AP Literature
October 8, 2013
Macbeth’s Catalyst
Throughout the play, Macbeth, our main character for which the play gets its title from, goes through a series of events that leads to his ultimate downfall. Alone, he could never have achieved the title of King of Scotland. However, thanks to Lady Macbeth and the witches for serving as Macbeth’s catalysts, pushing him and adding more ambition to his heart, he did achieve much more than his own will could have. By being pushed towards his evil desires, Macbeth plays right into Shakespeare’s dark and evil motif, eventually dying as an evil, hated tyrant. Without his wife, or the witches, Macbeth may not have gone down the tyrannical path he did, and may have lived his life as a hero of Scotland.
Shakespeare seemed to associate the witches with evil, supernatural forces, and in doing so, they appeared to be the dark part of the human mind that which indulges in the lust for power and ambition. By telling Macbeth his possible future as king, they provoked him into wanting to obtain these desires regardless of his morality. In this sense, the witches persuaded Macbeth to act on his evil thoughts that which he must commit to in order to satisfy his thirst for power. However, Macbeth seemed to not want to act upon his dark thoughts at first. Macbeth, as seen in Act I, Scene 3, states “[Aside] this supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill; cannot be good . . . 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 Against the use of nature?” Macbeth, deep down in his heart, wants to be king, but the thought of murdering the current king, Duncan, horrifies him. He was not going to murder Duncan, wanting to allow Duncan to die under natural or, at least, different causes. However, at this point Lady Macbeth steps into the play, becoming the second catalyst for Macbeth’s evil desires. She is the catalyst for his murderous side, which he needed to...