Ambition & the Prophecies
The Witches’ Prophecies (Act 1, Scene 3)
After their brief opening appearance, the witches return in Act 1, Scene 3 to deliver the prophecies that drive the entire play. They greet Macbeth with three titles: “Thane of Glamis” (which he already is), “Thane of Cawdor” (which he does not yet know he has been given), and “king hereafter.” This ascending sequence — from what Macbeth already has, to what is coming, to what seems impossible — is carefully designed to draw him in.
Banquo receives his own prophecy: he will be “lesser than Macbeth, and greater” and “not so happy, yet much happier.” His children will be kings, though he will not. The paradox in Banquo’s prophecy mirrors the witches’ earlier “Fair is foul” and reinforces the theme of moral ambiguity.
The witches’ three prophecies for Macbeth — Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, king hereafter — form an ascending pattern that makes each prediction more tempting and more dangerous. When the second prophecy immediately comes true, the third seems inevitable.
Macbeth’s Reaction: “Stars, Hide Your Fires”
Macbeth’s reaction to the prophecies is crucial. He does not dismiss them or laugh them off. Instead, he falls into a disturbed soliloquy in which he confesses that “horrible imaginings” are already forming in his mind. The word “murder” enters his thoughts even though no one has mentioned it.
By Act 1, Scene 4, Macbeth speaks one of the play’s most revealing lines: “Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires.” The imperative “hide” tells us that Macbeth already knows his ambition is wrong — he wants to conceal it from heaven itself. Shakespeare shows that Macbeth is not an innocent man corrupted by external forces; his ambition exists before anyone pushes him to act.
Shakespeare uses Banquo as a foil to Macbeth. Both men hear prophecies, but Banquo responds with caution: “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / The instruments of darkness tell us truths.” He recognises that the witches may use truth as bait to lead them toward destruction.
Macbeth, by contrast, immediately begins to scheme. This difference is important in the exam because it shows that Macbeth’s downfall comes from his own character flaws, not simply from supernatural manipulation. Banquo proves that a man can hear the same prophecies and choose not to act on them.
Ambition as Macbeth’s Tragic Flaw
In classical tragedy, the hero’s downfall is caused by a hamartia — a fatal flaw in their character. For Macbeth, this flaw is “vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself.” Shakespeare uses the metaphor of a horse leaping too far and falling to suggest that Macbeth’s ambition will ultimately destroy him.
This connects to the classical tradition of tragedy — the fall of a great man from high status — which reached English drama through Roman playwrights such as Seneca, and which later critics describe using Aristotle’s term hamartia. Macbeth begins as a great warrior — “brave Macbeth” — praised by the king and his peers. His high status makes his fall more dramatic and more morally instructive. A Jacobean audience would see Macbeth’s story as a warning: even the noblest man can be destroyed by unchecked ambition.
Macbeth describes his ambition as “vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’other.” This equestrian metaphor suggests ambition that overreaches and self-destructs. It is his hamartia — the tragic flaw that drives the entire play.
Before we meet Macbeth, Shakespeare presents him through the Captain’s report in Act 1, Scene 2. He is called “brave Macbeth — well he deserves that name” and described as having “unseamed” an enemy “from the nave to the chops” — split him open from navel to jaw. This violent imagery establishes Macbeth as a formidable warrior but also hints at the capacity for brutality that will later consume him.
Duncan rewards Macbeth’s loyalty by making him Thane of Cawdor — ironically giving him the title of a traitor. This dramatic irony tells the audience that Macbeth is already stepping into a traitor’s shoes.
The Significance of Duncan’s Trust
Duncan is presented as a generous and trusting king. He calls Macbeth “a peerless kinsman” and declares that he has “begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing.” The natural organic imagery of planting and growing suggests a healthy, natural order in which loyalty is rewarded through patience.
Macbeth’s decision to murder Duncan is therefore a rejection of this natural growth. Instead of waiting for what may come, he forces his way to power through violence. Shakespeare presents this as a fundamental violation of the natural order — one that will poison everything it touches.
“All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Act 1, Scene 3) — The third prophecy plants the seed of regicide.
“Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires” (Act 1, Scene 4) — Macbeth acknowledges his dark ambition and wants to hide it from heaven.
“Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself” (Act 1, Scene 7) — Macbeth recognises that his ambition may destroy him.
“The instruments of darkness tell us truths” (Act 1, Scene 3) — Banquo warns that the witches use truth to deceive.