Macbeth
Macbeth: Analysis of the Witches Prophecies The witches' prophecies and the prophecies of the apparitions raised by the witches have a major influence on Macbeth and the outcome of the play. In a way Macbeth sets out to make the prophecies come true by killing Duncan, rather than waiting and letting them come true on their own. When Macbeth and Banquo are traveling through the forest to the King's court in Forres, they come across these witches. The First witch hails Macbeth as the Thane of Glamis. This prophecy doesn't really bother Macbeth because it is already true and he knows it, therefore it really doesn't have any impact on the outcome of the play. The second witch hails Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor. This truly baffles Macbeth because Ross and Angus haven't come to tell Macbeth of the Kings decision to make him Thane of Cawdor. This impacts the outcome of the play because when Ross and Angus do tell Macbeth of his new position, Macbeth thinks that if this has come true then the prophecy of becoming king will surely come true. The third witch tells Macbeth that he will one day become king. This prophecy causes Macbeth to become stunned and intrigued, and he tries to press the witches for further information
Thus, god gives all of man the right to chose good over evil even though temptation is normally presented in the matter, such as the thought of being king was presented to Macbeth, and it is up to them to decide their fate in a matter. Then when the second prophecy came true it was all over for the great Macbeth. This means that Banquo will obviously not be happy with the fact that he is going to be killed by Macbeth, be in the long run he will be happier because his sons are going to become kings. Ribner states that Shakespeare was writing from a Christian rather than a pagan perspective. One of the critics that disagree with this assessment is the great Shakespearean scholar George Lyman Kittredge. The bloody child tells Macbeth to laugh at the power of man because no one of women born can hurt him. This literally fills Macbeth with joy because he is certain that no one can ever uproot the mighty trees of Birnam Wood there fore he will never have anything worry about when it comes to his safety. Therefore Kittredge declares that Macbeth has no power of fate once he sets eyes upon them. This ultimately affects the outcome of the play because if Macbeth hadn't taken such drastic measures to become king then he would have never been killed the way he was killed. Because a Norn not only told the future, but it could make the future. The Norns were goddesses who shaped the future of every man, and that after you were visited by one of these Norns, then you were just a puppet that they could do whatever with. The prophecy doesn't really affect Banquo that much because he thinks that devils often tell half truths in order to win us to our harm. 3The third apparition is a crowned child holding a tree limb. This prophecy also comes true because Macbeth eventually murders his cousin King Duncan to take his thrown and become King. 2The first witch also gives Banquo a prophecy, in that they call him lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
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