The true content of the human heart is revealed when one is confronted with the certainty of fate. If you knew what your destiny was going to be would you avoid it or ensure its fulfillment? What would this reveal about you as a person? In Macbeth, several of the characters learn what the future holds for them, and each reaction shows how willing the characters are to either control their destiny or let it control them. Macbeth and Banquo hear from the three witches (representing Hecate, a mythological chthonic figure) that Macbeth will become king of Scotland and Banquo’s family line will succeed him; each person’s inner character, be it foul or fair, is laid bare by that knowledge. Macbeth’s wife is also changed by the news he sends her of the prophecy, and she takes action to ensure its fulfillment. At the end of the story, everything the witches foresee comes to pass, and all because of how each character reacted to the certainty that it would.
The play’s title character Macbeth is shown to be a good man, a loyal subject, and a fierce warrior at the beginning of the story. This image is immediately besmirched when he learns that he is fated to become king of Scotland, and his ambition emerges as his thoughts turn to assassination. This is the first glimpse we have of Macbeth’s true nature, and as he approaches the future this nature becomes more apparent. When faced with the actual murder plot, he hesitates, allowing his moral sanity to get a grip on his ambitious nature. However he eventually succumbs to his avarice and kills Duncan to seize the crown. This sets Macbeth on the slippery slope of tyranny dragged down by his true nature now in full command of his actions. Once more enticed by the knowledge of the future, he goes further and has his companion Banquo murdered because his family line is prophesized to surpass Macbeth’s on the throne. His paranoia and ambition drive him to seek another audience with the witches who relay warnings about his demise. Macbeth reacts to this information with self-preservation in mind, bringing out violent survival instincts. The more the prophecies influence his decisions, the more his true nature as a murderer manifests. He becomes mad with power and arrogant at the supposed invincibility that the witches predict for him; he sends murderers after Macduff’s family and laughs in the face of all danger besetting him. Macbeth allows his darkest side to take over in the end and any hint of remorse or remnant of human kindness is lost from his words and actions. The knowledge of his ultimate fate drives him off the deep end and to his final end.
In complete contrast to Macbeth, Banquo reacts to the news that his sons will be kings rather positively. He admits that dark thoughts cross his mind after he receives the information, but he controls himself and his true nature is revealed just as Macbeth’s is. The difference is that Banquo is essentially more kind-hearted than Macbeth; his sanity remains intact and he is even of sound mind to leave Macbeth’s castle after Duncan is killed, suspecting Macbeth himself to be the culprit. Whereas the prophecy inflames ambition in Macbeth, it sparks only acceptance in Banquo who is pleased at the idea of his sons becoming kings but does nothing to ensure it. Banquo has further moral revelation when he is faced with his ultimate doom; as the murderers descend on him and Fleance, Banquo immediately cries out for his son to flee. Even in the face of certain death, he fights to keep his child alive rather than himself, and for this his bloodline is rewarded with kingship. Banquo’s true altruism is revealed in his final words and actions because he is aware of their finality.
Sir Ian McKellen as Macbeth and Dame Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth in 1976
The last character to react to the play’s opening prophecy is Lady Macbeth. Upon reading her husband’s letter, she “unsexes” herself and allows the dark spirits of mankind’s foulest nature to overcome and transform her so that she is capable of the murder that will lead Macbeth to the kingship. This response is a clear revelation of her true character; to ensure that the prophecy comes true and the Macbeth name rises to power, Lady Macbeth turns herself into a pitiless monster disregarding everything in her way to that power. Being a woman and therefore inherently nurturing to human life (as the Elizabethan perspective prescribes), she must give her soul an extra push into depravity so that she is ready to effectively destroy life. She is willing to go to such depths because she is certain that the prophecy will come true as a result of her sin; this sudden willingness is a stunning disclosure of her disregard for moral consequences. At the end of the play, the guilt of the murder is so powerfully repressed in Lady Macbeth’s mind that it drives her mad. Although her nature as an individual is so corrupt, her nature as a woman and a human being returns to deliver the punishments she cared so little for. Her choices, inspired by the certainty of success, are indicative of her overall character, while her punishment reveals the human psychological response to such choices.
Just as we all do when faced with the inevitable, the characters in Macbeth show their true colors when certain success or certain doom is in sight. Macbeth’s greed overpowers his loyalty because he cannot fail in usurping the throne, and his cruelty consumes his sanity because he thinks he is beyond death. As a result of this shift in character he dies a mad tyrant. Banquo accepts his personal fate and defends his posterity in the face of death; he is truly selfless and his children live on to rule Scotland because of his pure character. Assured of her fated success, Lady Macbeth drags herself to the depths of human immorality in order to plot regicide. Her conscious self-dilapidation shows her inner evil, and retribution strikes her down despite the overconfidence of her sin. The characters in Macbeth provide a showcase for human nature in light of fate; the foul and fair of the heart is distinguished just before the life is extinguished.
Pyrrhic Victories 