Macbeth by William Shakespeare tells the story of how one mans love of power
leads him to murder and madness. Macbeth is a great soldier, a man that is fit
to be king. He was “ thought most worthy the government of a realm”.
However, it is his ambition to be King, spurred on by his wife and the witches
that finally lead him to destruction and we are left wondering how such a
“noble’ man can do such vile deeds. Lady Macbeth and the Witches are more
responsible for the murders that occur in the play than Macbeth. When Macbeth
first hears the witches prophecies, “ All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King
hereafter” he does think of killing the king, but then he thinks he wont need
to do anything about it: “ If chance will have me king, why chance may crown
me without my stir” However, when Lady Macbeth hears about the prophecies she
immediately starts to think that both she and her husband will have to kill
Duncan. She appeals to the evil spirits to give her strength to kill Duncan as
she rightly believes that Macbeth is too nice and too “ ful o’the milk of
human kindness’ to do the deed. She view thing in either black or white and
has none of Macbeth’s ability to see what may happen afterwards. She summons
Hell to get thing done and doesn’t think of the consequences, while Macbeth
thinks only of damnation. Because Macbeth loves his wife and wants her to think
well of him he can’t bear not to do what she asks. He says before he kills
Duncan that he will feel nothing but guilt, but he still does it anyhow. “ I
am settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and
mock the time with fairest show; False face must hide what the false heart doth
know.” The three witches, three sisters without names or individual
characteristics, represent the power of evil and trap Macbeth into doing his
evil deeds. At first, after considering that he could commit murder to achieve
what the witches propose, he puts aside the idea. However, by the second act ,
he no longer attempts to stifle his conscience , and seems to accept that the
murder of Duncan is inevitable.. “ I go and it is done: the bell invites me
“ Macbeth of course was free to resist, but it seems that without the powers
of evil that the witches represent, he wouldnot have done it.