Bad Apples In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a bad apple describes a bad or corrupt person in a group, typically one whose behavior is likely to have a detrimental influence on their associates. Without bad apples and bad barrels, the world would be deemed as perfect and there would be no problems. Everyone has a bad apple or barrel around them, whether they recognize it or not, and it could affect them. In the play, Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth does all he can to achieve his goal of becoming king. At the beginning of the play, the witches influence Macbeth into believing that he may become king if he were to get rid of Duncan. Due to the indirect influences of the witches Macbeth kills Duncan. With the death of Duncan, he has to cover up his tracks

While Macbeth ponders in his thoughts trying to find what's best for him Lady Macbeth tries to convince him that it is best to kill Duncan. With the murder of Duncan, she hopes that she will have great power. When Macbeth asks what will happen if the plan doesn't follow through, Lady Macbeth demands “We fail? / But screw your courage to the sticking place / And we'll not fail” (1.7.69-71). Lady Macbeth felt a deep sense of fierceness and strength when she was able to recognize that power was within reach. She uses a demanding, aggressive tone towards Macbeth in which she does not give him the option to fail. Due to her intent on becoming royalty, she pushes and makes sure that anything and everything is done to achieve such powers: even if it can have immense consequences. After seeing how becoming royalty has played out, Lady Macbeth takes a step back. Lady Macbeth tries to understand what has been done and make sense of what she can do. Realizing that there is nothing to do, she tries to step back saying “Give [her a] / hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, / to bed, to bed” (5.1.70-71). She has little hope for what will happen in the future and has to live with what has been done. Though Macbeth was given a lot of power from becoming king, Lady Macbeth only lived in that fantasy for so long before she feared further masking her identity. She wasn’t caught up in the masking until she realized the full effect that it had on her. Towards the end she felt very inadequate as if she had nothing left to live