Macbeth Essay

The tragic hero Macbeth loses everything he has including his sanity in the classic Shakespeare play Macbeth. The crimes he commits are not Macbeth’s fault because of the other factors that affect his actions. The witches and Lady Macbeth are responsible for the crimes since they influence Macbeth in several ways throughout the play. Macbeth becomes caught up in all the manipulating words and his actions are not his fault. Macbeth is not guilty for the crimes in the play Macbeth. The witches and their prophecies affect Macbeth’s behaviour throughout the play. The Thane of Cawdor prophecy that the witches tell to Macbeth is “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Cawdor” (I.iii.52). This has Macbeth think at first that the witches are speaking foolishness but when the prophecy happens to be true he begins to question if the last prophecy, predicting that he will be king, will also become true. The witches initially put the idea of him being king in his head which leads to his downfall because this prophecy helps him give in to Lady Macbeth persuasions to kill King Duncan. The witches establish an important trust between themselves and Macbeth, making Macbeth believe that he can trust them when in reality the witches just want to see his tragic downfall from power. The meeting with Hecate resembles the evil characteristics the witches have. Hecate finds out that the witches did not involve her in the plan to destroy Macbeth. She becomes mad since the witches see that traumatizing an innocent person is an amusing thing to do and she states “Was never called to bear my part or show the glory of our art” (III.v.8-9). Hecate and the witches get amusement from playing with Macbeth’s mind and this shows inversion of moral order because have no empathy and will do whatever they please other people. Macbeth was innocent and a noble solider to King Duncan until the witches took over his sanity and made him thirsty for power. The three apparitions trick Macbeth into