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Examples Of Ambivalence In Macbeth

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Ambivalence in Murder (2.1)

In Scene 2 act 1 Macbeth's personality is shifting, he is changing from a war hero and a nobleman to an evil villain who will do and kill anyone who tries to stop him from getting what he wants. On several occasions throughout this scene Macbeth uses personification to darken the mood, and in most cases there is another meaning to the examples. In act 1 Banquo is first talking to his son Fleance about how he is having nightmares and that he feels like something bad is going to happen “A heavy summons lies upon me, and yet I would not sleep” (2.1.6-7). Shortly after Macbeth and Banquo are talking about the three weird sisters and Macbeth began to propose a deal with Banquo saying that if he agreed then he would give him great honors. But Banquo said that he would do anything only if he could continue with a clear conscience. Later Macbeth is alone and is having hallucinations of a dagger and is tempted to go through with murdering the king. This scene speaks greatly to me because it is where he has the option to choose good or bad, were he will change his fate. This is also the scene where he lets us know exactly how he is feeling and what is going through his head …show more content…

In scene 2 act 1 of The Tragedy of Macbeth Shakespeare uses personification to give the act a more dark nature, giving Macbeth a more mysterious, mischievous, and vainglorious personality; this helps lead Macbeth to

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With Macbeth being a general in the Scottish military, he had major influences on people and their daily lives. After the murder of King Duncan, Banquo’s suspicion of who committed the murders arose around a single suspect, Macbeth. Knowing that Banquo most likely knew the truth that Macbeth killed King Duncan, Macbeth went back to his evil ways with ease. Through his attendant, Macbeth summons three murderers. Shakespeare introduces the murders with stage direction “[Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers]” (Shakespeare, 363), in which Macbeth he uses Banquo as bait in order to gain their graces and loyalty “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, pass'd in probation with you, how you were borne in hand, how cross'd, the instruments, who wrought with them, and all things else that might, so half a soul and to a notion crazed, Say 'Thus did Banquo.'”

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807 Words | 4 Pages

Banquo says, “I fear thou play’ds most foully for’t” (Act 3 sc 1 lines 2-3). I feel that Banquo is seeing that Macbeth is getting everything that he wants and Banquo is noticing that it’s out of the ordinary and he ends up getting suspicious of Macbeth. Macbeth notices that Banquo is getting suspicious of him. Also, the weird sister told Macbeth that one of Banquo sons is going to be king one day. Macbeth doesn’t like the idea of both of these, so Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.

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803 Words | 4 Pages

Macbeth is telling the murders that they need to kill Banquo and Fleance because they will interfere with his plans. He has to hide his real plans away from everybody else. In conclusion, Macbeth is a cruel and wicked person because he has killed the king and needs other people to go kill Banquo and Fleance so he could hide his real

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458 Words | 2 Pages

Above all, the murder that Macbeth has committed really shows the fact that Macbeth is really driven by his ambition to get anything he wants, even if it includes murder. Equally important, Banquo Macbeth's best friend is suspecting him of committing the murder. This gets Macbeth anxious of getting caught so he sticks to his ambition to become king and doesn't want Banquo in his way. “Ay my good lord, safe in a ditch he bides, with twenty trenched gashes in his head”(3.4.28-30). These were the words from the killers Macbeth hired to kill Banquo.

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243 Words | 1 Pages

Inversions and Contradictions Within the Lines William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, introduces ambition, war, and murder. In the very beginning of the play, the three witches tell Macbeth his prophecy about becoming the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and the King of Scotland. The prophecy creates a power hungry man, which causes readers to see the rise and the eventual fall of Macbeth.

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1109 Words | 5 Pages

This philosophy leads him to hiring murderers to kill a thane, Banquo, and his son Fleance. Macbeth’s denial is introduced when he becomes haunted by the ghost of Banquo after news of his death reaches Macbeth. A change in Macbeth’s character is seen when he says, “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me. Gentleman, rise.

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In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, Shakespeare uses symbolism as well as structure of speech to illustrate Macbeth’s spiral into madness. In this drama, the motif of blood becomes a symbol of Macbeth’s guilt and remorse over Duncan’s murder, which eventually causes him to become unhinged. Once Macbeth becomes King of Scotland, he realizes that each of the witches’ prophecies about him has come true, and he suddenly fears that the prophecy about Banquo being a father of kings will also come true, and that the Weïrd Sisters will have “put a barren scepter in [Macbeth’s] gripe” (III.i.66), for the title of King would be worthless if it given to Macbeth only to be taken away immediately. Therefore, Macbeth hires murderers to assassinate Banquo as well as Banquo’s son Fleance in order to ensure that his position as King of Scotland is secure.

