The witches were used in this play for two reasons. The two reasons were that they were used as people to start a chain of events in the play. The other reason is to set the theme of evil and the supernatural theme to the play. At the time when this play was written, witches were seen as very evil creatures. The people living in the Elizabethan era believed in the supernatural especially witches. Witches were women who sold their soul to the devil to gain power. The strong belief in the supernatural and witches may have caused a deep impact on the audience. People believed that witches could cast spells and do evil things. Perhaps if it weren’t for these revelations by the witches then they might have never even considered killing the king. It is the witches who brought the destruction and downfall of Macbeth. The words, which set off Macbeth’s ambitions, were the words of the witches. They said, ‘All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Glamis!’ ‘All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Cawdor!’ ‘All hail Macbeth! Thou shalt be king hereafter.’ The witches made Macbeth believe what they had said by the first two things they said. The first statement made Macbeth think that maybe the witches knew him due to their supernatural powers, and then the second statement convinced Macbeth because he himself only found out about becoming Thane of Cawdor after the witches had gone.
Lady Macbeth is also known as the fourth witch in the play because of the talk she gave. “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here…”. She is inviting the evil spirits to remove all kindness in her and anything that might make her feel guilty when the deed is being done. Witches are women who sold their souls to the devil. Here, lady Macbeth invites the evil spirits to help her kill Duncan without feeling any pity.
Even though the witches had put these ideas into his head in the first place, it was his own ambition, which churned these thoughts into thoughts of murder. He was the first person to think of murder. We know this by what he says in his soliloquy. He says ‘ why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?’ he also uses the word ‘yield’ which gives us the impression that Macbeth doesn’t want to think of such horrible things. Eventually he decides against the murder of Duncan. He says “if chance will crown me king, why chance may crown me without a stir.” He decides to leave it to chance. He thinks that if what the witches have said is true then it will happen without him doing anything.
Macbeth is a courageous and ambitious person. He has a good reputation and receives praise from all kinds of people. However Macbeth has three main weaknesses; his ambition, his imagination and his love for his wife. When all of these things are combined, they make him vulnerable to the pressure put on him by his wife.
Even though the idea of murder made him feel repulsed and made him scared he still wanted to be king, this meant that he would be willing to do anything in order to become king. It was his imagination, which introduced him to the thought of murder before he sent the letter to his wife. His love for his wife is his main weakness though because it is Lady Macbeth who actually pushes him into the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth is very clever because she too knows that he loves her very much and she also knows that he would be willing to do anything hence the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth obviously knows Macbeth very well because she knows where to hit him where it hurts. She knew how to use these strengths and weaknesses to her own advantage while suggesting murder to Macbeth.
For example when she questions him about his manliness he says that he does not want to kill Duncan. And She accuses him of being a coward. Macbeth has weaknesses; he has a lot of pride in his manliness, Macbeth wants to prove to her that he is masculine. She constantly pushes Macbeth into the murder calling him names this proves herself to be a driving force. During the time of Macbeth Men were supposed to be brave and women were supposed to be very feminine staying at home as housewives. Lady Macbeth was not a typical woman at all. She was very evil in her thoughts more than Macbeth. The most memorable, evil comments made by Lady Macbeth is when she says “ I have given suck and know How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.”
This comment shows that she is very manipulative because she is making him feel guilty saying that if she had promised something she would do it no matter what. She makes him feel like he has betrayed her by breaking his promise. However, She is a loving wife, caring for her husbands needs only forcing him when she knows that he definitely can’t do something for himself. She has to force herself to be strong; ruthless for his sake otherwise he might not be able to carry out the murder. She makes herself completely focused on the murder of Duncan. Another example would be when Macbeth tries to back out of the agreement. As we read on, we find that Macbeth’s conscience is trying to stop him from the terrible deed, which is about to happen. But he isn’t strong enough to resist it because his wife comes and persuades him more to do the deed. She’s trying her best to convince her husband that she puts his courage and love to a test and she also adds that she would also kill her own child to be faithful to the agreement. His wife is tormenting him to do it, Duncan is a close friend to him, and the witches confuse the matter to him. But the thought of being king is in his mind. The only problem is that Macbeth wants to become king in a way where there is no killing. Here, evil is tormenting him through his wife. She is dominating his life, he cannot control his life. He takes orders from his wife. He could have said ‘NO!’ but instead, he listened to his wife. Now evil has entered into Macbeth’s mind and the hour of death has come for Duncan. Her character is very strong. She plans the whole murder for Macbeth but she leaves him to do the actual killing.
In conclusion I think that Lady Macbeth was the main driving force behind the murder of king Duncan. I believe Lady Macbeth is a manipulative woman, she has a goal in her mind and seems to use everything in her power to reach it. Her involvement in the murder of King Duncan is almost dominating; she formulates and directs the whole plan. If the witches hadn’t of said what they said about Macbeth becoming King then the murders may never of happened in the first place because they disturbed the great chain of being it means that they have clashed with obstacles and that it will all fall and crash on him. Without Macbeth’s ambition, Lady Macbeth might not have been able to persuade Macbeth to commit the murder. Without Lady Macbeth’s determination Duncan may not have been murdered. If they had of just left it alone maybe all the prophecies the witches had prophesised would have become true all in turn. So I think that Lady Macbeth was the main driving force behind Duncan’s murder.
Razaul Islam Page Number:
