The projection of fears and anxieties in Macbeth Fears and anxieties are very common human emotions and feelings. Fear is triggered based on things we perceive as threatening, and our anxieties are an emotion characterized by our thoughts and feelings. Everyone has fears, and everyone has anxieties, but what would happen if you project those fears and anxieties onto yourself, the people around you, and the world around you? Projection of your emotions is natural for humans, and we do it when we try to protect ourselves from bad feelings. William Shakespeare shows the projection of fear and anxiety through his play, Macbeth. The main factor of the characters in the play's action was made out of fear, and their fear was projected onto those …show more content…
Lady Macbeth was overtaken by her constant fear, and anxiety, leading her to end her own life. Duncan and Macduff were both in fear of Macbeth's evil tyranny, which forced them to take action against their fears. The projection of fears and anxieties in Macbeth is a central theme that drives the plot and characters’ actions. Fear of the supernatural was a common fear of many back in the 16th century, as many speculated that many women were witches, and feared them since they knew nothing about them. The three witches in Macbeth had the same effect on the characters in the book. Macbeth’s first instance of anxiety in the play is when he first meets the witches. He becomes uneasy when meeting them. Banquo shows no anxiety when meeting the witches for the first time. When Macbeth meets the three witches for the first time at the beginning of the play he says this.“Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. …. Say from whence You owe this strange intelligence? or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.”- Macbeth Macbeth acts 1 scene 1. Macbeth’s feeling of unease and fear causes …show more content…
Lady Macbeth is immensely affected by fear and anxiety throughout the play. Lady Macbeth initially appears to be the driving force behind Macbeth's actions. Lady Macbeth's ambitiousness and determination are shown in her speech in act 1 scene 5 "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty." Lady Macbeth's fear of being powerless is so great that she is willing to sacrifice her femininity to become more masculine and ruthless. However, as the play progresses, Lady Macbeth's projection of fear and anxiety becomes more pronounced. She is consumed by guilt and fear, constantly washing her hands and reliving the night of Duncan's murder. Her guilt gets so bad that she begins to sleepwalk, and confesses her wrongful acts in her sleep. Lady Macbeth's projection of fear and anxiety ultimately leads to her downfall, as she becomes increasingly unstable and eventually takes her own life. The theme of projection of fear and anxiety is also evident in the characters of Macduff and Malcolm. Both characters are afraid of Macbeth's tyranny, and their fear of being powerless against him and being killed by him drives them to take action against him. Macduff’s grief and fear after the murder of his family, and his desire for revenge leads him to join forces with Malcolm to overthrow Macbeth. Malcolm, on the other hand,
He believes that he can rule as a king however he wants and that no one will be able to replace him. Macbeth feels comforted and releases some of the stress and nightmares he was previously having. His newly gained comfort gives Macbeth a false sense of security that leads to Macbeth’s poor preparation to resist the English troops. Thinking that he cannot be harmed, Macbeth does not take the necessary steps to protect Scotland and his life. When he finally encounters Macduff on the battlefield, he believes it will be an easy fight as he deems himself invincible, but he is slaughtered.
Lady Macbeth calls to the spirit to rid her of her feminity and fill her like a man, one with deadly cruelty. This shows how the female qualities Lady Macbeth possessed kept her back by her delicacy to commit such churlish crimes. After Lady Macbeth was stripped, she was later able control Macbeth's actions and take the lead in Act 2, Scene 2. "Why worthy thane, you unbend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things," She continues to call his actions weak so unlike
Macbeth's fear of being perceived as unmanly displays the importance of
In this passage from Act 3 scene 1, Shakespeare uses anxious diction and imagery to show Macbeth is feeling nervous and threatened. In Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth expresses his fear and concern about the threat posed by his former friend, Banquo. Having killed King Duncan to become king, Macbeth is now focused on maintaining his power and ensuring his own safety. However, he recognizes that Banquo poses a serious threat to his reign. Macbeth has a nervous obsession with his willingness to do anything to protect it including murder.
