They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly,
But, bear-like, I must fight the course. What’s he
That was not born of woman? Such a one
Am I to fear, or none.
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 7. With his castle surrounded, Macbeth compares himself in a metaphor to a trapped bear tied to a stake that cannot escape and must fight. But he clings to the self-delusion that he cannot be killed, because of the Witches’ prophecy that no man born of woman can hurt him.