the murders get back to the castle Macbeth asks them how it went. He finds out that Fleance escaped from them. Macbeth says this about Fleance, “No teeth for th’ present.” So, in all actuality Macbeth believes that he is not a problem to him at this moment. That shows to me that he is cocky, and a little too confident in believing that he is okay for now. If he believed the prophecies to be true statements he would have sent people out to capture and kill …show more content…
His wanting to listen to the prophecies leads to his eventual falling, because it clouds his judgment. There are so many variables at play in the actual play. When he chose to listen to witches he opened himself up to being played with. I believe he was a prime candidate for the witches to influence, because he believed it.His own natural ambition to succeed and prosper lead to multiple decisions to do things that normally he wouldn’t do. His loved one was affected by his decisions and actions, MacDuff’s family was affected, Banquo was affected, the King was affected, and so many others. I also believe that most of this could have been avoided, because had Banquo been a little better to try and stop him from even talking to them maybe it wouldn't have ended the way it did. Cockiness, crudeness, and many other personality traits led to his own downfall. He thought he could supercede what the prophecies said, but as the evidence show he couldn’t. Macbeth fell to his doom after he thought he was rid of Macduff, yet he didn’t consider the fact that he could have been ripped out of the womb. Macbeth is careless, he is cocky, he is cynical, and he is ruthless. When you add all of that together, you get someone who doesn’t do the right things. Lady Macbeth dies because of Macbeth’s carelessness. Macduff’s family dies because of Macbeth. Banquo dies because Macbeth is selfish and
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