Sorceresses of Fate
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the story of a man’s downfall, driven by his eagerness for power, although the origins of the actions that drive him down are not within his control. Each of Macbeth’s actions, which eventually lead him to his death, is preluded by some sort of prophecy given to him by the three witches. However, the witches are not simply soothsayers or oracles that state the outcomes of an inevitable future. Rather, the three witches play the role of temptresses and dictators of fate, fully capable of controlling the future, and chiefly with a desire for the corruption and suffering of mankind. This is clearly seen in the encounters the reader has with them, especially Act 1, Scene 3, Act 3, Scene 5, and Act 4, Scene 1.
The first significant encounter with the witches occurs in Act 1, Scene 3. In the first small portion of this scene, the First Witch sheds light on two key truths: First, they have inhuman power, and secondly, they have evil intentions for basic humanity. She talks about how earlier that day, the wife of a sailor didn’t offer her one of the chestnuts that she was eating. Because of this, she concludes:
“I myself have all the other,
And the very ports they blow,
All the quarters that they know
I' th' shipman’s card.
I’ll drain him dry as hay.
Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his penthouse lid.
He shall live a man forbid.
Weary sev'nnights nine times nine
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine.”(15)
To summarize this passage, she says that she controls the wind and the direction that it blows, which demonstrates her unnatural powers, and additionally, she states that she will make this man endlessly suffer, not allowing him to rest for 81 weeks. Any desire as wicked as this upon a person, who in this case is practically innocent of crime, is a clear indication of a pure hatred and, consequently, evil.
The second portion of Act 1, Scene 3 is equally important, if not more important, in that it is where the witches intentionally lay the bait for Macbeth to kill Duncan and Banquo. The Second Witch sings, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!” The Third Witch sings, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (17). When Banquo asks about his own prophecy, she goes on to say, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.” After the Second Witch’s prophecy comes true, Macbeth is drawn to the conclusion that in order to become King of Scotland, as the Third Witch suggests, he must get rid of the current king, Duncan. Macbeth states:
“This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs.” (23)
This horrible “suggestion” he speaks of is the urge to kill Duncan, an idea undoubtedly given to him by the Third Witch’s first statement. Macbeth goes on to kill Duncan while he visits at Macbeth’s castle home, and thereafter he is traumatized by guilt. Even just after the event, he regrets his actions, which he attests to in his statement, “Wake Duncan with thy knocking. I would thou couldst” (61). Furthermore, in response to the Third Witch’s second statement regarding Banquo, Macbeth resolves to kill him as well. This leads him to an even more apparent guilt or haunting, one obvious example being that he sees Banquo’s ghost at dinner. As a whole, Act 1, Scene 3 is the first instance of the Witch’s desire to corrupt Macbeth and make him suffer, and most importantly, it proves their manipulation of the future. Had Macbeth not heard the Witches prophecies, he never would have killed Duncan or Banquo.
Act 3, Scene 5 is yet an even clearer indication that the witches are collectively the conscious source of all harm done to men. Hecate, the goddess of the sorcery and witchcraft, makes an appearance to rebuke the witches for not consulting her first on what Macbeth’s future should have borne. She calls herself “the mistress of [their] charms” and most notably, “the close contriver of all harms” (111). The “close contriver of all harms” is the clearest possible testament to the fact that Hecate, and subsequently the three witches, are the engineers of destiny, and within destiny their main determination is to harm all those who cross their path.
Act 4, Scene 1 is very similar to Act 1, Scene 3 because once again the witches convince Macbeth to do something he would not have done otherwise, although this time their means of luring is deception. They make a series of ghosts appear in front of him and the first two tell him things that bring about his demise. The first apparition says:
“Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff.
Beware the thane of Fife.”
The second apparition advises:
"Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.” (125)
In response to these advisories, Macbeth decides to kill Macduff, particularly because he now knows that anyone born from a woman can’t hurt him. But of course, he is not successful. When they encounter each other in battle, Macbeth discovers that Macduff was cut out of his mother’s stomach via cesarean section, and in the end, Macduff cuts off Macbeth’s head. Evidently, the witches intended to make Macbeth overconfident about his future, thus encouraging him to do something he wouldn’t have done otherwise, and he pays the ultimate price for it: death. This deception once again shows how the witches can cruelly manipulate the future in order to hurt men.
In conclusion, Macbeth’s downfall and all the events that lead up to it are clearly results of the witch’s manipulation, and thus they may be dubbed temptresses and dictators of fate. Furthermore, each action that the reader witnesses in the play proves that they aim to harm and corrupt men, whether their means is deception or pure sorcery. If Shakespeare’s goal was to infer that witches are the source of all evil, he certainly did it justice.
by Charlie Dodge