Next, he becomes thane of Cawdor, the first part of the prophecy, his thoughts about the prophecy return, this is portrayed when he says “The thane of Cawdor lives, why do you dress me in borrowed robes?” this starts to bring up the same feelings but also with them a slight sense of confidence and ambition that if this part has come true, he can make the other happen, but still he mainly dismisses it.
Next, Macbeth kills Duncan and frames the guards. He feels extremely guilty. this shows in the lines “I could not say ‘amen’” and “ ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep’”. He feels what he has done and begins to regret what he has done and cannot forgive himself as he feels he has committed a crime against god and therefore will never be able to pray again. He also has his first hallucinations, first of the dagger pointing him to Duncan and second of the figure saying to him “’sleep no more, Macbeth hath murdered sleep”. This shows that he is beginning, slowly, to turn insane.
Macbeth becomes king but fears that his line will not hold the throne. This is told to the audience in the lines “No son of mine succeeding” this shows he has become completely dependant on the prophecy and has taken it literally in everything it says believing fleance to be a threat.
Distressed, he decides that he must have Banquo killed, but cannot say the words murder or kill to the murderers. This is portrayed by the lines “ Banquo was your enemy” and “With bloody thrusts”. This shows that he has been brought in by the power enough to kill his best friend but still has enough of a conscience that he cannot do it himself or even mention the words to the murderers. He also doesn’t want to do and feel the things that occurred on the night of Duncan’s death.
Macbeth goes to the witches again, they warn him ‘beware macduff’ so he decides to have macduff’s family killed as macduff has fled. This is shown in the lines “Thou anticipat’st my dread exploits;” and “ seize upon fife; give to th’edge o’th’sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.”. This shows he has become entirely confident with the prophecies and does not think Macduff can harm him, as Burnham wood moving could not be possible in his view and Macduff was born by a woman. This also shows that he has reached his highest point of power and now as he has done so much already, he has no bad feelings of it.
Macbeth hears of his wife’s death but is unfazed by the news. This shows in the lines “there would have been a time for such a word” and “Out brief candle! Life is but a walking shadow”. This is to show the futility of life and how fragile and easily ended it is. This is probably because he is seeing all the witches’ predictions coming true and can see that his world is crashing down around him and knows he will soon be dead and that she would die anyway so it could have been “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow”
Finally, he meets Macduff who tells him he was born by caesarean and Macbeth refuses to fight him. This is shown in the lines “Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd.” and “I will not fight thee.” This shows that the last piece of the prophecy “Macbeth shall not be killed by man of woman borne” which Macbeth had clung to and believed to mean that no one could kill him had been taken from him. This also shows that Macbeth has accepted that the witches had tricked him and that Macduff was going to kill him and does not mind as he does not fear death because there is nothing left for him in life.
In conclusion, I have shown how macbeth’s illusion of power as it gradually grows and by the end falls is almost parallel to the fall and at the end leveling-out of his mental health. This begins with him being the contented “honourable cousin”, an image showing the great contrast from the later parts, and is brought straight on the path to king by the prophecy turning his contentedness to unease, panic and confusion, then brought to a slight feel of ambition by the first part coming true, which, in turn is brought up to confidence enough to kill Duncan, aided by his wife, then up to total dependance on the prophecy by his fears that fleance will take the throne. This then leads to the major turning point for his insanity as he decides he must kill his best friend but cannot directly say what he wants from the murderers, then, as his mental health reaches its lowest point, he is able to order the killing of what he knows to be his most worthy enemy’s family without fear, as he has become now so sure of and high from his prophecy that he believes he cannot be brought down, he then hears of his wife’s death, and comes out of his shell, realizing how what he has done has affected his mind and finally accepting his death from macduff as he realizes completely how futile and pointless it was but how he was obsessed with it.
