Trust is one of the things that keeps the world spinning, and when trust is betrayed, relationships are broken and people are affected. The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare shows the effect of betrayal on its main character, Macbeth, who is a Scottish thane that is told he will be king one day, resulting in him killing the current king and many other people on his quest for power. The play Macbeth portrays trust and betrayal through Macbeth and his devolution as a character from a trusted person to a murderer that is left without any relationships. In the beginning of the play, many admire and respect Macbeth and think of him as a person of integrity. Before Macbeth even makes his first appearance, he is spoken about highly. The king, Duncan, …show more content…
Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, have a very strong connection with each other and trust each other wholeheartedly. After Macbeth’s experience with the Weird Sisters, he immediately writes a letter to Lady Macbeth, telling her what happened and calling her his “dearest partner of greatness” (I.5.11). He has no hesitation in telling her, and trusts that she will know what is best to do. Moreover, King Duncan and Macbeth have a relationship built on the trust between them. When deciding whether or not to kill Duncan, Macbeth says, “He’s here in double trust:/ First, I am his kinsman and his subject,/ Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,/ Who should against the murderer shut the door,/ Not bear the knife myself” (I.7.12-16). Macbeth is saying that if he were to kill Duncan, he would betray both the trust between king and subject, which is sworn by oath, and the trust between host and guest, which is necessary for both to feel safe. Lastly, Macbeth is trusted by another thane named Banquo, who he has a developed friendship with. Macbeth and Banquo fight together in the war against Norway, as shown when Duncan asks, “Dismayed not this our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?” (I.2.37). The trust between two soldiers who survive a war together is like no other. They trust that the other has their back while fighting, and they share a bond after the war that only they can …show more content…
After hearing about the Weird Sisters’ prophecies about Macbeth, Lady Macbeth brings up the idea of killing Duncan. At first, Macbeth does not want to betray Duncan, but eventually he decides to go along with Lady Macbeth’s plan. He kills Duncan and goes back to Lady Macbeth, saying, “I have done the deed” (II.2.19). This is Macbeth’s first betrayal. He decides to ignore the trust he knows Duncan has for him, and instead goes after his longing for power. Macbeth feels some regret and guilt for what he did, as shown by Lady Macbeth saying “My hands are your color, but I shame/ To wear a heart so white” (II.2.82-83). Macbeth is so distraught over what he has just done that Lady Macbeth reprimands him for being so cowardly. All that changes, however, after Duncan’s body is found. Macbeth decides to act on impulse and kills the guards that he and Lady Macbeth were planning to frame for Duncan’s murder. He has now killed two more people hours after killing Duncan, becoming more accustomed with killing. Not only has Macbeth done this horrible deed, but he has done so without telling his wife, in contrast to what he did earlier when he wrote the
Although, the most common occurrence throughout the play is how Shakespeare uses the character of Macbeth to illustrate how betrayal and deception will come back to get you in the future. Macbeth's betrayal to King Duncan ultimately led to the downfall of his evil actions, and finally his death. By Macbeth carrying out the assassination of King Duncan and his guards he betrayed not only his whole life of accomplishments but most of all, Duncans loyalty to Macbeth as a man. Earlier in the play King Duncan
Even though Macbeth shows loyalty to his king at the beginning, it is ultimately overshadowed by his betrayal of
His emotions are affected so much that he decides to “keep a servant fee’d” in Macbeth’s home (3.4,132). At this point, he is so paranoid and so filled with anger and suspicion that he spies on all his Lords. Lastly, after killing Duncan, Macbeth shows a great deal of grief and guilt. Immediately after Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to smear blood on the guards but he refuses, saying, “I’ll go no more. /
In the play Macbeth there are many important themes, betrayal being one of them. The most important theme is betrayal. Betrayal is the biggest theme because it occurs many times throughout the play. If betrayal wasn’t in the play then many of the big events would never happen and there would be a different outcome. The three best examples of betrayal are the Thane of Cawdor betraying the king, Macbeth betraying the king, and Macbeth betraying Banquo.
The only time that the reader can truly see that Macbeth feels guilty for killing Duncan is before it actually happens. In act 1 scene 7 Macbeth has a long monologue seemingly battling his conscience as to whether he should really go through with his plan. He mentions how Duncan has never done wrong by him and that he is a good leader. Lady Macbeth enters the scene and then he appears to allow himself to be convinced by her that it is a good plan to kill Duncan.
