Not only do the witches spur on his want to be king but condemn Banquo by telling him, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”, meaning his heirs will be kings. Later on in the play Macbeth sets his mind back to this moment, when on the throne, which makes him think that Banquo is a threat as his heirs will be Macbeth’s successor. This idea, along with the fact that Banquo knew about the witches and Macbeth’s thoughts on murder, leads to Macbeth wanting Banquo dead.
Even though the witches’ greetings affect Macbeth and lead to the murder of Duncan and Banquo, they do not actually directly tell Macbeth to commit these atrocities. In the end it is clearly Macbeth’s pronouncement. However it could also be argued that if the witches had not greeted Macbeth, he would not have ultimately killed Duncan.
The apparitions are very much like the witches greetings. The apparitions are meant to be summoned demons, but in fact seem to be run on a set program. This is noticed when Macbeth’s questions are un-answered. It gives you the sentiment that the witches have set the apparitions up to tell Macbeth the information which will affect later decisions, which in fact lead to his death. This is also confirmed in Hectare’s speech. The apparitions only give Macbeth confidence towards the end on the play. If Macbeth had not gone to see the witches, I think that Macduff would motionless have killed him. But his downfall would not be the same as it currently is in the play. Macduff would not have hated Macbeth, as Macbeth would not have killed his family. The apparitions tell, “Beware Macduff”, and after the news of Macduff’s flight to England it causes Macbeth to make a public example of him by sacking his castle. So the witches play an imperative part in the outcome once again.
In both encounters with the witches, they do not directly influence Macbeth. In the first occurrence they merely greet him. This spurs on a whole new train of thought in Macbeth’s mind. Thus leading to the murders of Duncan and Banquo. The second encounter with the witches, he is merely shown apparitions. They only warn him of Macduff. After this admonition he makes the decision to sack Macduff’s castle. The witches did not put the idea into Macbeth’s head. The sacking of Macduff’s Castle leads to Macbeth’s death at the end of play. Macduff has strong hate for him, after he heard the news of his castle being sacked and his family murdered, even though but Macduff is already doing machinations against him. Macbeth is somewhat to blame for making the final decisions, but there is another person who spurs him on and leads to the downfall of Macbeth. This is Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth only plays a part in the downfall of Macbeth in the beginning of the play. But the actions she takes herself are from the chain started by the witches.
When she found out about what had happened she instantaneously thought about Macbeth’s succession to the throne, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised”, she wants to get Macbeth what he is promised. Macbeth finds out her intentions when he returns. Her acrimonious character tells him to murder Duncan and that Duncan is set to arrive tonight to stay in Macbeth’s castle. They have a very cogent argument, and Macbeth falls into her trap. She in the next person to speak of murder after Macbeth does to Banquo. She is the driving force behind Macbeth in the murder scenes. She tells him to murder Duncan and organises the plot of his murder. When Macbeth returns after having time to think about it and exclaims, “We will proceed no further in this business”, Lady Macbeth replies by calling him a coward and asking, “Art thou afeard”. So she taunts him and persuades him into changing his mind. She organises the whole event, which begins with her drugging the guard by placing something in their drinks before bed. Then after the deed is done, she is the one who takes the dagger from Macbeth’s bloody hands and replaces it in one of the drugged guard’s possession. Without her the murder would have not gone ahead, it would not have even succeeded and Macbeth would have been caught. Although it was Macbeth’s decision in the end, Lady Macbeth would never have started to suppose of murdering Duncan until she hears of the witches’ greetings. She has played a major part in the beginning of Macbeth’s downfall but this is the first and last event where she has a great impact. After this point in the play we do not hear of Lady Macbeth much, as Macbeth then does not need her and never uses her to plan anything else. He does all the planning himself, Banquo’s murder and the sacking of Macduff’s castle. We find that the events of the murder of Duncan everlastingly scar Lady Macbeth, as we find near the closing stages of the play. She is, “Thus washing her hands,” to apparently get rid of Duncan’s blood. This is the first sign of the bad state she is in and then as Macduff and the English army attack the castle of Macbeth, we hear news that Lady Macbeth has committed suicide. We do not find out how but this end is due to the acts carried out in the scene of Duncan’s murder.
So far it has been a chain, the witches affecting Macbeth, the news of the witches affecting Lady Macbeth, in turn affecting Macbeth into the murder of Duncan and the beginning of his down fall. Even though Macbeth has been affected by both the other two characters in the play, it really only comes down to him. We can see that he thought of murder when he talked to Banquo after the witches’ first meeting. So the murder was not all down to Lady Macbeth’s powers of persuasion. Macbeth had these ideas of murder in his head. But in the end he is the one who made the corporeal action against Duncan, not Lady Macbeth, so I think that he is ultimately responsible. Then Banquo’s murder was partially spurred by the witches saying his heirs will be kings, signifying a threat to Macbeth’s throne. But Macbeth wanted him dead anyway as he knew too much and knew where Macbeth’s meeting with the witches had led him.
Then when it comes to the apparitions Macbeth makes his own decision to sack Macduff’s castle. The witches don’t recommend it or even suggest it. It is purely through his own thoughts and then displayed in his performance. It is he who assumes he cannot be killed and it is he who does not take notice of,” Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until Great Burnham Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him”. But this event does take place as the English army uses the foliage and branches of Great Burnham Wood to hide their numbers as they march towards Dunsinane Hill and Macbeth’s castle. The apparition, which gives Macbeth more confidence, is the one telling him that he cannot be killed by man of woman born. But when he is slain by Macduff he finds out that Macduff was born by means of a caesarean section. So even though Macbeth was affected at the start, he led himself to his own end, as it was all his individual decisions. In each state of affairs he had his own reasons and his own judgment, along with the effects of other people. For example, even though Lady Macbeth had to persuade him to murder Duncan, he was thinking of the murder himself. So Macbeth is also very much responsible for his own actions.
The witches and Lady Macbeth play a large part in Macbeth’s down fall, the witches more than Lady Macbeth. They start the whole sequence. Without them there is no play. They also affect Macbeth in the end, but not in the same was as they did at the beginning of the play. Lady Macbeth has the least influence. Even though she is major part of the chain reaction leading to the death of Macbeth, she only persuades him to kill Duncan. After this point she seems to be wiped from Macbeth’s life and does not affect him again. Up next would be the witches as they start the play and shape Macbeth’s actions using declaration to create the right reactions. Then the outcome of the reactions led to his down fall.
But in the end I think that Macbeth is the one most greatly responsible for his own downfall. I think that Shakespeare has effectively displayed the events to show that it is ultimately Macbeth’s responsibility. I think that this is what Shakespeare was trying to depict in this tragic play. The witches and Lady Macbeth both affect Macbeth and lead him to his end, but at any point in the play, he could stop. He could say no, and the ending would be a whole much more pleasant than how it ends. Ultimately he made his own decisions and the outcome to these decisions led to his death. So I think that although he is predisposed by other characters in the play he is mainly conscientious for his own downfall.
