by Corliss Jacobs
Shakespeare is one of the most influential writers of all time, and one of the founding fathers of the English language. His two most iconic plays are undoubtedly A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet. Still, neither of these can overshadow the impact that Macbeth had on all who watched it. It is still remade and re-done to this day, for good reason. It is also my favorite of Shakespeare’s works. Why? Well, for one, I adore dark and spooky stories. But it’s not just my love of the scary that draws me in. It’s the genius exploration of that age-old question — are our destinies our own, or pre-ordained by fate? I, for one, believe the former, and I will use this classic play to show you why.
Macbeth follows the titular character, who is the Thane of Glamis (meaning he is a noble lord with a high-ranking title). After a battle in which he was victorious, he and his friend Banquo run into a trio of witches, who inform Macbeth that he will not only become Thane of Cawdor, but that he will be King of Scotland. Then they tell Banquo that while he will never be king, his descendants will be kings after he is dead. Almost immediately after this prophecy is given, Macbeth finds out he has indeed become the Thane of Cawdor, which lets him know that the witches were speaking the truth. There only one problem. The current king, Duncan, has named his son Malcolm as heir, so there is no way Macbeth could become a royal unless both the king’s sons ended up dead. After confiding in his wife, Lady Macbeth, she convinces him that the only way to make the witches’ prophecy come true is to make it true by killing the king and his heirs. Her poisoned words convince him to go through with the plan, so they invite the king to stay with them at their castle. In the night, Macbeth steals up to Duncan’s chambers and kills him, even though he is so tormented by his decision that he hallucinates a bloody knife in the air before he even performs the deed. His wife frames the kings’ servants for the job. In the morning, when the murder is discovered, the kings’ children flee to England for safety, leaving Macbeth to be next in line as King of Scotland. What I found interesting is that, unlike with the Thane of Cawdor, it was Macbeth’s own actions that led to his becoming king. Perhaps if he had waited, he would have become king in some other way… or perhaps not, and he would have defied the prophecy. Oh, well! Now Macbeth is king of the land! He can live happily ever after now, right?
Wrong. Macbeth is haunted by the deeds he has done, but is haunted most of all by the second part of the witch’s prophecy — that Banquo’s children will succeed him and not his own. Driven by paranoia, Macbeth hires a group of assassins to ambush his former friend, along with his son Fleance, to put an end to the threat to his reign. After giving this order, Macbeth’s guilt begins to catch up to him, causing him to see a bloody vision of his former friend following him around the dining hall. This causes his subjects to become suspicious of him. It doesn’t help that his rule has become tyrannical thanks to Macbeth’s newfound fear and treachery. When he hears that Banquo’s son, Fleance, escaped the attack, Macbeth seeks out the witches for guidance. They tell him three things: that no man born of woman can hurt him, that he will not be defeated until the forest outside the castle moves against him, and to beware Macduff, the Thane of Fife. Still not satisfied, Macbeth asks the witches if Banquo will truly begat a line of kings. They respond by showing him for just how long his friend’s bloodline will hold the Scottish throne, their reign spanning many lifetimes. Still, in spite of this fear, Macbeth thinks his reign is safe. After all, forests can’t move, and every man is born of a woman. The only problem that remains is that pesky Macduff…
Speaking of Macduff, he hears of plans made by Prince Malcolm to return and take his rightful throne by force, and travels abroad to join him. This all but confirms Macbeth’s suspicions, and he sends more assassins to the Thane’s home to seize his castle and murder his wife and children. When Macduff hears of the deed, his feud with Macbeth becomes personal, and he vows to cut off his head with his own hands. Thus Macduff, who had no quarrel with Macbeth before, now wants to kill him. If Macbeth hadn’t gone after him, he would not have cause to strike. People begin to whisper that Macbeth has gone mad, along with his wife, who is plagued by visions of blood on her hands she can’t wash off. Ironically, it was her who made the plan to kill Duncan in the first place, and her who condemned Macbeth’s hesitation as cowardice. Now, she is forever trapped in the guilt of what she has done, which is so heavy she eventually can’t carry it any longer. When Lady Macbeth takes her own life,Macbeth is deprived of his only companion in the Hell his life has become. To make things worse, he receives news that Malcolm’s army is moving against him. Even so, Macbeth is not worried. After all, he is invincible! Until another messenger brings word that Birnam Wood, the forest beyond the castle, seems to be creeping towards them. Then Macbeth knows his hour has come. He grimly girds himself up for battle, deciding to defend his throne to the bitter end. It’s all he has left in the world.
The forest, of course, is not really moving. The army of Malcolm has merely cut some branches off of the trees and used them to disguise their numbers. Macbeth rushes into the woods to meet them, along with the few left who are loyal to him. As the witches promised, none of the men can touch him. He cuts a bloody swathe through their ranks… until he meets Macduff. Haughtily, Macbeth proclaims that not even he can kill him, for no man born of woman can claim his life. Macduff returns with the fact that shakes the last of Macbeth’s confidence — he was not born of his mother, but cut out of her stomach in a very primitive C-section. Still, even in his revenge-fueled hatred, Macduff offers the fallen king a choice of surrender. Knowing that it will mean only a lifetime of being spit on as a tyrant and traitor, he chooses to fight to the death instead. Macduff gets his revenge at last, beheading the traitor king and presenting the head to Prince Malcolm. The tyrant’s reign of terror is over at last.
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most potent tragedies, and also one of his most frightening. It’s a bit of an alarming revelation that someone as kind, brave, and strong as Macbeth could turn into such a twisted, evil man, willing to kill anyone and everyone to keep his power. It was a nice wake-up call to me, too, reminding me that everyone has infinite potential for evil as well as infinite potential for good. This brings me back to the first question: Was Macbeth doomed to become a villain, or could he have changed his path? I encourage you to read or watch it and develop your own interpretation, but my take is that, in spite of the witch’s prophecy, Macbeth could have lived a very different life. The witches, to me, are representations of evil. Evil loves to wrap their lies in a blanket of truth. Macbeth probably would have been king one way or another, even if he had chosen not to kill Duncan. Or, perhaps he would have rejected the prophecy, and remained only the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis. But it would have been a better life than the one he got. The witches picked Macbeth because they knew his potential to become evil, and pushed him just enough so that he, in his panic and fear, would commit the wicked acts they desired. It was not predestined, but it was manipulated. They wanted Macbeth to choose the evil path, because they are beings that delight in sowing death and despair. Unfortunately for him, they were very good at planting seeds of darkness in the hearts of men. But ultimately, he had a choice, as do we all. We choose which seeds in our garden need watering, and which are plucked out as weeds. When evil tries to trick us, we must resist and choose goodness instead, no matter what storms try to beat us back.
In such a frightening, gory, and tragic tale, there is embedded lessons that we can all do good to remember. Our life is ours to choose, with our fates being determined by the choices we make, good or bad. No matter how set in stone the future may seem, we must stay true to the light in our souls, or we won’t have a future at all. And finally… don't murder your boss for that promotion. It'll come back to bite you one way or another.
This Halloween season, remember that your life is a canvas, and only you can choose how to paint it. Happy Halloween, moms. May you pave your own destiny.
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