In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the character Macbeth undergoes many changes in character as he battles fate. He continues to give in to his fatal flaw of ambition, which ultimately leads to his untimely demise. Throughout the play, Macbeth changes from honorable, to corrupt, to inhuman. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a good and loyal man who is loved by his country. (TS) After fighting against the enemies of Scotland, Macbeth is highly praised by the King and many captains for being a good soldier. (E) The captains describe he and Banquo as “cannons overcharged with double cracks” as a way to show admiration and praise on behalf of Scotland (1.2.37). (IQ) Such high praise from a military officer shows that Macbeth …show more content…
(TS) He gives in to the corruption and temptation that stems from hearing the witches prophecies and begins to crave the power that would come with being king. (E) He is convinced by his wife, Lady Macbeth, to kill Duncan, and even believes “the bell invites [him]” to commit this murder. (IQ) He commits this heinous act with the hopes that doing so would aid him in becoming king. By killing Duncan, Macbeth turns his back on what he knows is right and good, all for the possibility of power. (A) After becoming king, Macbeth fears losing his new authority, and convinces three murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance by telling them that their “health but sickly in [Banquo’s] life, / Which in his death were perfect” (3.1.107-108). (IQ) The murder of Banquo is greatly significant as he and Macbeth had no prior qualms and were quite close. By convincing the murderers that all their problems will resolve with the death of Banquo, Macbeth once again kills for power; however, Fleance escapes, leaving Macbeth unsatisfied. (A) As Macbeth plans this second murder, he does not consult Lady Macbeth, but instead “is strong or reckless enough to execute his second murder without her aid” (Curry 333). (TS) After committing two unforgivable crimes, Macbeth no longer needs the support of his wife to be cruel for gain. (A) So as to not get caught, Macbeth becomes increasingly deceptive as the corruption inside him grows. …show more content…
(TS) During his reign, Macbeth’s top priority continues to be maintaining his position of power, and to do so, he kills even more and furthers his immorality. (E) He tells Lady Macbeth that they “are yet but young in deed” as to insinuate that their life of crime and cruelty has only just begun (3.4.145). (IQ) Macbeth believes that if he continues to kill, he will eventually feel no guilt. He aims to become so immoral that he can coldly kill whenever it is convenient for him. (A) His first murder motivated by true immorality is when he leaves Macduff’s “wife and Babes / savagely slaughtered” simply to upset Macduff for not supporting him (4.3.204-205). (IQ) This crime is by far Macbeth’s most evil, as his victims are innocent women and children who have done nothing to harm him or even to prevent him from maintaining power in the future. This abominable act shows his success in becoming an immoral creature. (A) The cruelty of Macbeth’s crimes make him “a puppet of evil forces to which he has given up his will,” rather than the naturally good and beloved Macbeth in the beginning of the play (Davidson). (IQ-A*) After losing his morality, Macbeth becomes emotionless. (E) When he hears the screams of the women in the castle, he has no reaction, as he has “almost forgot the taste of fears” (5.5.9). (IQ) The screams should be disturbing to Macbeth, however he is unbothered. He knows there is danger
Macbeth was dealing with extreme feelings of unease and guilt even before he committed the murder. For example, in the play it states “And, on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood,/Which was not so before. There’s no such thing./It is thy bloody business which informs/ Thus to mine eyes.” Macbeth is so overcome with guilt at the simple thought of having to kill King Duncan that he hallucinates a bloody dagger. Interestingly, Macbeth seems to actually calm down after killing Duncan.
Unfortunately for Macbeth, the plan does not go as he hopes. Immediately following the murder, Macbeth hears a voice ”There’s one did laugh in’s sleep, and one cried ‘Murder!’” (2. 2. 25-26). This causes Macbeth to panic and fear that the guards saw him commit the murder.
Macbeth recognizes the rapid and drastic downfall of his life and by making the comparison to a poor player that is no longer heard from, he thinks that life is meaningless and lacks purpose. Understanding how his deception leads to destruction, his perspective on life shifts to a cynical view. His existence is merely a performance and his inability to continue the honorable act illustrates Macbeth’s undoing of his former nobility. As his destructive nature changes his attitude, his carelessness will continue to spike as he reaches the end of his life. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to give attention to the reckless attitude that results from allowing deception to
Shakespeare reflects Macbeth’s descent into moral corruption by shaping Macbeth’s thoughts to acknowledge himself as immersed in deep bloodshed. Macbeth’s belief that it would be difficult to turn back from his actions, as Shakespeare intended, illustrates his egocentric trait. Macbeth either doesn’t want to or doesn’t see any other path than to continue his heinous acts. Macbeth only thinks about the actions that benefit him to continue as king. Shakespeare ruins Macbeth’s ego by having his desires unchecked or seen by anyone else, leading him to corrupt himself further and harm
This shown during the battle between Scotland and Norway when the Captain describes Macbeth when he states “if I say sooth, I must report they were/ As cannons overcharged with double cracks,/ So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe./ Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds.” 1.2.39-45 This shows that Macbeth can use his ambition for good. Here, he strives to be a good noble for his king and to please him, by helping to destroy the enemy.
