Macbeth and the Power of Persuasion

Persuasion is a powerful and threatening tool against those who are weak. It can sway one’s decisions between good and evil, concealing judgment and jading the conscience. It plays the critical role of a spectral villain, an invisible danger to the protagonist in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Macbeth is a victim of persuasion of others, making him ultimately not responsible for his actions. Macbeth’s own partner Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to commit murder and fulfill his ambition. The three witches and their Queen influence Macbeth’s decisions through the use of predictions as well as the supernatural. Lastly, the three apparitions conjured by the witches play a very crucial role in establishing Macbeth’s fate through their deceptively uplifting prophecies.

Lady Macbeth is arguably the most persuasive character in the play. She is a perfect example of using the tool of manipulation to one’s advantage to achieve personal benefit. Upon opening her husband’s letter explaining his meeting with the witches, Lady Macbeth is immediately determined to usurp the throne with her husband and become Queen of Scotland:

“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be

What thou art promis’d. Yet do I fear thy nature;

It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness

To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,

Art not without ambition, but without

The illness should attend it;”

(Shakespeare, 1.5.14-19).

From this scene we immediately learn that Lady Macbeth is a dark hearted person with strong determination. She has already concluded that her husband will kill King Duncan and become the ruler of Scotland, though Macbeth is currently a good hearted, loyal human being. Because of these qualities, she fears that Macbeth will not have what it takes to end the life of an innocent and honorable man, though he has great ambition. It is now evident that she is the one who will be responsible for the corruption of Macbeth and the death of the King. Lady Macbeth encourages her husband into committing treason and murder by questioning his manhood and challenging his courage. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.” (1.7.49-51). She persuades him to believe that if he is a man, he would be able to murder King Duncan. Macbeth, being someone who values courage and manhood is easily swayed into doing as she asked. After Macbeth hears the witches’ prophecies, we learn from an important soliloquy that he contemplates murder, but he decides to leave his fate to chance and chance alone: “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical/ If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir.” (1.3.139, 143-145). Macbeth still wishes to be King, but once again, he lacks the evil to carry out the deed. If it were not for Lady Macbeth to push him along, Macbeth would most likely not have killed King Duncan, which would be followed by the string of events that conclude with his pitiful death. Lady Macbeth caused her husband to shift alignments, from good to evil. However, she is not the only force that made an impact on Macbeth’s actions; the three weird sisters and their master plays a role just as significant if not more to the fate of our protagonist.

The three witches and even more so their Queen, are portrayed as wise, evil, and powerful women and hold an enormous influence over Macbeth. They are known at the time for their powerful magic and connections with the supernatural, thus granting them more an influence over others. With their ability to foretell the future, they easily manipulate Macbeth out of amusement and their own pure spite. The witches reveal some important prophecies to Macbeth when they meet: “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! / All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! / All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter.” (1.3.48-50). Macbeth seems to believe these predictions and cannot help but to at least consider them to be true. And so he is influenced by these supernatural predictions into following the doomed path drawn out for him by the three witches. Persuasion is a process that is effective only on the weak-spirited. When Macbeth learns of his future, his weaknesses and ambition are exposed to us: "The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’er-leap, for in my way it lies." (1.4.49-51). Macbeth yearns for his seat on the throne. He is already a very respectable man. He is the noble, loyal, and worthy Thane of Glamis (and Cawdor, which he is currently unaware of) as well as a valorous soldier, but