he crown is a powerful symbol used throughout the play as it reinforces the characters feelings of ambition and guilt throughout the play. The role of the crown and its meaning in the play’s 11th century Scotland setting ultimately lead to Macbeth’s downfall because of his thirst for power and his ambition to promote his title. At the start of the play, the witches chant “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (Shakespeare I, iii, 51-53). Macbeth is a respected Thane who has proven his loyalty to King Duncan by defeating the King of Norway and Macdonwald. However, despite this victory, Macbeth is easily manipulated by the three witches as they plant the seeds of temptation in his mind. The witches use the imagery of the crown in their prophecy to urge Macbeth towards his ambitions which he succumbs to in his hunger for power. Furthermore, the crown’s symbolism as the pinnacle of the social ladder strengthens the machiavellian side of Lady Macbeth which prompts her to abandon her virtue and support the murder of the King. She says “Hie thee hither,/That I may pour my spirits in thine ear/And chastise with the valor of my tongue/All that impedes thee from the golden round,/Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/to have thee crowned withal” (Shakespeare I, v, 27-32). To Lady Macbeth, the crown is the visual culmination of the power she strives to attain, and such is her ambition for it that she allows herself to cross all moral bounds to achieve it. She appears to justify her malicious intent against King Duncan as “ fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/to have [Macbeth] crowned withal”. Ironically, the witches are actually controlling fate by using Macbeth’s ambition for the crown against him. Lastly, the symbolism of the crown leads Macbeth to commit yet another dishonorable act. He says “We have scorched the snake, not killed it./She’ll close and be herself whilst our poor malice/Remains in danger of her former tooth./But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer,” (Shakespeare III, ii, 15-19). In this statement, Macbeth refers to Banquo’s increasing suspicions and how he must kill him before Banquo at