Desire, power, control: Three traits that are ignited in Macbeth as a result of his wife, Lady Macbeth and the three witches. From the start, we are introduced to the main character, the Thane of Glamis, a patriotic and noble man. We see things start to change after Macbeth is visited by three witches, who predicts he will soon become the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth ignores this prediction until he visits his wife, Lady Macbeth. In Macbeth, Macbeth is manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth, and the witches, who are the true causes of his downfall. To begin, the three witches fuel the desire of curiosity within Macbeth to prevent him from reaching his true potential. The witches purposefully invade Macbeth’s mind with prophecies to make him greedy and bring out the evil …show more content…
In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth delivers a soliloquy after finding out Macbeth’s fate. She starts by telling the “Spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top–full/ Of direst cruelty” (I.v.39-42). This quote suggests Lady Macbeth feels a desire to become a man to complete the job herself. She is aware that Macbeth will be too kind to kill King Duncan and earn the title as the Thane of Cawdor. As a result, Lady Macbeth attempts to change his mind. In Act 1 Scene 7, Lady Macbeth labels Macbeth a coward and makes fun of his manhood by claiming he is too kind to do the job. After Macbeth objects, Lady Macbeth exclaims “When you durst do it, then you were a man” (I.vii.49-51). Using these words, Lady Macbeth brings out the competitive and sexist nature in Macbeth. Macbeth refuses to be underestimated and appear weak in front of others. Furthermore, Macbeth’s initial objection suggests his free will. In these ways, the Lady manipulates Macbeth and attempts to live through him to accomplish her thirst for power. She knows this is the only way to achieve her
Lady Macbeth reprimands Macbeth’s manhood and his courage in order to persuade Macbeth into accompanying her with the task of King Duncan’s murder. Originally, Macbeth decides against the murder and betrayal of King Duncan, however when he orders Lady Macbeth to “proceed no farther in this business” (I.vii.33), she is utterly appalled. Moreover, Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth’s courage and calls him a coward, who would give up “the ornament of his life” (I.vii.45) due to his gutless nature. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth emasculates Macbeth in her speech, when she says, “When you durst do it, then you were a man”.
When she first hears of her husband’s news, she tells him he needs to do whatever it takes to achieve this goal. When she finds out he is hesitant, she starts manipulating him into getting her way by telling him, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man”(I.VII.55-56). This quote shows the readers how she believes she needs to do whatever it takes to get the power no matter how bad it is by using phrases like “Be so much more than a man” and “Be more than what you are”. This reveals that her morals are bad and she will not feel remorse for doing the wrong thing. After Macbeth kills the king and becomes king himself, Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilty.
Lady Macbeth craves to be cold, ruthless and in control, which are typical masculine traits in Shakespeares time. As a result of this she begins manipulating her husband to gain what she wants. She manipulates Macbeth with great effectiveness, which she achieves by undermining his objections to murdering Duncan. when she sees him hesitating to go forward with the murder, she begins repeatedly questioning his manhood until he feels that he must do it just to prove himself and his masculinity; she says “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man”. Lady Macbeth abuses her power by planting the idea in her husband's mind that anybody who stood in her and Macbeth’s way on the journey to reach royalty was to be destroyed, and made him feel as if he was less a man if he decided against it.
The Three Witches' prophecy caused Macbeth’s initial corruption, planting the thought of murder into Macbeth’s heart. They told Macbeth that he would be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland (I.iii.49-50). This immediately gave Macbeth ambition to get what he wants,
Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.
When Lady Macbeth found out about the predictions the witches had for Macbeth, she started to pressure him, even guilt tripped him about their deceased son, and made him doubt the morals he valued. As act I of Macbeth, carried on, the image and principles Macbeth had for himself began to rot away. While Macbeth desired take King Duncan’s throne, he wanted to do it the in righteous matter. Whenever Macbeth had doubts about killing King Duncan, Lady Macbeth was always there to urge him otherwise, because she cared more about power than him "Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor." (1.5 52).
She is an expert at manipulating situations to suit her desires, and she has a fierce determination to push her husband towards fulfilling the witches' prophecy of becoming king. Her insatiable and unrelenting ambition propels her into a perilous descent towards madness. The film also explores the theme of unchecked greed, with the characters becoming increasingly selfish and ruthless as they pursue their desires. The witches are a prime example of this, as they manipulate Macbeth into believing he is destined to become king. Their greed for power and control ultimately leads to the destruction of not only Macbeth but also many innocent
William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a
In act one scene 7, Macbeth doubts if he should kill the king; however, his wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into proceeding. It might be difficult for Macbeth, the renowned warrior, to hear his wife accusing him of cowardice. Therefore, under Lady Macbeth’s influence, as she questions his manhood, he commences the murder in order to prove to her that he is not a “coward.” This is important to note because his soliloquy shows his determination to proceed.
She is malicious not only in words but also in her intent. Her sole object is to obtain power and wealth, with its attendant treasures. Lady Macbeth lacks humanity and regrets that she was not born as a man. She understands that power and violence are synonymous with manhood and bravery. Additionally, Lady Macbeth interests’ and ambition, override her love for even her husband, Macbeth.
Macbeth came upon three witches that filled his mind with prophecies that essentially set him up for failure and proved that he has little to no will power. Just as his wife, Lady Macbeth, pushed and hounded him to commit crimes and sin to fulfill her own greed. Macbeth tells the story of misfortune and woe of a King in the 11th century, battling apprehension and beliefs that he is unfit to rule a country. After
At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.
Lady Macbeth showed the audience how far she was willing to go for her own power, by both calling upon the spirits to enable herself to get out of her role and influencing her husband to take action. She is ultimately the cataclysm that fanned the flames to her husband’s ambition and drive, and it is her own power that turned Macbeth into a vicious tyrant. In a way, Lady Macbeth truly was a witch because she succeeded in not only getting more power for herself, but for her husband too, and in the end her powers ended up destroying them
Though Macbeth is a brave general and a powerful lord, his wife is far from obedient to his will. Indeed, she often seems to control him, either by crafty manipulation or by direct order.
Power can be used to achieve greatness and create a positive nature in the world, but it also has the ability to create havoc and chaos if in the wrong hands. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, gains power quickly in terrible ways, and abuses the power to create pandemonium in Scotland. He was informed about a prophecy which foretold his future with many complications ahead of him. As the play progresses, Macbeth may be characterized as a hero who submerges to evil to become the villain, due to his ambition, maliciousness, and wickedness.