Lady Macbeth and the witches are essential for Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. Lady Macbeth acts as a driving force towards the murder of Duncan while the witches control Lady Macbeth to commit these crimes. Lady Macbeth is also influenced by fate which leads to Lady Macbeth’s eventual suicide at the end of Act V. The witches also influence Lady Macbeth through the fulfillment of their prophecies. First, Lady Macbeth is influenced by the witches early on in Act I scene 5. In this scene, Lady Macbeth has a desire to make her husband king but does not know how to do so.
Lady Macbeth then sees the witches that her husband was talking about earlier and reads their future prophecies which state that she will be a queen and that her husband will have royal status. Lady Macbeth then returns home full of excitement about what she has seen and states: “By the pricking of my thumbs/Something wicked, this way comes. ” This quote shows Lady Macbeth’s excited anticipation for her future as well as foreshadowing Lady Macbeth’s decision to take action.
Lady Macbeth also states “I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal/For it must seem their guilt” which shows Lady Macbeth already planning her husband’s rise to king by murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth expresses regret after she decides to kill Duncan saying, “My hands are of your color, but I shame/ To wear a heart so white. ” Lady Macbeth believes that if she has blood on her hands then she will not be able to become queen because people will think that she is guilty for killing Duncan.
Lady Macbeth’s excitement towards her future leads her down a dark path and eventually Macbeth dies in act V scene 8. Lady Macbeth is excited about reaching her goal of becoming queen as well as influenced by the witches prophecies that she reads in I. 5, which ultimately lead Lady Macbeth to her death at the end of Act V scene 3. In addition, Lady Macbeth is also influenced by fate after Banquo’s ghost appears before her and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth desperately tries to convince herself that this ghost was indeed a hallucination from “out-break(ing) of my most immodesties”(I. 5).
Lady Macbeth cannot seem to convince herself that the ghost was fake until after it has been confirmed by one of Lady Macffs sons’s who says “I have heard of your paintings too, Lady Macbeth. ” Lady Macbeth is no longer able to deny the truth as she states, “Was the hope drunk/ Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? / And wakes it now, to look so green and pale/ At what it did so freely? ” Lady Macbeth first sees Banquo’s ghost in III. 4 but only finds a way to convince herself that this was not real until after her son tells her another person saw the same thing as well.
Lady Macbeth displays despair at this point saying “to do ought good never will be our task”(III. 4) This shows Lady Macbeth’s towards becoming queen because she believes that because she has taken action for so long to become queen that it would be impossible now to do anything well. Lady Macbeth’s ghost vision may have been Lady Macbeth’s way of showing regret after committing these crimes which ultimately lead Lady Macbeth to commit suicide at the end of Act V scene 3. In addition, the witches influence Lady Macbeth throughout the play by fulfilling their prophecies that were spoken in I. 4 Such as “All my pretty ones? Did you say all?
O hell-kite! All? ” This quote shows Lady Macbeth calling her children birds which are meant to represent the renewal of life over death. Lady Macbeth sees her children as a sign of hope which is directly influenced by the witches and Lady Macbeth’s desperation to see prophecy fulfilled. Lady Macbeth also believed that if “by self and violent hands/Tear me in pieces, and hack my bones/As food for birds and beasts” then she would be able to take action towards fulfilling her prophecies. Lady Macbeth describes herself as a bird at the end of Act V scene 2 which shows Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything if it means fulfilling her prophecies.
The witches influence Lady Macbeth throughout the play by fulfilling their prophecies that were spoken in I. 4 such as: All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O, hell-kite! All? ” This quote shows Lady Macbeth calling her children birds which are meant to represent the renewal of life over death. Lady Macbeth sees her children as a sign of hope which is directly influenced by the witches and Lady Macbeth’s desperation to see prophecy fulfilled. Lady Macbeth also believed that if “by self and violent hands/Tear me in pieces, and hack my bones/As food for birds and beasts” then she would be able to take action towards fulfilling her prophecies.
Lady Macbeth describes herself as a bird at the end of Act V scene 2 which shows Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything if it means fulfilling her prophecies. In addition, Lady Macbeth is a more influential character than Duncan and Lady Macbeth because Lady Macbeth manipulates and forces Lady Macbeth into committing these crimes rather than Lady M. willingly doing them. Lady Macbeth does not see Lady M. as a threat to her becoming queen until after she says, “Your husband/Is now the king’s go-between; and hath received/Of the first homage for his country” which shows Lady Macbeth is threatened by Lady M..
This is when Lady M. begins to feel threatened because of the power that Lady M. has over her husband through marriage, which in turn could be used against Lady M. Duncan only influences Lady Macbeth in Act II scene 1 when he tells Lord Ruthven I named you Thane of Glamis, which Lady Macbeth later mentions to her husband in Act II scene 2 before they kill Duncan. It is Lady Macbeth who convinces Lady M. to take action because Lady Macbeth has more influence over Lady M. than Lady Mac does over Lady M..
The witches are also influential characters in the play because it was the witches that gave the prophecy to begin with that eventually comes true near the end of the play when Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes his place as king. Both Lady Macbeth and Banquo act as if there is some sort of dark curse coming over them after they meet these three women, but they never assume its prophecy until later like Lady Macbeth’s suicide and Lady Macbeth’s hallucinations for the rest of her life because she was responsible for ordering King Duncan’s assassination.
Lady Macbeth sees Lady M. s a threat to her becoming queen until after Lady M. says, “Your husband/Is now the king’s go-between; and hath received/Of the first homage for his country. ” Lady Macbeth is threatened by Lady M.. In Act II scene 1, Duncan only influences Lady Macbeth when he tells Lord Ruthven I named you Thane of Glamis, which Lady Macbeth later mentions to her husband in Act II scene 2 before they kill Duncan. The witches influence Lady Macbeth throughout the by fulfilling their prophecies that weres speak Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything if it means fulfilling her prophecies.