In Act V Scene 8 of the play Macbeth, Macbeth and Macduff come face to

face on another part of the battlefield. Brutal words are exchanged at first.

However words alone did not solve their fight, whether those of a ghostly

prophecy or of Macbeth himself are nothing compared to their wordless anger.

They begin sword fighting. Macbeth had been told by the witches that he could

not be killed by any man born of woman. This comforted Macbeth because he

thought hardly anyone could kill him, including Macduff. However, Macbeth did

not think this “being born of woman” through enough.

As Macduff and Macbeth were sword fighting at the very end of the play,

Macbeth believes Macduff can not kill him because of what the witches had told

him. However, Macduff had not had a natural birth of woman. As soon as

Macbeth found this out, he referred to the witches at “juggling fiends”. He had

been confused all along about what the witches had told him. The witches had

not lied to him, however not told him the whole truth, which gave him a false

sense of security.

Shakespeare wrote the play like this to awe the audience, as well as

Macbeth. Shakespeare probably did not expect the majority of the audience to

figure out the true meaning of the witches prophecies on their own. I don’t

believe Shakespeare was trying to make Macbeth seem stupid, however made

him seem like he isn’t a very wise King.

The witches powers were added into the play as an aide to Macbeth,

without telling him directly what was going to happen to him. The witches did not

use deception while telling Macbeth what they told him. They did make him

more aware of his future while still causing him to have to contemplate his

decisions. In the fight between Macbeth and Macduff, Macbeth meets his

predestined death.

Word Count: 318