Essays for school

Macbeth seals his tragic fate

So hey, I don't actually know if I know what im talking about EVER.

Macbeth seals his tragic fate by trying to make the prophecy about himself come true.

Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. It deals with many different themes such as the supernatural, guilt, fate and much more. The play begins on a very ominous note with the witches gathered together, their introduction is very brief but striking. Later they tell Macbeth a prophecy about himself saying how he will become king of Scotland. His wife and himself then plot to kill the current king to take his place so that way the prophecy will achieve itself. What makes the appeal of this play so widespread is that the audience feels a strong sense of sympathy for Macbeth because they can relate to him and the mistakes that he makes. This is what makes Macbeth a perfect example of a "tragic hero", at the beginning of the play he is loved and has anything he could possibly need, but as all tragedies go Macbeth becomes corrupted by his ambition and attempts to control his fate and to take a prophecy into his own hands to make it come true. In trying to control fate and trust the prophecy given to them, both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth doom themselves to a tragic end. Due to Macbeth's hubris and hamartia he slowly spirals down from both prestige and sanity along with his wife.

Both Macbeth and his friend Banquo are at a military camp. This is where they encounter the witch's. They tell a prophecy about Macbeth, they say that he will become the king of Scotland, then they tell Banquo that he will father a long line of Kings, yet never be one himself. As cryptic as it sounds neither Macbeth nor Banquo seem too fazed or see them as a bad omen, yet Banquo reminds Macbeth to remain wary. Macbeth then sends a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth telling her the good news, that has yet to be fulfilled. She is more than happy but her ambition gets the better of her. She begins a plot to kill the king Duncan while he visits their estate, this is a fatal mistake both for her and her husband. Lady Macbeth says "The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/ under my battlements. Come, you spirits/ that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,"(Macbeth 1.5. 45-48). This is seen as foreshadowing to King Duncan's murder. Lady Macbeth calls upon dark spirits so that way she may do what she thinks needs to be done. She asks to be "unsexed" so that way her gender wouldn't hinder her actions in any way and make her weaker. she compares the king to a "raven", they represent a number of things such as prophecies but also death. Duncan's fate is already sealed, he will be murdered by the Macbeths. Although this is also a very large plot point for the Macbeths as well, this decision is what causes their eventual downfall. If neither of them had such intense ambition for the throne, then it is probable they would have lived out happy lives content with what they have. But they wanted more, so they lost everything.

After the murder of King Duncan wrestles with his feet. He wants to control what will happen he wants to control his destiny. He becomes obsessed with it thus leading him to lose his sanity and finally it brings his downfall. Has finally become king yet he worries again about his future. He now sees Banquo and his son as a threat to his position so he hires murderers to assassinate them. Banquo's prophecy said that his descendants would be kings, therefor Fleance is a threat to his position. They succeeded in killing Banquo but his son Fleance had escaped, Macbeth is now filled again with worry. "There the grown serpent lies. The worm that's fled/ Hath nature that in time will venom breed,/ No teeth for th' present. Get thee gone." (Macbeth 3.4.32-34). Macbeth no longer feels the guilt of murdering the king in his sleep, he is much more cold-blooded. Instead he attempts to take fate into his own hands through violence, all to protect his position. Banquo is gone, compared to "the grown serpent" who lies dead somewhere and Macbeth feels nothing, yet. Fleance "the worm" has escaped. He is not a threat for now but in time he will become dangerous. Macbeth worries but comforts himself, reminding himself that he has time before Fleance's "teeth" emerge and "venom" developpes. He tells the murderer to leave. This is a very outright attempt to control his fate, even though it has failed we see that Macbeth now actively tries to control his destiny and will do whatever it takes. Even if it's the murder of a dear friend.

Macbeth is again filled with worry. He searched for the three witches who gave him his prophecy about becoming king. He finds them in a cave in the midst of some sort of enchantment. He is completely paranoid that he will be dethroned or killed. He demands that they answer his questions and they do. They show him a series of visions that lure him into a false sense of security. Each prophecy seems impossible, for example: Macbeth is untouchable as long as no man who is born from a woman can kill him, and he cannot die until a forest marches to a different hill. They all seem impossible but this causes Macbeth to become overly prideful and believe himself to be god-like. "Who can impress the forest, bid the tree/ Unfix this earthbound root? Sweet bodements, good!/ Rebellious dead, rise never till the Wood/ Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth/ Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath". Macbeth feels relieved to be "safe", but the witches have duped him. All these prophecies make him feel safe when he is actually walking into his own demise. He trusts the prophesies that they give him and he never really considers the true intentions of the witches. It probably wouldn't take a lot of speculation to come to the conclusion that the witches mean more harm than they do good. Sadly Macbeth's excessive pride gets in the way of his judgement. He still plans on murdering Macduff's family just so he can sleep easier at night because "the rebellious dead", meaning all those he killed cannot come back to haunt him but he remains ignorant of the danger he has put himself into.

By this point in the play Macbeth's tragic fate has been sealed many times over. Yet this is a defining moment, Malcolm and Macbeth are about to begin their battle Beth Has already killed Malcolm's family and he wants revenge. They exchange a few words before they begin and In that moment Macbeth realizes that he will lose. He fights nonetheless to keep his honor, the one thing that he holds on to dearly, the last thing he has on this earth. He feels fear for the first time in a long time yet he finally embraces his fate for what it is. "Despair thy charm,/ And let the angel whom thou still hast served/ Tell thee Macduff was from his mother's womb/ Untimely ripped. (Macbeth 5.8.17-20) . The prophecy has been fulfilled Malcolm shall be the one to end Macbeth's life. Malcolm have been prematurely ripped from his mother's womb, so technically he was not a woman born. The prophecies that he believed his strength, what make him untouchable are actually what caused his downfall. Earlier in the play Macbeth had killed Malcom's family perhaps he never had boneless baked with been avoided altogether.

In conclusion Macbeth's fate had been sealed the moment he attempted to seize his destiny. He was doomed the moment he killed the king to usurp his position. He is flawed and wrought with ambition but that is what makes him human and what allows the audience to feel sympathy for him. Was Macbeth truly the master of his own fate? Was his fate sealed the moment he tried to obtain it through questionable means? Without his flaws he could have lived a happy life, if he had simply been content with what he had in the moment none of the tragedies would have taken place but everyone in life always wants more. No one is happy where they are, they always want more but it all depends on whether or not they have the ambition to fulfill it. Sometimes in the search for everything one can lose everything and that is the story of Macbeth.