Prophecy of Macbeth and Lord Business Essay Example

No matter the time, whether It'd be in the 17th century or the 21st century, both pieces of literature display the ideas of prophecy. Through the characterization of Lord Business and Macbeth as the receivers of the prophecy, Macbeth and The Lego Movie reveal the central idea that the future is always going to be set in stone. Lord Business and Macbeth we see that both of them try to change their fate in the prophecy. Through characterization, the prophecies of Lord Business and Macbeth are never changed despite both their efforts to change the outcome of said prophecy, causing them to become powerless. 

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth we see the idea of prophecy and fate through the witches in act one. They tell him that one day he will rule the lands, and become king. However, the downside is, he will eventually be dethroned by the children of Banquo. Throughout the play, we see Macbeth trying to change this outcome. “O treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge—O slave”. Through this line by Banquo, we see is the murder of Banquo and the attempted murder of his son Fleance. The prophecy reads that Banquo’s children will be kings and have a great nation after Macbeth, implying they overthrow him. In this scene, Macbeth tries to end the prophecy by murdering Banquo's son, so that he doesn’t become king. The power of being king consumes Macbeth and he will do anything in his power to stop his fall from the throne from occurring. This isn’t just a one-time thing either. Macbeth constantly tries to expel the witches' prophecy, but it doesn’t work, he just ends up digging himself a deeper grave. 

This idea of the prophecy never changes despite his efforts, and can also be found later on in the play. Toward the end of the play, Macbeth’s murderous habits have been slowly starting to catch up to him. However, this doesn’t stop him as he still seeks a new faith in his prophecy. After a visit with the Witches, Macbeth is told “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife! Dismiss me. Enough.” (Shakespeare Act 4. Sc. 1). Macbeth now knows that Macduff could be a threat, so he sends people to his castle to kill Macduff and his family. This is Macbeth actively trying to change the witch's prophecy and remove the threat of Macduff. When this attempt fails, it even further supports the fact that no matter what these characters do nothing changes.

Much like Macbeth, Lord Business from the Lego Movie experiences the same struggle. Although their prophecies may be a little different, the general idea is the same. In the Lego movie we are told that “One day, a talented lass or fellow, a special one with the face of yellow, will make the Piece of Resistance found from its hiding refuge underground, and with a noble army at the helm, this Master Builder will thwart the Kragle and save the realm…”. The prophecy is told to Lord Business, by a wizard, the Lego Movie’s equivalent to the three witches in Macbeth. Since that first time he heard it, he’s done everything in his power to change the outcome of the prophecy. For example, it is stated in the movie that Lord Business had been searching for the Piece of Resistance, to prevent this “special one” from fulfilling the prophecy. This relates perfectly to Macbeth’s decision to try and kill Banquo’s son, to make sure he wouldn’t overthrow him and become king. It’s important to note that the only major difference between the two is the idea of free will. In Macbeth, he gets to choose his actions, however, in the Lego Movie, we see that these characters have no free will as they are moved by an actual human. This ties closely into this idea that no matter what Lord Business does, his fate will never change no matter what he does. Finally, through seeing Lord Business’s fate predetermined by the human who was controlling his actions, we can safely say that no matter what the movie wanted him to do, the prophecy was set and his free will was taken. This is very important to understand because this could also mean the prophecy was interchangeable. It could’ve been the hero whose fate was on the unfortunate end of the prophecy, but these characters had no choice in their actions. Although this may be a little different than Macbeth, the idea of prophecy never changes no matter what these antagonists do. 

To sum things up, both of these forms of literature are closer than we may realize. They both explore the ideas of prophecy and free will and its impact on specific characters. As these two separate pieces were analyzed, we can determine that Lord Business and Macbeth will never be able to change their prophecy, as it is always going to be set in stone.