In class we discussed whether we thought the witches made Macbeth commit murder, if Lady Macbeth made him commit murder or if it was fate that made him commit murder. However, we never discussed the fact that Macbeth himself committed these murders so therefore, the whole play is his fault. I do agree that Lady Macbeth and the witches did influence Macbeth's awful decisions yet I strongly believe that he did all of this too himself. Duncan already gave Macbeth a title. Duncan also seemed to be a generous King and I think his murder was completely uncalled for. Of course, if Macbeth didn't kill anyone, there would be no play.
But the main point of this blog is to discuss the importance of the witches. Why are they in the play? Are they strictly in the play to give it the Gothic creepy vibe? Are they there to influence Macbeth and get the story rolling? If the witches did not plant the riddle inside Macbeth's head, would he have still tried to be King?
Although I think some of the acts with the witches in them are not important, I do think that they help kick off the story. How else would we explain that Macbeth wanted to kill the King. I don't think Macbeth would kill anyone unless he got the idea that he really could pull it off from someone, since as we've seen, Macbeth seems to lack confidence in himself. Maybe the witches indirectly give Macbeth confidence? I think the witches are in the play for several reasons, but one of the important reasons is to make a statement about human and the fact that humans always think the grass is greener on the other side. The witches symbolize the paranormal, something beyond humans and more powerful. As we've seen in a lot of Shakespeare's plays, a person wants power and either dies trying to get it, or once that person gets power he or she becomes corrupt. We have also seen that once a person becomes King, they have much more responsibility and have to be more careful about how they trust. It is no surprise to me that Lear and Macbeth both end up going insane. The witches are similar to the fool. Although I do view the witches as evil, and I'm sure the text could support that, they do tell the truth and say what they please. The witches do not directly tell Macbeth to kill anyone. Macbeth took what he heard and made it into what he wanted to hear.
New Paltz Students Blogging about Shakespeare
3 comments:
I agree. Although I do believe that the witches and Lady Macbeth played a huge role on Macbeth’s actions of killing throughout the play to gain and secure power, he himself did commit these crimes. No one held a gun to his head and made him try to get more power then what he was already given.
Looking back, I too think that MacBeth lacks confidence. I think if he'd had enough confidence he may not have gone along with Lady MacBeth or the witches...or he at least would have thought about it before he actually went through with his actions.
As we said in class, too, it's important that Macbeth exercises some degree of free will. Otherwise, wouldn't we be able to simply blame his actions on forces beyond him? Shakespeare doesn't want to give Macbeth such an easy escape route for the evils he has committed.
Post a Comment