Act 1- Role of the Witches

The three witches definitely play an important role in the play.  The witches were the  first characters to be introduced and this shows that their hugely influential in how the plot will progress. I think the witches will have an influence as to how Macbeth will act throughout the story. In the first act, the witches predict that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and later the King of Scotland. Not long after, King Duncan does announce Macbeth as the new Thane of Cawdor! This gave the idea that Macbeth must eliminate King Duncan in order to fulfill the witches' prophecy. However, the three witches did not tell Macbeth that he had to assassinate the King in order to take his place. Because of the way that Macbeth interpreted it, he comes up with a plan to kill King Duncan.

Already we can see that the witches' first prediction did come true as Macbeth became the new Thane of Cawdor. As the story progresses, I think that the witches' will come up with more predictions that will also influence the way that Macbeth will act and these actions that he goes through with will have a severe consequence. 

In my opinion, I don't think that people are subject to our pre-determined destiny. Our actions today will indeed affect our future in a way. However, the wrong action can lead to a different road, different from your destiny and we never know what the right action is until we actually see it through. For example, as Macbeth plots his murder of the King, he believes that if the King dies, he will become the next King of Scotland but this may not be true.  Some other nobleman might take his place instead of Macbeth. Macbeth might not even be successful in his assassination and in turn he will end up prison. 

I do not believe in destiny. Our actions everyday will influence our future and most of the time, our choices and actions might not lead us down the correct path that we want to walk on but we can change what is to come. Our own future is not set in stone but rather flexible as to what we aspire. 

IMAGE FROM: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/standard/english/macbeth/witches/revision/1/
VIDEO FROM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEidcxBTu0E