Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare set in 11th century Scotland. In the play, the witches give Macbeth numerous prophecies which are malicious designs to provoke Macbeth towards his death. This is done by giving Macbeth thoughts of treachery against the king, telling him to protect the kingdom from Banquo and his descendants, and giving him a false sense of invincibility against his enemies. If it were not for the prophecies of the witches who guided Macbeth, he would never have killed Duncan and Macbeth's life would not have been a tragedy. When Macbeth first sees the strange sister, they call him three names: “Greetings, Macbeth! Hail to you, lord of Glamis. Hello everyone, Macbeth! Hail to you, lord of Cawdor. Hail to Macbeth, who will henceforth be king!”(1.3.51-53) and goes on to also tell Banquo that his descendants will be kings even if he does not become one. At first Macbeth dismisses these claims and Banquo suggests that they were just hallucinations, but the idea of ​​becoming Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland has been implanted in Macbeth's head. Coincidentally, just before Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches, Duncan announces to Ross that Macbeth will be the new lord of Cawdor "No more will that lord of Cawdor deceive our deepest interest: go and pronounce his present death, and with his old title hails Macbeth." (1.3.76-76) When Macbeth learns that he will become lord of Cawdor from Ross and Angus, he begins to truly believe that he can and will become the new king. The witches use this previously announced fact "Greetings to you, Lord of Cawdor" as a catalyst, to trick him into believing that he will become king, which causes him to act on the prophecy, but which was actually his free will to do. .. ... middle of paper ...... they manipulated Macbeth into making rash decisions; it was his choice to kill Duncan, Banquo and Macduff's family. He allowed himself to believe that he was still invincible even after clearly seeing that the witches' prophecies were deceptive. The witches' prophecies were nothing more than a catalyst to bring Macbeth down. He chose to kill the king to become the new one, he chose to kill his friend to keep the kingdom in his family's name, and he chose to believe that he couldn't be stopped. All of these things were due to the witches repeatedly tricking Macbeth ultimately leading to his death, all because of Sister Weirding's evil state of being and their desire to commit mischief against whomever they desired. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Macbeth. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1915. Google Books. Network. 3 September. 2015.