The witches start the ball rolling, by hailing him first as “Thane of Glamis, which he is, then as “Thane of Cawdor”, which soon comes true and then as one who “shalt be king hereafter”. One claim comes true and so Macbeth logically presumes that the next will do too. However, it is important to remember that they do not make any reference or suggestion about killing Duncan to become king, yet they tempt him. Macbeth is keen to hear of this “strange intelligence” as this is what he wants to hear; they have touched upon a coveted ambition. The witches also tempt Banquo, but he sees through them and warns Macbeth that “oftentimes to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles – to betray’s / in deepest consequence.” Macbeth flinches when he hears the prophesy, instead of saying that’s not true, he reacts worriedly and Banquo notices, “Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear/ Things that do sound so fair?”
Macbeth is not sure whether or not act to bring about his prophesy, and Lady Macbeth sees this as a kind of hypocrisy- he wants the reward of evil, yet dare not commit the act; “Wouldst not play false/And yet would falsely win”.
Lady Macbeth is another influence acting upon Macbeth. After receiving Macbeth’s letter, it turns out that she is as ambitious as her husband is. Macbeth knows this and calls her “my dearest partner in greatness”. She immediately assumes that they need to kill Duncan. She knows exactly what she’s doing and realises that no ordinary woman would plan this murder, furthermore she demands for the spirit world to “unsex” her and fill her full of the “direst cruelty”. She easily takes control when Duncan arrives, by flattering him, because she can see possibly before Macbeth can, that his face is easy to read and warns him “look lie the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t”.
Lady Macbeth comes across determined, dominant, powerful and frightening in her intense ambition for her husband and when he convinces himself that it easiest not to kill Duncan in his soliloquy she’s there convincing him. She is contemptuous of his change of heart and accuses him of cowardice, insults his manhood and cajoles him back into committing “this terrible feat”. She will not let him go back on his word, telling him that if she had sworn as he had, then “I would, while it (a baby) was smiling in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, / And dashed the brains out”.
Then just before Macbeth is about to kill Duncan a dagger appears before him. This dagger seems to be figment of Macbeth’s imagination because he can neither touch it nor see anything holding it up. Encouraging him as it “marshall’st me the way that I was going” and when drops of blood appear on the “blade and dudgeon” it seems to further his resolve. The imagined dagger shows that Duncan’s not quite right in the head and the audience in the 1600’s would have seen this as a sign of madness, especially if they could not have seen it in the theatre.
But none of this would have happened if Macbeth hadn’t had a hidden yearning to be king himself. His “vaulting ambition” leads him into this premeditated murder, with his wife, and partner, behind him. Lady Macbeth knows her husband would like to be more powerful: “Thou wouldst be great/ Art not without ambition”. Macbeth’s ambition is his driving force and his weakness.
Fate is a minor factor to be considered. It seems that Macbeth feels like an actor, doing nothing more than playing a part. This is illustrated when he says “but a poor player,/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage”.
To conclude, whilst the influence of both Lady Macbeth and the witches are strong, they would have never had power over him, without his ambition. It is Macbeth’s ambition that leads the witches to him, and it’s his ambition that leads him to corruption, treachery, betrayal, murder, hypocrisy and the deepest evil – the killing in cold blood of his honourable king.
