Superstition Affects Human Behavior by Sarah M.

When really strange things happen that cannot be explained, people will believe anything to find an answer. For Macbeth in the Shakespeare play Macbeth, he begins to believe everything that the witches say because of their first prediction. It makes him insane and relies on the witches to know how to act. All through out the play Macbeth listens to the witches and his behavior is affected by superstition.

One example of a time that the witches affected his behavior is during his first encounter with the witches. Macbeth was on his way to see the king when he thought he was being talked to by evil spirits. He was terrified but he still listened to the first prediction. “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to you Thane of glamis!” (1.3.50.) he then heard the next two predictions, but the one said by the third witch sounded the best to him. “All hail, Macbeth, who will be king later on!” (1.3.52) once Macbeth hears this prophecy he wonders if it will come true. He wonders how it would even be possible for him to one day be kind of Scotland.

As the thought of becoming king became more and more of a dream for Macbeth, he was convinced by lady Macbeth that killing the king was the best way to get him on top. Macbeth killed the king and waited for nature to take its course. He soon after became king but with the joy and power of becoming king also came the guilt that became heavier and heavier on Macbeth’s shoulders. He began to realize that what he did was a big mistake and he never should have listened to his wife. When he questioned if he would fail his attempt to kill the king he should have backed down but Lady Macbeth said some convincing words. “Just fasten your courage to the notch, and we will not fail. When Duncan is asleep- and after his day’s hard journey, he’ll soon sleep soundly-...” (1.7.67-70). He began to panic and he didn’t know what his next move should be. Everything that the witches predicted had come true so what was to happen to Macbeth next? The peer pressure of his wife made him break down and kill the king. It affected his behavior because he believed in his wife and he realized later he had clearly made the wrong choice.

Looking for any kind of answer Macbeth got on his horse and then ran all around the woods screaming out for the witches to help him. He believed so much in what they said nobody else mattered. The spirits finally spoke and told him his next moves. He begins to get the feeling that he really does hold all the power but is still not completely sure of himself. The second apparition made Macbeth’s confidence rise but he didn’t completely think it through. The apparition said “Be ruthless, bold and decisive. Laugh scornfully at the power of men- for no man born to a woman can harm Macbeth.” (4.1.86-88). Macbeth didn’t think about the possibility of another for of birth that is an unnatural way.

The woods began to move like was predicted by the third apparition, but it moved with people. Macduff was the one who took Macbeth’s life and he would no longer live in fear. He lived to believe in the witches’ predictions and without them he would be nothing. He started to go mad the moment the first set of predictions came true and he let it run his life. He read the predictions wrong and in return, died.