Superstition Effects Human Behavior

Superstition Effects Human Behavior

Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth shows the effect that superstition has on a human when given a prophecy. While Macbeth and Banquo are walking home from the battle field they come across three witches that prophesize that Macbeth will soon become Thane of Cawdor and Glamis and that Banquo would father kings. They also said he would soon become King of Scotland. Once receiving this bold statement from the witches, Macbeth thinks nothing of it and continues to head home. Soon after, King Duncan, the current king of Scotland, goes to Macbeth’s house and informs him that he has become Thane of Cawdor and Glamis. Macbeth is obviously ecstatic about the news but this creates belief in the witches’ prophecy.

Superstition first affects Lady Macbeth’s behavior. Macbeth takes his rightful throne as Thane of Cawdor and Glamis. He then begins to believe that these prophecies will eventually come true. Once Lady Macbeth hears of this prophecy, she begins to get very greedy for the position as queen. Lady Macbeth decides that Macbeth should kill King Duncan so he could become King sooner. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more a man” (1.7.54-56) this is a quote from Lady Macbeth to Macbeth bribing him to take Duncan’s life in order to take his throne as King. She is telling him that he would be much more a man if he did so. Lady Macbeth is beginning to act in a way that she never would have before she heard the prophecy. She is telling her own husband to go and commit a murder and that he will be more a man if he does. She is acting this way only because a witch in the woods predicted that it would happen. You can tell that this superstition is affecting Lady Macbeth’s behavior because she is asking her own husband to become a murderer. Soon after, Lady Macbeth drugs King Duncan’s guards so Macbeth can come in and slay King Duncan in his sleep.

The second person that is fully effected my superstition is Macbeth. King Duncan’s children, the rightful heir to the throne, fled Scotland because they feared their own lives. In doing so, it made them both look guilty for their father’s murder and freed the guilt from Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth was then given the position as King of Scotland. When Macbeth realizes that he had just got away with murder and received the honor of becoming King of Scotland, he starts to fully believe in the witches’ prophecy. This superstition begins to affect the way Macbeth is behaving. He remembers that the Sisters prophesized that Banquo would father kings. He decides that Banquo and Fleance must be exterminated in order to keep his throne. Macbeth hires three murderers to do the devilish deed. “O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!” (3.3.24) Banquo screams this out while he is being slayed by the murderers. Fleance is able to escape from the murderers. “We have lost best half of our affair.” (3.3.30) The second murderer says after they realize that they let Fleance get away. This shows how Macbeth’s behavior is being affected by the prophecy because he had hired murderers to kill his own friend.

Superstition continues to affect Macbeth’s behavior. Macbeth decides to find the witches again because he wants more prophecies. When he finds the Sisters, they show Macbeth three apparitions that tell him to beware of Macduff, that he shall be killed by a man that is born a woman, and that he will continue to be safe until the Birnam woods move. Meanwhile, Malcolm and Macduff are joining up with the English Forces so they can rebel against Macbeth and oust him from his throne. “As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I look’d toward Birnam and anon, methought, the wood began to move.” (5.5.36-38) A messenger said to notify Macbeth. One of the apparitions told Macbeth that he would only be save until the Birnam Forest began to move. Macbeth knew it was time for battle. During the battle, Macbeth runs into Macduff. He was warned by one of the apparition to beware of Macduff. Soon after, Macbeth is notified by Macduff that he was not born a woman, but prematurely torn from his mother. One of the apparitions told Macbeth that he could not be killed by a name born a woman. This time Macbeth boldly ignores the warning from the witches and battles Macduff anyways. Macduff then slays Macbeth, ending his time as King of Scotland.

In this story, there are many superstitions that are towards Macbeth. They also continue to affect his behavior throughout the story. Most of the time he listened to these superstitions and it affected the decisions he made and the kind of person he is. At the end of the story, he chooses to ignore one of the superstitions and in return, he is killed by one of the only men who could. Macbeth had been warned multiple times, but chose not to take the warning. Weather the superstitions are believed or not, Macbeth and his wife’s behavior is severely altered by superstition.