"" (Macbeth V, vii) .
Both Henchard and Macbeth met their ends through similar weaknesses. Both men allowed supernatural guidance to influence their decisions in a negative way. Macbeth followed the words of the witches while Henchard listened to Mr. Fall, the forecaster. Macbeth listened to the witches when they said, "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king here after!- (I, iii) Their words influenced Macbeth to kill Duncan and unrightfully seize the crown. About the prophecy Macbeth said "If chance would have me king, chance would crown me king without my stir."" (II, iii) If Macbeth had allowed fate to run its course, the crown may have come to him rightfully. Instead, he actuated the prophecy and eventually met his end through Duncan's rightful heirs. .
Similarly, Henchard visited Mr. Fall for a weather report to determine if he should buy grain in large amounts. He followed the erroneous advice of Mr. Fall and bought a large quantity of grain; on the assumption, the harvest would be bad. However, the forecast was wrong and the harvest was good. This forced him to sell his grain at a much lower price than originally paid, pushing Henchard farther into debt on a downward spiral that ended in bankruptcy.
During his life, Henchard continually made mistakes because he did not think about his actions beforehand. His ambition overpowered his sense of right and wrong when dealing with most things in his life. When he sold Susan, Susan continually told Henchard that the game had gone on long enough. She felt that Henchard was thinking irrationally and that it had gone on to long as she said, "this is getting to serious. O! "too serious!- (Page 8) However, Henchard did not heed his wife's warning and eventually sold her to Newson. Later in life, Henchard went to Jersey and engaged in a relationship with Lucetta. He did not anticipate that he should not have the relationship because it could cause him harm.
