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God and the devil have a strong presence in Macbeth. The characters look to heaven and hell as places they have to try and strive towards or steer away from. God and the devil seem to be the driving and obvious force behind the happenings of the tragedy. They mold the characters into what they are.
Even when things do not end up in their favor. The witches have an impact on the whole theme of the play. They are the ones who start to label Macbeth with titles, which he does not yet posses. The witches predict the future, which is to Macbeth's liking. All hail Macbeth!
Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis. All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth, thats shalt be king hereafter! (1. 3. 46 - 48). Macbeth at this time was only the Thane of Glamis and he knew he had aspirations of becoming king, but wanted to know how these witches would know to say such things. tell me more But how of Cawdor?
The thane of Cawdor lives, a prosperous gentleman, and to be king stands not within the prospect of belief. (1. 3. 68 - 73) The witches at this point fade out and leave Banquo and Macbeth to speculate. Ross and Angus enter and tell Macbeth that that the Thane of Cawdor is going to be executed and that Macbeth will take on the title. In Macbeth's mind this means that he is going to be king. Since the witches were able to predict that he was going to be Thane of Cawdor then he believes he is definitely going to be king. What can the devil speak true? (1. 3. 107) This is Banquo's reaction after Ross hails Macbeth with his new title, Thane of Cawdor. Banquo starts to wonder if what the witches proclaimed, would actually come true.
If what they said did come true for him it would mean his children would be kings. This quote is sort of strange to me. I am taking it as he refers to the witches as the devil. I dont know how he came to this conclusion; maybe it is just how he is trained to think towards anyone that can see the future. The witches planted this thought into Macbeth's head about being king. Since the Cawdor topic came true with ease he believes that him becoming king will also be an easy transition.
Banquo warns Macbeth that he may be being tricked by the deception the witches. And often times to win us to our harm the instruments of darkness tell us truths. (1. 3. 120 - 123) At this point Macbeth is overrun with the thought of killing King Duncan. He drifts into his thoughts and wonders how he easily believes the witches. It seems that he gave in to their omens quickly, but when someone tells you something that you want to hear it is very easy to believe them. Especially if what they are saying comes true moments after it is said. Not only do the witches overcome Macbeth with thoughts of murder and being king, when Macbeth tells his wife about what had happened she also becomes drowned with thoughts of murder.
As she awaits her husbands return she asks spirits to make her tough, so that she might be able to be part of Macbeth's rise to king. The spirits she is asking to do this for her have to be evil ones. Anytime that you are asking for the power to kill you definitely are siding with the devil. This almost seems to blind her a little to the actual situation that is happening around her.
Come thick night that my keen knife see not the wound it makes nor heaven peep through the blanket of dark to cry hold, hold. (1. 5. 48 - 52). Lady Macbeth is asking the devil to cast a dark cloud over the already dark night. This way she will be able to think about the murder and when Duncan arrives complete the murder without God seeing it. Does she really care if God could see the murder or just her thoughts?
She has to be beyond caring about whether she will end up in heaven or hell. The impure thoughts that she is obsessed with will surely seal her fate. When Macbeth returns they are on the same wavelength. They both are anticipating the arrival of Duncan and know what they are going to do. O, never shall sun that morrow see! (1. 5 60 - 61) King Duncan will never see the light of the next day.
Macbeth's wife is ready to act and to make sure this happens. Act one scene seven has Macbeth having second thoughts about killing Duncan. Macbeth has to remove himself from the presence of the king. He seems worried about what is life will be like after the murder takes place. Maybe he is worried about the afterlife.
Because even if he can get away with murder in the regular world he may not be able to getaway with it in heaven. God can see everything and on judgment day would Macbeth suffer for his actions? After the Macbeth kills Duncan they quickly cover up the crime. A porter approaches and his knocking startles Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth quickly gets Macbeth to clean himself up.
The porter pretends to be a gatekeeper of hell of some sort. He does not enter, but stands outside of the gate and runs off stories. He is welcoming people into hell, but it doesnt seem to be directed towards Macbeth. Its as he is just running his mouth for no apparent reason. The fact that Macbeth just murdered Duncan makes the scene seem weird because Macbeth was wondering about hell and heaven earlier in the play. Since I know what already happens to Macbeth in the rest of the play I can speculate that this was some sort of omen to Macbeth's final destiny.
The weather seemed to change while thoughts of and the murder of Duncan took place. Lennox comments on it moments before Macduff realizes that Duncan is dead. The night has been unruly. Where we lay are chimneys were blown down, and as they say lamenting's heard Ith air, strange screams of death. (2. 3. 50 - 52) These ill winds were probably the result of God being upset with the situation and the murder of Duncan.
They could also possibly be a result of the devil being happy with the events that just happened. Excited that now he has Macbeth under his wing because he just committed the heinous act of killing someone. It is ironic that Lennox says these things about the weather right before the murder is discovered. Shakespeare probably definitely wanted the two events to be connected if he set it up this way. After they realize that Duncan had been murdered and the confusion unfolds. Macbeth lays down the story of the two drunken grooms.
People somewhat seem to believe him and accept the story. Surprising, but unsurprisingly Banquo questions and doesnt accept the story of the two drunken m...
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