The Tragedy of Macbeth
By Kaitlyn Tomblin
The Witches Destroy Macbeth
The Witches are the leading cause towards the destruction on Macbeth because they always gave him a false sense of hope. In the beginning the witches would greet Macbeth by saying, "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be the King hereafter" (1.3.52-57). The witches were giving Macbeth titles that made him believe that he was some amazing person who was going to be given amazing titles. Once Macbeth has taken his place as King and has killed multiple people, he starts going crazy. Hecate, the main witch, plans her attack to fully take down Macbeth: "There hangs a vap'rous drop profound. I'll catch it ere it come to ground; And that, distilled by magic sleights, shall raise such artificial sprites as by the strength of their illusion shall draw him on to his confusion"(3.5.24-29). Hecate is planning to take a magical drop from the moon, make a potion, and create spirits that will destroy Macbeth. Towards the end of the play, Macbeth meets this apparitions made by Hecate who give him this huge false sense of security. The apparitions tell him, "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; Beware the Thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough./ Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the pow'r of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth./ Be lion-melted, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspires are. Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane HIll shall come against him" (4.1.79-81,89-92,103-108). The apparitions that the witches created are basically telling Macbeth that he needs to stay away from Macduff, that he can not be hurt by anyone born from a woman, and that he will not be defeated until Birnam Woods comes to him. Macbeth is thinking so highly of himself by this point that he does not think that a person could not be born of a woman or that the woods would be able to move towards him, so when he finally witnesses that all these things can happen, he is not prepared to admit to himself that he can be defeated. All in all, the witches are the main reason for Macbeth's destruction because they gave him this false sense of hope that he was this great person and gave him hope that he could go into battle and not be hurt, when really they were just setting him up for failure.
Literary Devices Found Throughout Macbeth
Comic Relief is the in conclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious situation, often to relieve tension. Comic Relief is found in Macbeth when the Porter is talking to Macduff, after the discovery of Duncan's body, about how alcohol is a stimulant lust. The Porter states, " Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes: it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance" (2.3.27-29). The drunk Porter is trying to relieve the tension throughout the castle since everybody is in shock of the thought that someone had killed King Duncan. Verbal Irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. Verbal Irony is found in Macbeth when Macduff says to Lady Macbeth, "O gentle lady, 'tis not for you to hear what I can speak! The repetition in a woman's ear would murder as it fell" (2.3.92-95). This shows Verbal Irony because Macduff is calling Lady Macbeth a gental woman even after she had just helped in the murder of Duncan. A Metaphor is a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. A mataphor is found in Macbeth when Lady Macbeth is talking to Macduff after he rang a bell throughout the castle. Lady Macbeth says, "What's the business, that such a hideous trumpet calls to parley the sleepers of the house? Speak! Speak!" (2.3.89-91). This is a metaphor because she's comparing the clanging bell to a trumpet used to call two sides of a battle to negotiation.
Alcohol is a Stimulant for Lust
O Gentle Lady
Trumpets Calling to Battle
Oz Relates to Macbeth
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz shows The Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margret Hamilton, who tries to destroy Dorothy, played by Judy Garland. This movie is like Macbeth because The Wicked Witch of the West Resembles the Witches and Hecate because they both are out to see total destruction to Dorothy/Macbeth. The Wicked Witch of the West tries to destroy Dorothy by sending multiple animal type objects to kill her, but is not able to because she is protected by the Witch of the North's kiss. But once the Wicked Witch obtains Dorothys silver shoes, the Witch becomes even more powerful. In Macbeth the Witches send apparitions to Macbeth, telling him that nobody could ever harm him until certain things happened. But once Macbeth goes into battle he realizes that the witches and apparitions had lied to him and he was being so cocky that he had not prepared for the worst and is killed by Macduff.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) Original Trailer - Judy Garland Movie
Macbeth and the Witches
This piece of art is symbolic to the down fall of Macbeth because this is where the Witches first give Macbeth the prophesies that set him up for being extremely cocky. By telling Macbeth that he's now the Thane and that he'll soon be King gives him this huge ego that he's going to have all this power and be able to do anything he feels like. If the witches wouldn't have told him that he'd become King, him and his wife would have never came up with the plan to kill King Duncan. The Witches said to Macbeth, "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be the King hereafter" (1.3.52-57).