Superstition Affects Human Behavior by Mad Max W.

Throughout the course of Macbeth, there always seemed to be a heavy emphasis on him believing the witches and his prophecies. In fact, he believed them so much that he would make sure that they’d come true at any costs. He even joined forces with his evil wife, who seemed even more corrupted than himself. That just goes to show you how something like that can make anyone go completely insane. The main prophecies that were spoken to Macbeth were: He will become king of Scotland, to always watch his back for Macduff, and he will fall from power when the Birnam woods approach his castle.

When Macbeth first found out that he would become king of Scotland, he never thought too much of it. But when he told his wife about this weird caucus with the witches, she took complete advantage of this and began to plot their strike upon King Duncan. Once their deed was done, Macbeth became the king. However it came with a price; once the actual prophecy came true Macbeth seemed as if he slipped into some sort of dark, uncanny state. This feeling of his seemed to never leave his side throughout the entirety of the play.

When Macbeth heard that he would loose his kingship when Birnam Woods move, he laughed because he would only die when the woods (something he thought was impossible) moved and began to approach the castle where he resides. After hearing this from the ghostly apparition he thought he was in the clear and would be king for a long, long time. So he never really prepared himself for any attacks, once he realized what was happening, it was too late. The apposing forces joined together and took branches and shrubberies etc., and put them all around their bodies, which made it look as if the woods were moving.

One of the later prophecies that the witches told Macbeth was that he should watch his back for Macduff. Once this was heard, Macbeth stayed far away from Macduff because he feared for his life. It turns out that the witches were correct again because at the end of the book Macbeth is killed by Macduff at the very end of the play. This didn’t necessarily make Macbeth seem nervous or really “change” him over the course of the book, but arguably it did make him a little cautious when the Birnam woods began to move. Macbeth was a man trapped ever since he met the witches deep within the wood. To elaborate, he couldn’t escape his ultimate doom. But since it was brought up by the three witches it made him tweak out until the day he was killed.

I bet if he didn’t know about his future or have his fortune told he would have ended up just fine. Seeing as how that this story was not the case, Macbeth went crazy since he knew about the future and what would ultimately happen. In all honesty, the only one to blame besides Macbeth was his atrocious wife Lady Macbeth. She made it so much worse than what it actually could have been.