Macbeth

The Witches had mainly 2 encounters with Macbeth.

The 3 witches first encounter with Macbeth was when Macbeth and Banquo were returning from a victorious battle. The 3 witches gave Macbeth three prophecies "All hail Macbeth;Thane of Glamis" "All hail Macbeth;Thane of Cawdor" "All hail Macbeth;To be King hereafter" The 3 witches planted the seed of evil in Macbeth with these 3 prophecies, and the seed gradually germinated through the play.

Macbeth was the Thane of Glamis by 'Sinel's Death' and when he was given the news that he was the Thane of Cawdor as the previous committed treason and was stripped from his tittle 'What he hath lost noble Macbeth has won' he was deeply influenced by the witches prophecies. He was always thinking of those words the witches said "Have we eaten the insane roots?" It made Macbeth think that he will eventually be king, it caused the thought of evil to be implanted in Macbeth; to kill Duncan in order to gain kingship 'My thought whose murder yet is but fantastical. And in Act 1 scene 4, Macbeth now has totally fallen into the words of the witches "Stars hide your fire let not light see my black and deep desires' he was made believe of the witches' words and has decided to do the deed (killing duncan).

However right before the Murder, Macbeth tried to take things into his own hands and had his own compelling thoughts of why not to kill Duncan. Macbeth was his Kinsmen and subject, he received golden opinions and was only honored of late. Other than those reasons "my intent, except for vaulting ambition' it was his ambitious heart together with the push of Lady Macbeth 'screw you courage to the sticking place and we shall not fail' and the words of the witches that influenced him to do the deed, the witches implanted the thoughts of murder and made Macbeth decide to commit murder.

After Macbeth committed murder and was king he was still not happy, his 'mind full of scorpions' This was because Banquo's children prophecised to be King and his presence threatened his Kingship. All those factors pushed Macbeth to decide to kill Banquo and his child. From here we can again see that Macbeth trusted the words of the 3 witches he was deeply influenced and the words of the Withches manipulated Macbeth in his decisions. And that when Fleance escaped the murder Macbeth was tormented, this led Macbeth to have a 2nd encounter with the 3 witches.

During the second encounter with the 3 witches, they showed Macbeth 3 apparitions. The first was an armored head which could possibly be the head of Macduff depicting the warning, or it could be the sign to the end of the story when Macbeth was beheaded and his head flashed around the country of Scotland. The armored head said 'Macbeth Macbeth!Macbeth! Beware of the thane of Macduff! Beware the thane of fife!" Macbeth responded through thanking it. The second apparition was a bloody child telling Macbeth to "be bloody, bold, resolute. Laugh to the scorn of man as no man born of woman shall harm Macbeth. Macbeth response was "what i need fear thee? make assurance double sure thou shalt not live" And the third apparition was a child with a crown on his head and a tree in his hand saying 'Macbeth shall never be vanquished till Birnam wood to high dunsanine hill. And Macbeth's reactionwas "impossible for a forest to unfix itself." From here Macbeth has totally place his trust into the Witches, he believed the withces and had a singled minded thinking because of the trust and influenced he had towards the witches, he thought that he was invincible and cannot be harmed however in the later part of the story he discovered he was wrong. The witches also showed him a 4th apparition it was a line of 8 phantom king and the ghost of Macbeth at the end. He was angry and cursed the 3 witches.

Again the words of the witches cause him to order the murder of Macduff's family. Although it was just an apparition Macbeth believed in it as he was influence through the first encounter. He was still being manipulated in his actions. And during the battle between Macbeth and Macduff, Macbeth again said ' i bear a charm life, no man born of woman shall harm me' this again showed his absolute trust towards the witches. However he later discovered he was wrong believing in the witches. Macduff was 'untimely ripped from his mother's womb', and thus resulting in Macbeth's defeat.

In conclusion, the Witches were the cause of everything. They implanted seeds of evil in Macbeth and made him to believe in them. Macbeth's decisions then was made through the influence of the witches and most of it had a negatice impact.

Duncan:

A virtuous, benevolent, and farsighted rule

He has alove for the people around him,

,Slightly naiive, He is a just and honest king.