In this quote, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man that function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not.” (1.3.152-155) Macbeth mentions that the idea of murder scares him. The 3 witches never mentioned anything about murder. The fact that his first thought about his fate is murder is suspicious; almost as if the 3 witches have awoken a murderous ambition.
Not only did the Captain praise him, but also the king of Scotland himself, King Duncan. King Duncan praised and applauded Macbeth as he brought his country to victory and brought honor to everyone. King Duncan put Macbeth on a pedestal for his achievements during war and honored his nobility. King Duncan acclaimed “ O valiant cousin , worthy gentleman!” (I.ii.26).
Macbeth’s impatience for power leads to drastic actions. He murders the king in the belief that “this blow might be the be-all and end-all” (1.7.5). This assassination could never “trammel up the consequence” (1.7.2-3), as Macbeth believes, but only leads to more trouble. Although Macbeth seizes the throne, Macbeth had to betray his loyalty to the king whose “virtues will plead like angels” (1.7.18-19), and his morality has paid the price. Macbeth has now lost all sense of what honor is by using such dishonest ways to become king.
Macbeth is a tyrant during his rule, manipulating the minds of the people and using murders to clear out anyone that stood in his way, so that he can stay in power. Malcolm worries about the state of Scotland as he exclaims, “I think our country sinks beneath the yoke./ It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash/ Is added to her wounds. I think withal…” (Shakespeare 4.3.49-51). Malcolm notices the true state of Scotland under the rule of Macbeth, as he has forcefully gained his
To the point, he manipulated murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance. Macbeth wants Banquo and Fleance dead for the fact that he believes that they suspect him of the death of Duncan. Macbeth says, “Know 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,” (3.1, 79-83) The way Macbeth manipulates the murders by trying to point fingers at Banquo that he is the root to all of their problems and made them poor.
Macbeth’s ambition is one of the most prominent things that drive Macbeth in the play and truly becomes evident when he hears of the Witches prophecies. When the witches stop talking, he demands to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (I, III, 73-74). This portrays his excessive curiosity on the subject as well as his craving for more desirable prophecies. This ambitious nature and craving for power is also demonstrated only moments after hearing the witches, when he starts formulating a plan to kill Duncan in order to make the third prophecy come true.
Introductory paragraph: General statement: Macbeth… husband of Lady Macbeth, Scottish general, later on being king of Scotland looked to be like a tragic hero, but really he was weak male controlled by his ambitions and thirst for power. Commits crime to climb the food chain, but is never comfortable in each crime he does. Not being able to bear the psychological consequences of his atrocities, he continues to them until he is at the top of the food chain with nothing in his way. claim1: Believes he is a great leader and gives into his tragic flaw: ambition. Which leads him to commit a series of crime.
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
The witches and Lady Macbeth together push him over to do what his innate nature will let him do, his inborn courage and goodness, and they motivate him to do things that are not by any means in his tendency. It is his feeble mindedness, his simple weakness to recommendation and enticement that is his lamentable blemish. That is the reason, once he shows out the way of homicide, he can't take it; he is overcome by blame, apprehension and suspicion exactly in light of the fact that executing for individual increase is not in his tendency. Lady Macbeth, who knows her spouse very well emasculates him and makes him do what she wants while the witches makes Macbeth mess with his own
Some might believe that Macbeth is the true villain because he kills innocent people, but in actuality the only reason Macbeth killed those people is because of Lady Macbeth. By making Macbeth feel emasculated, Lady Macbeth was able to persuade him to kill innocent people so she could get what she wanted. After he decides to go along with his wife’s plan, Lady Macbeth tells him to keep his promise to kill King Duncan. She exclaims that if she had made a promise to him, she would keep it. Even if the promise is that she must pluck her “nipple from his boneless gums And dash'd the brains out” of her own baby(1.7.57-60).