How did the witches manipulate Macbeth?
. They called him thane of Glamis, which already was his title. They then called him thane of Cawdor, which was his title unbeknownst to him. Then they called him King [of Scotland], which became an apparent impossibility with reigning King Duncan’s giving his own son, Malcolm, the title of Prince of Cumberland and thereby heir apparent. Macbeth knew the truth of his own title. He then saw the truth of the Cawdor title. As the witches so desired, Macbeth then made the leap of taking the kingdom for his own by killing King Duncan. Indeed, the witches set Macbeth up to think of each title as his by right, to be taken by wrong or by right.
