Mr. M. Chalmers
ENG 2D
5 December 2016
Macbeth: How He Is Influenced By Outside Forces To Commit His Crimes
Macbeth, the tragic hero in William Shakespeare's “MacBeth”, commits several different crimes in the duration of the play. Macbeth’s influenced into committing his crimes by outside forces such as lady Macbeth, the witches, and king Duncan in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Macbeth is influenced by lady Macbeth into committing the murder of king Duncan, she influenced him by persuasion. The witches are another outside force that influenced Macbeth, although they influenced him in the crimes of murdering Duncan, Banquo, and the family of Macduff, by giving him knowledge. The third influencer of macbeth is Duncan, …show more content…
In the beginning of the play the witches told Macbeth that he will become Thane of Cawdor, and later on King of Scotland, before this knowledge Macbeth had no thoughts or intentions on becoming king, not even Thane of Cawdor, but these prophecies implanted the thought and ambition Intro his mind, thus leading to the murder of Duncan. In the beginning Macbeth was also told that Banquo's descendants shall become kings, Macbeth wanting none other than his blood to have the throne after him, murdering Duncan in hope that the prophecy would perish, and his blood would claim the throne after, thus the witches influencing the second great crime. Later on in the play after Macbeth’s second encounter with the weird sisters, he is told to beware of Macduff, he gets the family of Macduff murdered, therefore the witches influenced Macbeth into committing the third great crime. The witches influencing Macbeth into the three great crimes of the play, in essence leading Macbeth to his ultimate downfall. When Banquo and Macbeth encounter the three witches they speak, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter! (1.3.03)”. In this passage from the play the witches are speaking the prophecies that they have predicted, conveying his future, and that his fate is to become king. When Banquo’s skeptically requests for his fate, the witches say "Lesser than Macbeth, and greater (1.3.68).” "Not so happy, yet much happier (1.3.69).” "Thou shall begets kings, thou be none (1.3.70). In the first quote the first witch speaks that Banquo will be lesser than Macbeth in royal ranks, but greater because he will be the father of future kings. The second quote is spoken by the second witch, and prophesizes the fact that