The witches in this story foreshadow the troubles that Macbeth will face later in the play, by telling the future. The witches actually makes the dark, chaotic mood, and help the ambition of Macbeth grow larger at the beginning of the play, by saying, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!”, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!”, and finally “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!” (I, iii, 48-49-50). By telling what Macbeth will become, Macbeth begins to think about his future, and from this point, Macbeth thinks that his ambition can become reality not by over time, but if he kills king Duncan. Later on in the play, the witches tell Macbeth to “be bloody, bold and resolute”, and to “laugh to scorn the power of man”, because “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (IV, I, 79-81). Because of the fact that all human being is born from a woman, Macbeth feels comfortable, and self-confident. The witches also tell Macbeth, to “be lion mettl’d, proud”, and to “take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are”, because “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” (IV, I, 90-94). Macbeth feels even more confident in himself because it’s impossible for Great Birnam Wood to actually move up to Dunsinane Hill. Despite the fact that Macbeth is already feeling guilty, the riddles from the witches help Macbeth to feel confident in himself, but also tells the readers of how much dangerous one’s ambition can be.
Sleep imagery in this play shows the worries of Macbeth, which foreshadow how much he will regret what he has done afterwards. After he kills Duncan, Macbeth hears voices that say, “ ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’ – the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast” (II, ii, 35-40), revealing his guilty feelings. Even though Macbeth tries to deny what he is hearing, the guilty feeling inside him makes him hear someone crying, “ ‘sleep no more!’ to all the house: ‘Glamis hath murder’d sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!” (II, ii, 41-43) He even hears someone “laugh in’s sleep”, and one crying, “ ‘Murder!’ that they did wake each other.” (II, ii, 23-24) that is not even said by anyone, which again shows how much Macbeth feels guilty about what he has done, and how much it will make him feel miserable later on in this tragic play.
William Shakespeare, the author of this tragic play, uses blood imagery, sleep imagery, and the witches to emphasize the guilty feelings of Macbeth, which helps the readers to realize that ambition can be a dangerous part of your life. Hitler, who was once one of the most powerful man on Earth, used his ambition to create a basis of World War II and to conquer the world. But in the end, instead of taking over the world, he committed a suicide. The tragedy didn’t just end there, he also left many people lose their family, their home, and also their hopes… Like we’ve seen throughout this tragic play, every each one of us has the ambition to become a better person, and to live a better life. But that doesn’t mean that somebody will give whatever you want or let you to be whoever you want to be. Life is full of difficulties and troubles; and you’ll have to face reality and work hard, devote yourself into it to fulfill your ambition. If you use your ambition to create chaos and terror, you might end up being in a dangerous situation like Macbeth, or even get killed just like him…
