Macbeth
Essay
Who bears the responsibility of treason and murder in “Macbeth”?
This is a question that after reading the play Macbeth can come to the mind because treason and
murders are topics that come up through the story. This play, written by William Shakespeare, is
about Macbeth, a Scottish general and Thane who gets a prophecy from three witches: they hail
Macbeth first by his title Thane of Glamis, then as Thane of Cawdor and finally as king. Under his
wife’s advice, he kills the king to become king and then he starts to lose his mind and, because
he is scared to lose power, he commits a series of murders. Civil war breaks out, and it ends with
Macbeth's death.
Many characters might be blamed for bearing the weight of responsibility for the treason and
murder in the play, but the characters that hold the true blame for it are the witches. They were
seen as obscure creatures in Shakespeare’s times and since the beginning of the play they are
mysterious. They are the origin of all Macbeth’s actions since they made the prophecy and they
gave him confidence and a false sense of safety that brought him to act in that way.
The play’s opening scene is with the witches: they already give an atmosphere of mystery. There
are thunders and lightnings in a dark desert and then they say all together, “Fair is foul, and foul
is fair.”(Shakespeare 1.1.12). Here they mean that something that seems fair or good is actually
bad and something that might be considered good turns out to be, in fact, bad. In these words,
there is a premise of the cruelty and the evil that will happen. In fact, it could be that Macbeth
pretends to be a good kinsman to Duncan, and then he betrays him.
The witches in Shakespeare’s times were seen as evil creatures, so the author's choice of them
having the responsibility for all the problems in the play would make sense.
The witches are the cause of all of Macbeth’s actions. They meet him, and they give him the
prophecy that will bring Macbeth to commit murders and treasons: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee,
Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt
be king hereafter!” (Shakespeare 1.3.51-53). This is the prophecy where they reveal Macbeth's
destiny: they basically say that he will be Thane of Glamis, which he already is, Thane of Cawdor,
and then king. Because of this prophecy, Macbeth’s ambitions increase more and more, bringing
him to kill King Duncan and possible other obstacles such as Banquo. Macbeth’s ambitions
provides him a lot of enemies and in fact at the end of the play Macbeth dies but if he didn’t know
about his destiny from the witches probably he wouldn’t have committed all the murders, he
wouldn’t have betrayed many people and he wouldn’t have had enemies against himself.
Moreover, once Macbeth starts his rise to power committing all those crimes, the witches give
him confidence and a false sense of safety that will bring him to confusion and madness. Hecate
says that they have to show him visions that “shall draw him on to his confusion” (Shakespeare
