Theme Of Temptation In Macbeth

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What is temptation, and what does it mean to be tempted? As H.L. Mencken once said, “ Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a movable body”. Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, follows a man who’s actions and consequences are driven by temptation, a temptation that is supplied by the three witches. With this temptation, the witches successfully control Macbeth, while shrouding the foul consequences that accompany the seemingly fair temptation. At first, noble Macbeth is able to resist the temptation, but gives in after his wife, Lady Macbeth coerces him to complete the heinous act of murder, for power. Eventually, these acts catch up to and haunt the Macbeths, leading to their absolute demise. Macbeth has many comparable aspects to a biblical …show more content…
Due to this temptation, they both commit a terrible act, or a sin. The witches prophecies tempt Macbeth, because “The witches can predict the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth” (Witches Effect in Macbeth). Macbeth is tempted, near sucessfully, by the possibility of a powerful future. He immediately thinks about what it would be like to kill Duncan, but calms himself and says that “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings: thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical” (Shakespeare,I.iii.144-146). Macbeth shows restraint in this moment, which demonstrates his noble personality and how without the additional coercion from Lady Macbeth, he would never have had the guts to kill a king whom he liked. In a similar manner, Adam is also tempted by a power beyond him, the power of knowledge. As Barbara Taylor writes in her paper, Remaining Human, Adam is “tempted by is the chance to play God... it was the chance to breakout of his dependence on God and know both good and evil for himself...God never offers those things, incidentally--Satan is the only one who offers them, with a thousand strings attached” (Taylor). Both Macbeth and Adam commit a sin, while one is more extreme than the other, both receive punishments for their sins. Adam ate a forbidden fruit, a fruit that granted him the knowledge of good and evil. Macbeth, on the other hand, commits a terrible act, …show more content…
In the same way, the witches’ influence over the Macbeths result in the eventual loss of their sanity. Just after meeting the witches for the first time, they are recognized for what they are. After the first prophecy comes to be, Banquo is shocked, exclaiming “What, can the devil speak true?” (Shakespeare, I.iii.112). The witches may be the servants of Hecate, but they are the true embodiment of the devil. Like the snake in the story of Adam and Eve, who “was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made” (Genesis 3:1), the witches manipulated feelings and thoughts with pleasant possibilities. Unfortunately, Macbeth and Banquo become too engrossed with these possibilities to focus on staying away from the witches, and this leads to their downfall. While Banquo perishes, the Macbeths begin to lose their minds, not too long after killing Duncan and Banquo. Macbeth starts to see the ghost of Banquo, and displays this affliction in front of his court, exclaiming “Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that Which might appal the devil...Prithee, see there! behold! look! lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel-houses and our graves must send. Those that we bury back, our monuments” (Shakespeare, III.iv.58-59,69-71). This is only the beginning of Macbeth’s downward spiral into madness, and represents his
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