The Three Witches In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

Would life be different with supernatural powers, or would it all be the same? In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the witches first appear with powers to control the weather and people; Macbeth is given prophecies and soon gets ahead of himself because he believes he is invincible. Macbeth is influenced by his wife and his selfishness while trying to take the thrown for himself and soon finds himself being beat at his own game. Although some people say the three witches are the reason for everything that happens to Macbeth, his tragedy would have still been the same without them because the witches did not show up often, Macbeth would still be selfish, and the prophecies would still be fulfilled. The witches did not show up much throughout the play, which did not allow many supernatural things to take place. When the witches show up for the second time in the play to meet Macbeth, they only tell him what his future will hold. The third witch says, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (I. III. 53). They do not do anything to alter the future of Macbeth, they only tell him that he will be king at some point soon. Macbeth is told something that might make him happier and feel invincible, but nothing truly life altering
When the army goes to attack the castle Macbeth is in, Malcolm tells them to grab branches to hide themselves with. Malcolm commands, “Let every soldier hew him down a bough and bear’t before him. Thereby shall we shadow the numbers of our host…” (VI. IV. 6-8). Malcolm tells the soldier to grab big branches and keep themselves covered with them so Macbeth will not be able to tell how many people are coming after him. Malcolm was not aware of the prophecies that Macbeth was given, but the branches made it seem as if Birnam Woods was moving towards his castle which scared Macbeth and fulfilled the prophecy telling him that he would be king until Birnam Woods is