Banquo's son didn't become king, either in the Shakespearean play 'Macbeth' or in actual historical fact. King Macbeth [c. 1014-August 15, 1057] was succeeded by his stepson, King Lulach [c. 1029-1032 - March 17, 1058]. King Lulach in turn was succeeded by the sons of King Duncan I [d. August 14, 1040]. The elder son, King Malcolm III [d. November 13, 1093], reigned first. Then came the reign of the younger son, Donalbain, who was called King Donald III [d. 1099]. The monarch who reigned during the last 13 years of the life of William Shakespeare [Baptized April 26, 1564-April 23, 1616] was King James [June 19, 1566 - March 27, 1625] I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland. He was the son of the beheaded Queen of Scots, Mary Stuart [December 8, 1542-February 8, 1587]. The Stuart kings liked to circulate stories. One such story was descent from Banquo and his son Fleance. According to the Stuart stories, Fleance escaped from northern Scotland all the way down through England to the southwestern kingdom of Wales. There, he married Nesta verch Gruffydd [b. 1059]. Their son, Walter, went back to Fleance's homeland. There, he became Royal Steward to the Kings of Scotland. He did so well that he married into the royal family. But the Stuart stories weren't backed up by historical fact. Nesta's father was Gruffydd ap Llywellan [c. 1007-August 5, 1063], the last native Prince of Wales. Nesta's mother was Aldgyth of Mercia [d. after 1070], who took as her second husband King Harold II [c. 1022-October 14, 1066] of England. What with a mixed noble/royal background, Nesta's information and her family's background were recorded and preserved. The genealogical and historical record haven't given her a husband named Fleance or a child named Walter.

Macbeth heads home to prepare his household for a royal visit. But he first sends a letter ahead, to give his wife the news of the witches' predictions. He shows up not too long after Lady Macbeth finishes reading his message [Act 1 Scene 5].

Macduff wishes to foil Macbeth's placement on the throne, and ends up killing him.

Banquo is apparently a foil to Macbeth because his son will take the throne after him, and he feels this threatens his position.

Duncan appears to Macbeth as a foil to prevent him getting to the throne.

She is asking the spirits which deal with the elementary moral differences between men and women to unsex her, to take away all parts of her that make her a woman, and fill her with the innate cruelty, thick blood and unfeeling nature of a man. She also believes in spirits "sightless substances" indicates the spirits. Murdring ministers is a euphemism or alliteration used to identify the agents of evil.

Macduff's army was approaching, and Young Siward found Macbeth first and they fought each other. When he kills him, the audience thinks that he might survive and fight off the rest. Unfortunatly for him, Macduff was born before his time, and he killed Macbeth.

Macbeth is first 'Thane of Glamis'

then he is bestowed the title 'Thane of Cawdor'

then king of Scotland

The leader who organized the rebellion against Macbeth [c. 1014-August 15, 1057] was the subsequent King Malcolm III [d. November 13, 1093]. Malcolm was the elder son of murdered King Duncan I [d. August 14, 1040]. He left Scotland for England, and his younger brother Donalbain, the subsequent King Donald III [d. 1099], went to Ireland. Nothing more was heard of Malcolm's brother, in the Shakespearean play. But readers and viewers learned of Malcolm's seeking support within England for an invasion of Scotland. Ultimately, he succeeded in finding that support. In the invasion, the leader of the 10,000 man strong English forces was Siward, General in the English army and Earl of Northumbria. But the member of the rebellious forces who actually overthrew Macbeth was Macduff. Macduff tracked Macbeth down on the battlefield, killed him, and brought his head back to the combined forces of invading Englishmen and discontented Scotsmen.

Well, it is Lady Macbeth's plan really, although Macbeth was tempted by a similar idea. The idea was to kill the king and put the blame on his servants. Macbeth is Duncan's cousin, and so might succeed to the throne.

