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Evil In Macbeth Essay

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From the opening lines of Macbeth by William Shakespeare evil is illuminated as a vital part of the play. The power of this theme is portrayed initially by the harsh weather conditions and supernatural occurrences (Boyce 390). The way in which evil manifests itself is dependent upon each character. In the play, evil is the opposite of humanity and is viewed as unnatural, yet still originates from the human heart (Pilkington). Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and the witches display themselves as the three main sources of evil, in varying forms and degrees of such wickedness. Shakespeare alters the perceptions of characters by their natural inclination to perform vile acts versus their natural inclination to be coerced into such. Whether the audience …show more content…

In order to get a sense of Macbeth or Lady Macbeth’s character, the reader must analyze the play. The idea of witches during this time period left an uneasy impression. It does not require further reading or analyzing of the play to know that when the witches are first introduced in the beginning of the play, that they are ought to bring about evil occurrences. Because such acts are expected of the witches, they are not blamed for the inhumane acts to come about. Though it is true that the witches’ prophecy is what gave Macbeth the thought of killing Duncan, among other things, they are not blamed for his decisions. It is supposed of them to do and say unnatural things, and thus are to not be taken as seriously as other characters. In fact, the witches can be analyzed as not being evil characters at all. They were merely supernatural prophets that set the plot into motion. The witches acted as a catalyst in order to speed up Macbeth’s natural ambition (Kemp 94). This idea is reinforced with their own chant of. “Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair” (1.1.1). Though they seem to be evil, they are in reality not capable of committing such vile crimes themselves, so instead, plant the idea in Macbeth’s head. The witches naturally have a relationship with evil, which Shakespeare portrays throughout the

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Shakespeare writes ‘Macbeth’ to denounce transgressing the status quo and the Divine Right Of Kings within the Jacobean era. He presents Macbeth as a violent character who goes onto destabilizing the status quo. At the start of the play, the witches start off with a paradoxical chant, “fair is foul, and foul is fair”. In other words, Shakespeare shows how good is bad, and bad is good. Furthermore, the witches are foreshadowing the malleability of the characters and how they are transgressing the status quo, and, by proxy, God.

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