In Macbeth, a banquet is being held in honor of the newly crowned king, Macbeth. During this feast Macbeth hallucinates images of his friend, Banquo, whom he hired murderers to kill him. Lady Macbeth tries to evade the attention from Macbeth, but they begin to suspect all is not well with the king. William Shakespeare reveals the guilt Macbeth feels for acting upon his selfish action and how he reacts henceforth. This includes what ensues with Lady Macbeth. Also, the scene shows the start of untrust that begins to develop with the Scottish people against Macbeth. At this point of the play Macbeth’s powers climax and from here onwards decrease until his death.
Banquo is a metaphor for Macbeth’s conscious. When Macbeth murders Banquo he is murdering his conscious. He does express remorse for Duncan in the beginning, but when he orders the killing of Banquo and Fleance he does so out of fear. This fear is converted into guilt when he sees Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth reflects on his actions, but instead of recognizing his sinfulness, his paranoia causes him to direct it towards Macduff and his family. Since Macduff is a threat to his throne Macbeth is adamant, almost rabid, with the thought of slaying Macduff.
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The blood on her hands representing her guilt causes her to constantly wash her hands and whisper “Out, damned spot” which haunts her for the killing of King Duncan. This juxtaposition of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show the irony of the characters reversing their roles in the play. Lady Macbeth began a ruthless and cunning woman who challenged her husband’s manhood to provoke him, but becomes manic with anguish. Macbeth contrasts with Lady Macbeth because he becomes a nefarious murderous person and feels no remorse by the end of the
As we begin to prepare for Banquo 's funeral, I can overhear people whispering to each other as Lady Macbeth and I step through the dark and gloomy hallway. Does anyone know it was I who had Banquo killed? I cannot afford having anyone knowing of this, not even my dear wife. As Banquo 's funeral inches closer and closer, my hand begins to drip in sweat and I can feel Lady Macbeth 's eyes burning holes into my soul.
51-55) describing how Macbeth is in shock when he sees the ghost of Banquo in his very own chair, gazing upon him. Banquo’s appearance causes Macbeth to look like a madman because he is alarmed by the ghost coming back to haunt him because of the terrible deed he has done. This piece of evidence is an example of the beginning of Macbeth’s inner conflict. As the play comes to a close, possession within relationships is refined when Macbeth no longer needs the influence of others, he has become berserk in sticking to the commitment to do what he has to do in order to become a forceful king.
Macduff eventually kills Macbeth because he believes that he unjustly killed the kings and his family. Lady Macbeth is under so much guilt that she throws herself off the balcony and commits suicide. Killing seem as though it is not the way to go, it causes many problems that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decided to endure after killing. After killing, guilt follows you like a shadow, following you every move, never
Once Lady Macbeth was finally cleansing her soul by repenting her sins, Macbeth took a wrong turn. Seeming to care less about mortality, he committed many more sins. He stopped feeling guilty and had not only Macduff’s family murdered, but also Banquo’s (even though Fleance managed to escape). Macbeth was blinded with ambition doing anything to keep his name on the throne (avoiding prophecy of Banquo’s son taking over in future
He hallucinates Banquo in the chair he was going to sit on. Macbeth starts to act crazy and Lady Macbeth tries to tell the other men in the room how he is acting is normal. After the dinner Macbeth hears that Macduff went to England to reunite with Malcolm, Duncan 's son, to try for him to own the throne. Macbeth decides to take action and send some men to murder Macduff 's family. When Macduff comes back he finds out of his family 's death and joins Malcolm and his army to defeat Macbeth.
With Macbeth being a general in the Scottish military, he had major influences on people and their daily lives. After the murder of King Duncan, Banquo’s suspicion of who committed the murders arose around a single suspect, Macbeth. Knowing that Banquo most likely knew the truth that Macbeth killed King Duncan, Macbeth went back to his evil ways with ease. Through his attendant, Macbeth summons three murderers. Shakespeare introduces the murders with stage direction “[Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers]” (Shakespeare, 363), in which Macbeth he uses Banquo as bait in order to gain their graces and loyalty “That it was he in the times past which held you so under fortune, which you thought had been our innocent self: this I made good to you in our last conference, pass'd in probation with you, how you were borne in hand, how cross'd, the instruments, who wrought with them, and all things else that might, so half a soul and to a notion crazed, Say 'Thus did Banquo.'”
Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!” (Act 5, Scene 1) Though she continuously rubs her hands to get rid of the blood, Lady Macbeth can not washed away the guilt that stains her hands.
This portrays that their murders have caused them to advance to insanity. The guilt consumes her just like Macbeth. Macbeth character growth to progress a sociopath as his actions feed through fear caused by the guilt. He says, “I am in blood \ Stepped in so far that, [if I continue], \ returning were [the same as to continue murder]” (III.
This demonstrates that rather let Banquo be king, he is going to challenge and fight him for his crown. Banquo is the only person that knows about the prophecy and he is also suspicious of Macbeth killing Duncan. Instead of letting Banquo's’ son receiving the crown easily, Macbeth is going to challenge him for the crown. In order that Macbeth can be king, he has to kill Banquo and his son, so they don’t take crown from
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth go into the dinner they are bout to have. When Macbeth walks in, the first murderer comes to the door. Macbeth talks to him about Banquo’s death and that Fleance had escaped, this makes him very angry. After he talks to the murder he goes back to his dinner and when Macbeth goes to sit at the end of the table, he sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in his chair. Macbeth gets very scared seeing the blood running down his face, he speaks to him.
In play Macbeth, Shakespeare reveals that an individual’s great desire for power will lead him/her to perform consequential deeds that will scar his/her conscience and change the outcome of his/her life eternally. Macbeth is informed by three witches that he is going to become king and this initiates Macbeth’s thought of becoming powerful. Macbeth doesn’t act on his thoughts until he tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, that he could become king. Lady Macbeth is extremely power hungry and does all she can to convince Macbeth to be just as desirable as her. Together, they come up with a plan to murder King Duncan, so that Macbeth can become king like the witches foretold.
Macbeth’s guilt catches up to him in many ways throughout the book, one of them is through the motif of blood. In the tragedy it states “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hands (Shakespeare 57).” Macbeth is asking that the blood of Duncan be washed off of his hands even though his hands are clean. In the book it also states “What, will these hands ne’er be clean(Shakespeare 155)?” This is something Lady Macbeth says while she was sleepwalking in the castle.
Furthermore, the murder of Banquo led Macbeth to destruction. Later in the play, Macbeth was troubled by the Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth acts out of desperation to get rid of Banquo’s ghost (III, iv, 82-7). Here, it shows Macbeth’s destruction of mind, which is fuelled by his fear and guilt. Eventually, Macbeth’s
Due to the killings, her guilt began to change her as a person. With the appearance of blood, Lady Macbeth realizes what horror she has created. Blood haunts Lady Macbeth in the worst possible way. Lady Macbeth can not wash the blood from her hands, staining permanent guilt. “Out, damned spot!...
They told Macbeth that he was going to be king, and told Banquo that his children were going to be king. With the knowledge that there is a possibility to become king, along with the selfish human nature, noble Macbeth was easily swayed by this prophecy. At first, Macbeth’s conscience took care of his ambitions, he was afraid he would betray the king, because he knew that he was “his kinsman and his subject” (1.7.13). However as the three witches continue to encourage Macbeth with carefully chosen words, he eventually pushes his conscience away and committed crimes that were dishonourable. Macbeth, easily controlled by his ambitions, loses his noble and heroic title in fear of losing his power.