Start with Act 1 Scene 2. Such lines as "Say to the king the knowledge of the broil", "For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)" or "So well thy words become thee as thy wounds" are perfect iambic pentameter. Many lines are imperfect for some reason or other (too many or too few syllables, trochees changed for iambs, feminine endings etc.) but the rhythm as a whole is iambic. You can do the same with scene 3 or indeed scenes 4 to 7--they are full of iambic pentameter. Watch out for the witches, though, because they usually speak four feet to the line.

Nothing. Some people think that he wrote the play to please the king because it is about Scotland, has a flattering reference to James's ancestor Banquo and deals with witches, which were one of the king's pet subjects. However, all of these things were part of the story before Shakespeare got hold of it, in his source material, Holinshed's Chronicles. Holinshed has this to say about the witches and Banquo's decendants:
"when suddenlie in the middest of a laund, there met them thrée women in strange and wild apparell, resembling creatures of elder world, whome when they attentiuelie beheld, woondering much at the sight, the first of them spake and said; "All haile Makbeth, thane of Glammis" (for he had latelie entered into that dignitie and office by the death of his father Sinell.) The second of them said; "Haile Makbeth thane of Cawder." But the third said; "All haile Makbeth that héerafter shalt be king of Scotland." Then Banquho; "What manner of women (saith he) are you, that séeme so little fauourable vnto me, whereas to my fellow heere, besides high offices, ye assigne also the kingdome, appointing foorth nothing for me at all?" "Yes (saith the first of them) we promise greater benefits vnto thée, than vnto him, for he shall reigne in déed, but with an vnluckie end: neither shall he leaue anie issue behind him to succéed in his place, where contrarilie thou in déed shalt not reigne at all, but of thée those shall be borne which shall gouerne the Scotish kingdome by long order of continuall descent."

Macbeth is talking about the witches' prophecy to Banquo "Thou shalt get kings thou thou be none". From this Macbeth infers (although the witches did not actually say so) that his children would not be kings. Macbeth translates "thou shalt get kings" into Banquo being the father to "a line of kings". Well, the witches only said "kings"--they didn't say it was more than two. Then he imagines that none of his children would be kings with a couple of synechdoches: he describes the crown as fruitless (without children) and the sceptre as barren (incapable of having children) when it is the king, himself, which he imagines as fruitless and barren.

I cannot hear the phrase "a fruitless crown" without imagining Carmen Miranda. Sorry if I have now put this image in your head.

a show of 8 kings and Banquo (last king) with a glass in his hand. This shows that Banquo's descendants will become king.

Macbeth is Duncan's cousin, as in the play duncun say's "o worthiest cousin" to Macbeth in act 1 scene four

The prophecies of the witches came in two batches. Early in the play, they prophesy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and later King, and that Banquo, although he will not be king, will be the ancestor of a number of them.

Later, he goes back to the witches, and they conjure up spirits who prophesy that Macbeth could not be killed by a man born of a woman, that he would never be defeated until Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane and that Banquo's descendants would be kings for generations and generations.

At the end of Shakespeare's play Macbeth; Malcolm, son of Duncan is proclaimed to be King of Scots.

(In actual history, Macbeth was succeeded by his son Lulach; who was then was assassinated and deposed by Malcolm)

Guilt over Duncan's murder, and paranoia over the repercussions of her actions

She is afraid of the dark. She cannot help seeing the horrible things that have happened, and darkness makes it easier to imagine them.

Pile of dead bodies at the end and no weddings equals tragedy.

I think it's fair to say that he did love his wife but prior to the murders, their relationship may have been strained. In a scene, lady Macbeth is talking about how she would keep promises. She mentions that she would kill their own child if she promised to do so. This suggests that they did have a child who has died. Obviously, this would strain any relationship.

Also, after the murders, they don't communicate like they used to, Lady Macbeth's conscience is taking over and Macbeth is too preoccupied with the fact that he is under threat and trying to kill people who pose a threat. Thus, causing strains on their relationship.

He sees a dagger in his hand like the one he will use to kill Duncan.

It is purely a hallucination, the audience cannot see it.

Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor as recognition of his achievements in battle. We are told he killed the previous Thane of Cawdor, who was a traitor by "unseeming him from the nave to the chaps" - as such he inherits the traitors land and title