Example research essay topic: Act Iv Scene Beware Macduff - 1,562 words

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... cawdor, and finally as "King hereafter. " When Banquo asks that witches if they can foretell future, they hail him as a future sire of Scottish monarchs, and when Macbeth then asks the witches to explain their salutations and the means by which foresee future, they vanish into thin air. Banquo ultimately concludes that the witches are not an hallucination, nor are they of substance, explaining to Macbeth that, "the earth hath bubbles, as the water has/And these are of them" (I, iii, ll. 79 - 80). Since both Macbeth and Banquo actually see the witches, and since both are of sound mind before and immediately after this encounter, the alternative thesis that the witches are only mental figments seems false. Moreover, Lady Macbeth (while she is in her right mind) accepts the reality of the witches having an independent existence. Nevertheless, Shakespeare deliberately upsets any firm conclusions as to who or what the weird sisters are.

When Lennox arrives in Act IV, scene I. after the witches have vanished into air, Macbeth asks whether he saw them. Lennox replies with a simply no, and while his failure to see them is most plausibly the result of his having entered the scene too late, we are again thrown off balance. Leaving the issue of the witches' nature aside for the moment, we find that while the weird sisters can influence humans like Macbeth to carry out terrible acts, they cannot force them to do so, neither do they interfere directly in the commission of crimes. In facing the weird sisters, Macbeth undergoes a two-stage process: he first determines that they are credible and then decides to act upon this assumption. The first step occurs when word comes through Rose and Angus that King Duncan has directed them to call Macbeth by his new title of Thane of Cawdor.

Both Macbeth and Banquo then lend credence to the witches' ability to see into the future. Banquo, however, refuses the temptation of taking the second step, saying that, "The instruments of darkness tell us truths, /Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's/In deepest consequence" (I, iii. , ll. 124 - 126). Macbeth, however, furnishes the witches with the essential ingredient for the mayhem they are brewing, the agency of his will. He first assumes a neutral stance toward acting upon the prediction that he will become king, asserting that "This supernatural soliciting/Cannot be ill, cannot be good" (I, iii. , ll. 130 - 131). Macbeth presumes that even though his encounter with the witches incites terror in him, it cannot be "ill" because it augured his success in becoming Thane of Cawdor.

At this moment, Macbeth has headed down a slippery slope: once he proceeds with "weighing" the value of the witches' predictions he is only a short distance from subordinating his own will into an instrumentality of evil. The contrast between Banquo and Macbeth in relation to the witches surfaces again at the start of Act II when Banquo confides to Macbeth that he has dreamt of the three weird sisters, while Macbeth replies that "I think not of them" (l. 22). This is, of course, a lie and a denial of reality, for right after this exchange and once Banquo leaves, Macbeth sees a dagger hovering before his eyes, and places it in the specific context of his meeting with the witches: "Now o'er the one half world/Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse/The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates/Pale Heat's offerings" (II, i. , ll. 49 - 51). It is important to note that in his second (and final) encounter with the witches (Act IV, scene i. ), Macbeth takes an active hand in conjuring the apparitions that furnish him with an equivocal security about his future as Scotland's king. In the course of the play, the witches paradoxically become less real, but more potent. In the end, the reality of the witches is predicated upon the willingness of human beings to perform their evil handiwork and in the character of Macbeth, this willingness is plainly present.

Although Macbeth does take actions that lead to his downfall, I believe that he is not totally responsible for what happens. Although he takes the action that leads to his downfall, he perhaps would not have done this if the witches had not told him that he would be king in Act 1 Scene 3. I believe that it is the witches are more responsible for Macbeth's downfall than he is. In Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth meets again with the witches, who tell him through apparitions, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!

Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. " In the following scene, we see murderers sent by Macbeth enter Macduff's castle and slaughter both Lady Macduff and her son. The witches are also responsible for this murder, because once again, the witches put ideas in his head. Although the witches can be held responsible for the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macduff and her son, they cannot be held responsible for the murder of Banquo. The witches only speak of Banquo when Macbeth meets with them for the second time and Act 4, Scene 1, after Banquo has already been killed. This murder is the complete responsibility of Macbeth, because the witches had absolutely nothing to do with it and it was only Macbeth's own suspicions that brought him to have Banquo killed.

If Macbeth had not taken action to fulfil the witch's prophecies, he would probably have been happily living as the thane of Glamis and Cawdor at the end of the play. It could be said that he was responsible for his own downfall. However, Macbeth only took action after hearing the witch's prophecies, so I believe that Macbeth cannot be held totally responsible for what happens to himself. I believe that if Macbeth had never heard the witch's prophecies, he would have lived a happy, full life, and perhaps he would have become anyway. Conclusion In response to his wife's death, Macbeth cries out about the emptiness of life, but promises to fight until the end, which is near at hand. Malcolm and Macduff attack and easily overtake the king's castle.

Then in the final scene of the play, Macduff fights Macbeth. The short conclusion of the play occurs when Macduff carries Macbeth's head in on a pole and hails Malcolm as the new King of Scotland. The witch's I think were the influence that carried Macbeth on also lady Macbeth was a factor that affected Macbeth, the evil that is possessed by the weird sisters and Lady Macbeth are comparable because they both go side by side in order to make Macbeth commit the murder of Duncan. I think the witches played a very strong and affective part in this play what made the play interesting; in the whole "Macbeth" delves deeply into a world of evil, sorcery and darkness, both natural and unnatural. The witches are very important in the plot and develop certain aspects of the play. They make greater the theatrical experience with images of darkness, thunder and lightning that make Macbeth the tragedy it is.

Their actions also add to the play, dancing round the cauldron and chanting Double, double Their appearance as dark hags adds mystery to the play. However, we can only say how important the witches are after we assess how responsible they are for the events in the play by merely predicting what will happen. Although Macbeth does take actions that lead to his downfall, I believe that he is not totally responsible for what happens. Although he takes the action that leads to his downfall, he perhaps would not have done this if the witches had not told him that he would be king in Act 1 Scene 3. I believe that it is the witches are more responsible for Macbeth's downfall than he is.

In Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth meets again with the witches, who tell him through apparitions, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. " In the following scene, we see murderers sent by Macbeth enter Macduff's castle and slaughter both Lady Macduff and her son. The witches are also responsible for this murder, because once again, the witches put ideas in his head.

Although the witches can be held responsible for the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macduff and her son, they cannot be held responsible for the murder of Banquo. The witches only speak of Banquo when Macbeth meets with them for the second time and Act 4, Scene 1, after Banquo has already been killed. This murder is the complete responsibility of Macbeth, because the witches had absolutely nothing to do with it and it was only Macbeth's own suspicions that brought him to have Banquo killed. If Macbeth had not taken action to fulfil the witch's prophecies, he would probably have been happily living as the thane of Glamis and Cawdor at the end of the play. It could be said that he was responsible for his own downfall. However, Macbeth only took action after hearing the witch's prophecies, so I believe that Macbeth cannot be held totally responsible for what happens to himself.

I believe that if Macbeth had never heard the witch's prophecies, he would have lived a happy, full life, and perhaps he would have become anyway.

Research essay sample on Act Iv Scene Beware Macduff