However he soon cracks under the pressure of the crown and makes everything not what it seems. In the cunning drama, Macbeth, Shakespeare illuminates the idea that desire and pressure left unchecked will lead to unnatural troubles and wicked endings. In the beginning of the play Macbeth is known as valiant, respectable, and truthful, but goes against his moral compass which further changes him. During act one Macbeth discovers that if king Duncan dies he will become king and is thinking about killing him when he says, “He's here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both
Being betrayed is not as bad as the one who does the betraying, because the cost of betraying someone is far heavier than the consequence of trusting someone who did not deserve it. The central themes of Macbeth were loyalty and betrayal, which are two sides of the same coin. Every point in the book ties back to how loyalty and betrayal are returned. The way loyalty and betrayal
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a testimony to the difference between greed and ambition, good and evil, and right and wrong. The story shows that when one becomes obsessed with power, they will often resort to methods of manipulation and retaliation to achieve their desired outcome. In the case of Macbeth, he is approached by the Three Witches who inform him that he will one day become Thane of Cawdor and the King of Scotland. Additionally, they inform Macbeth’s comrade Banquo that his sons will one day be kings.
Macbeth feels regret and guilt after murdering King Duncan. He is beginning to understand the consequences of his actions and the disruption of the natural order that he has caused. Macbeth’s guilt shows that he still has some understanding of the natural order, but his ambition and desire for power are clouding his judgment. “I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.136-138).
Macbeth states to Lady Macbeth, “we will proceed no further in this business” (I, VII) since he almost finally decides to refuse to kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth uses different manipulative methodologies towards Macbeth and persuades him to consult the killing of Duncan. “So green and pale” (I, VII), Lady Macbeth even called him a coward. From the same scene, she mentions, “From this time, such I account thy love”, implying that if Macbeth cant stay steady concerning the murder of the king, then she will consider his love for her to be as similarly conflicting. Later in scene, Lady Macbeth states that if she had made such a promise as Macbeth did to her, she would “dash the brains out” of her own child as “it was smiling in her fail”.
After killing Duncan, Macbeth’s mental state changes completely. The difference between the moment before the murder and the moment after is that Macbeth’s lack of determination. He feels personally responsible for the murder and wishes it never happened. Thus, he is afraid to look at the dead body and face what he has done (2.2.54-56). His regret of the murder shows the transformation of Macbeth’s attitude: he lets his remorse overpower him to the point of madness.
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare set in Scotland about a murderous and vehement king who spirals on a path of destruction as he suffers from the consequences of determining his own fate. The predominant theme portrayed throughout the play is honor vs. loyalty. This is represented through the identification, actions, and quotes of numerous characters. To introduce the theme of honor vs. disloyalty, the characters Banquo and Macbeth exemplify traits that are equivalent with the moral of the story.
In shakespeare 's Macbeth there are and twist and turns shake ups and things you couldn 't even imagine. In the play a man named Macbeth is driven crazy with power and starts to do thing out of the ordinary shakespeare says that even the ones closest to you will turn on you though Macbeth by making him turn on the people close to him Betrayal happens right in the beginning of the play it is the reason why the war was started because someone betrayed the king of Scotland. An example of it in act evonne is when king Duncan says “No more that thane of cawdor shall deceive” (act I,III,71) he says this because the thane of cawdor betrayed him and was giving away all of his plans during the battle with Norway. After Macbeth hears his prophecy he decides to take further action which is to kill the king he says “It were done quickly if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch” he was basically saying that if he kills the king and get caught there would be serious consequences.
Macbeths guilty conscience makes him unable to play the ‘true’ role of a villain of the play. Macbeth begins to see ‘false creations’ before murdering Duncan; the image of a floating dagger taunts Macbeth’s senses. Macbeth is devoured in his anxiety he starts to hallucinate the crime before going through with it. Macbeth is unable to dispose thoughts of his guilt and doubt, which prevents him from being stuck at the point where it is too late to turn back, yet the fear of his nature prevents him from turning completely into a ruthless coldblooded