Macbeth-William Shakespere

"The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles , to betray [us] In deepest consequence." Man's curiosity about his destiny have lead him to seek the services of fortune teller's psychics and false prophets but it has been has been proven time and time again that seeking to know one's own fate will not help you but instead harm you; for these prophecies are always filled with half-truths and deception. William Shakespeare's Macbeth is the ultimate tragedy as both fate and the evil manipulation of the witches conspire to his final downfall. The witches prove to control his destiny throughout the play and they alone combined with Macbeth's one weakness, ambition, lead to his destruction.

The large role the witches play in the story is first evident at the beginning of the play. In thunder and lightning, the witches appear on a wild and deserted place where they foully talk amongst themselves.

Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole.

English: Poster of Thos. W. Keene in William Shake...

The English actor Charles Kean as William Shakespe...

Their wild and evil appearance reveal their intentions. "Upon the heath, there to meet Macbeth", spoken by the witches reveal that they already know the outcome of the civil war being fought in Scotland and that they will become the chief driving force behind the main character, Macbeth.

The witches from the very beginning lead Macbeth on a course of destruction. Gathering in a bleak, empty place between the battlefield and Duncan's palace, they appear and "hail, Macbeth!" They tell him that he "shalt become [the] Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor", and be "King hereafter". Macbeth believes these prophecies because prophecies because in them, be becomes the respected and revered King of Scotland that all men look up to. Ross soon tells Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor , fulfilling the second of the witches prophecies and making Macbeth...