The power of prophecy is a tricky thing, and that is
certainly showcased in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. We often talk about the power of
the supernatural in this place, and surely it does feature through out, but the
most prominent of all the supernatural features that occurs is that of
prophecy. It is the reason that the actions of the play even occur, for who is
to say that without the witches telling Macbeth he would one day rule that he
would have killed Duncan in order to become king when he did? We assume
eventually Lady Macbeth would have thought it up being the type of woman she
is, but basically the assumption is that it is the witches’ prophecy that leads
us there. It is mostly Macbeth, as well, that is tricked within the course of
this play.
It also causes Macbeth to have his own friend murdered when
he begins to fear the other part of the prophecy, for as Macbeth himself put it
“Only for them [Banquo’s sons] and mine eternal jewel/Given to the common enemy
of man/To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings./Rather than so, come fate
into the list/And champion me to th’utterance.” (3.1.69-73). Which is basically
him saying that he only became king to give it to Banquo’s sons, or at least so
the prophecy goes, and again he is the one who helps this to eventually happen
through his actions. So how much is prophecy and how much happens because the
prophecy happens? It is a question that can always be asked with any form of
prophecy.
The big prophecy that we see tricking Macbeth within this
play is the one that states “…for none of woman born/Shall harm Macbeth.”
(4.1.96-97). This makes Macbeth believe that he is safe, and shall not be
harmed, thus he says right after this that there’s no point in killing Macduff,
he might as well not fear him because no one can kill him, in his mind everyone
is born of woman because natural birth was the main form of birth in this time.
No one was really born via Cesarean section. He still says he’ll kill Macduff,
but now he is not afraid of dying by the other man’s hand, as he really should
be considering how Macbeth meets his end.
This prophecy is tricky in how its worded, and how it gives
Macbeth his sense of security. Everyone is born from a woman, that’s just the
way that it goes, but it means that it would have to be a natural birth, not
the baby taken from the woman. And thus, feeling assured, Macbeth meets his end
via Macduff because he wasn’t afraid of him. Of course it could be said that
whether or not he was ready for it, he was going to die. But the basic idea is
that the prophecy tricked him into a false sense of security, which allowed him
to not make the preparations he should have for his own safety.
Prophecy is truly not something to be messed with, the
future is always changing after all and Shakespeare makes this very clear
within this.
3 comments:
I really liked your blog and I also agree with it. If Macbeth had never heard the prophesy at all then nothing bad would have happened. If he never heard it he wouldn't have told Lady Macbeth, she would have never insisted on killing King Duncan or anyone else for that matter. No one would have died at all, including Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. I liked your comment "This prophecy is tricky in how its worded, and how it gives Macbeth his sense of security. Everyone is born from a woman, that’s just the way that it goes, but it means that it would have to be a natural birth, not the baby taken from the woman." If Macbeth had not gone back a second time to the witches, he wouldn't have had that false sense of security. The witches messed with him the first time around by not telling him everything he wanted to know, so he should have been a little more careful the second time. He should have known the witches wouldn't have been so kind to spell it out for him.
Sometimes this play reminds me of the Matrix. (Bear with me here) There is a scene in the first movie where Neo (the lead character) goes to talk to the Oracle. Neo walks into the room and the Oracle tells him to forget about the vase, he then says "what vase?" turns, and in searching, knocks over a vase. The oracle then says: "What's really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?"
Would Macbeth still have acted the way he has if the witches never spoke to him? It seems like an unanswerable question, yet at the same time, the witches do not offer him the path that he follows, they show him only the destination. It was Macbeth and his Lady's ambition and cruelty that led them down their murderous path. They would have broken the vase regardless, the prophecy was just a catalyst.
One thing we didn't talk much about, but your posts reminds me of, is the contrast between holy prophecy (of the kind we see in the bible) and the more malicious predilections of the witches. This might be another way of understanding the holiness/unholiness dynamic in the play. Shakespeare shows that Macbeth aligns himself with the wrong prophecy, perhaps--but then again, the witches do give us a vision of King James in the future. Perhaps it's hard to know when prophecy is for good or evil?
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