Fear and lack thereof can play a strong role when making decisions and taking actions. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth first appears to be a strong woman in control of her husband, then becomes the main instigator of the bloody events that follow. Oddly enough, she disappears halfway through the play until shortly before her death, never seen again fully conscious. This is a stark contrast to her husband’s change from a fearful, guilt-stricken subject to an almost fearless supposed tyrant, before he too, dies off-screen.
It doesn't take long for the murder of King Duncan to occur after the truth and Macbeth's promotion to Thane of Cawdor, and the entire kingdom is on the run in search of peace. Malcolm, the son and heir likely of King Duncan, and Macduff, the Thane of Fife, are both powerful individuals. Malcolm and Macduff suffer the loss of loved ones as a result of Macbeth's ambition while he is leading himself to greatness. This leads Macduff to want revenge on Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth is a power-hungry woman, and she succeeds that through her husband. She encourages and provokes him to kill others, while slowly deteriorating due to the guilt in her conscience. At the beginning of the epic, both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth seem to be decent enough people, and therefore bring the readers to be more open to feeling compassionate and sympathetic towards them. As the poem goes on, the audience learns about how many people Macbeth is killing and how Lady Macbeth is promoting him to do this, in order to sate her need for control. The reader loses sympathy, and then ends up rooting for Macduff as he beheads Macbeth.
In Macbeth written by Shakespeare there is a main character named Macbeth and three witches told him in the future he would be king. When Macbeth hears that he killed the current king and one of his friends that could be king. Eventually he was king and then felt guilty about the killings and went crazy then got macduff's family killed. When Macduff heard that Macbeth killed his family he killed macbeth. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s actions are being controlled by the emotions of greed, fear, and jealousy.
Furthermore, Lady Macbeth starts to feel unsure about what she did “Naught's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content”(III, II,104). Lady Macbeth is guilt-ridden from her actions because she is unsure of what she has done. She has started to become scared because of the backlash that may come. For instance, Lady Macbeth lost her sanity when she started seeing blood on her hands “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (V, I,191).
For starters when Macbeth says, “In the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly: better be with the dead, whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace that on the torture of the mind to lie in restless ecstacy” it proves that the theme that the feeling of guilt can destroy one’s quality of life is true. This is because Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are now envious of Duncan because whilst dead he is finally at peace and they aren’t at peace even whilst having what they wanted in the fear of danger. Plus the quote shows how macbeth is being tormented by his actions (the murders more specifically) which brings the topics of morality(?), guilt and paranoia. Because of his increase of power Macbeth could be feeling more paranoid as he is being tormented by his mind so he could start to think that he is being targeted. Another example of metaphor is when he says “O, full of scorpions is my mind dear wife!”
Macbeth experiences the emotion of curiosity throughout a major part of the play. To begin, Macbeth is curious about the witches prophecy in the beginning of the play. “Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence, or why upon this blasted heath
Lady Macbeth is power hungry for the throne and she will do anything to achieve her goal. Her pleasure of having the thought of killing Duncan is revealed. These murderous thoughts that run through her mind shows how desperate she is to acquire power. Although it is the beginning of the play, her dark ambitions sets a dark tone for her character in the play. This coincidentally adds to the assurance of Macbeth’s prophecy which is that Macbeth will become king, but King Duncan is still alive.
The fear that the supernatural could potentially manipulate one’s actions and thoughts frightened the public, this notion was explored in Macbeth
The corrupt influence of power causes Macbeth to want to kill him because before, he wasn’t even thinking about killing him but now he is. "Then live, Macduff; what need I fear of thee?”(4.1.93). Macbeth was told by the witches that no man of women born will kill him, which makes him unnatural, is asking the witches why he has to fear Macduff because he was born from a women. The corrupting influence of power clouds Macbeth because even though the witch es say to fear Macduff, e still goes and attempts to kill him.the doctor and the gentlewomen are talking about Lady Macbeth's condition, Lady Macbeth walks in Sleep walking talking about "What, will these hands ne’er be clean?
Before the main character has any part in the play the witches start it off in ominous mutterings about wicked acts and the future. The fear among the audience is set before Macbeth even thinks about killing anybody. Macbeth is then told by the witches about things that are supposed to happen in his future, and assuming they are telling the truth he believes them. Not only does he believe them but he himself commits acts that make them come true. This is another representation of how people believed they could be affected by witches.