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His capricious and malicious acts prove how naive and vile he is as a person. Macbeth even attempts to kill Banquo to prevent any trace of his nature from making him, a “fruitless crown.” Macbeth states, “Must lave or honors in the flattering streams, and make our face vizards to our heart, disguising who we are,”(3.2.45). With such desperation, Macbeth is willing to include other people in his premeditated murder. By having Lady Macbeth be part of his plot to kill Banquo, Macbeth reveals two things about himself: That he does not value those around him, even if they are his loved ones, and that he places his personal success over all aspects of his life.

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The scene Act 3 scene 2, conveys the theme that killing someone isn't the most proficient way in dealing with problems nor does it make life simpler, instead it creates more complications. Ironically, In this scene Lady Macbeth and Macbeth discuss the death of Banquo; both of them begin to show signs of fear & guilt. Both of them realize the troubles that come with killing Banquo, and recognize that troubles follow; his son Fleance can still cease the prophecy. This is demonstrated in the metaphorical quote “We have scorched the snake, not killed it.” Macbeth refers to Banquo as a snake, who has not yet been killed and is still able to “attack” them.

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158 Words | 1 Pages

In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare the character, Banquo is quite ambiguous. Although, amidst the beginning of the play the reader perceives Banquo as a courageous aristocratic individual who’s apparently loyal to Macbeth. However, this perception the reader gathers is soon distorted as they realize that Banquo has a tendency to construct ambitious thoughts that he dares not to act upon unlike his counterpart, Macbeth. If the reader were to ponder about Banquo’s disposition as a whole, they will come to the conclusion that his character stands as harsh criticism to Macbeth because he signifies the decisions that Macbeth chose not to make. Macbeth’s choices include both betrayal and murder.

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230 Words | 1 Pages

In Act 3 of Macbeth, the previously emphasized themes of prophetic fate and ambition join together to form the new qualities of Macbeth, anxiousness and fear of the repercussions after killing Banquo to fulfill fate. The themes of fate and ambition combine to once again affect Macbeth’s decision making, leading to a fatal choice to kill his dear friend, Banquo, after speculation of Macbeth’s description and reasoning behind the anonymous murder of Duncan. Shakespeare’s inclusion of the visions Macbeth begins to perceive dictates the significance of the emotional trauma and turmoil occurring within Macbeth following the second murder his ambition to finalize fate has allowed. The prophecy of the witches, along with Macbeth’s ambition, strengthens Shakespeare’s syntax in Macbeth’s interactions with the supposed ghost of

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527 Words | 3 Pages

In the soliloquy in Act three Scene 1 of Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth talks to himself about the problems of being a king and he is afraid of what might happen to him. Macbeth also talks about how Banquo was his friend and how Banquo is the only person he fears. Macbeth’s predicament in the soliloquy is that he is afraid of losing his crown and that Banquo will get in his way. This is important because Macbeth does not trust anyone anyone because he does not feel safe and is convinced that the wrong thing are actually good. Through the literary devices of metaphor and personification, it will help us demonstrate Macbeth’s predicament.

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1931 Words | 8 Pages

After killing Banquo Macbeth evokes fear from the audience. Yet at a banquet thrown in honor of Macbeth’s new title of King, Macbeth begins hallucinating about the ghost of Banquo haunting him, this not only ruins the evening, but causes the audience to question the mental deterioration of Macbeth. Yes he is to be feared for his actions taken against Banquo, but the audience is left to question if Macbeth’s actions are not still reactions from the prophecies the witches gave him. They played on his ambitious tendencies and clearly manipulated him, which draws pity, although Macbeth is acting on his own, not under the constructs of any direction which causes fear of what he is capable of. In this moment with the apparition of Banquo the audience has to question the confounds of Macbeth’s sanity, it is easy to fear Macbeth because of what he is doing, but circumstances such as these and the encounters with the Weird Sisters make it difficult for the audience to despise Macbeth, instead they take pity on what they view as a delusional mind.

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1049 Words | 5 Pages

Lady Macbeth orders a servant to fetch Macbeth and before he arrives, she bemoans “Naught’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content,” indicating that even though she has gotten everything she wants, Lady Macbeth is still not happy because she had to kill to get what she wanted. According to Edith Whitehurst Williams, Lady Macbeth has “a conscience far from dead” that is seen in how she is not happy despite having the power she wanted, since the means of obtaining that power were unsavory (Williams 222). Once Macbeth arrives, Lady Macbeth consults him, advising that “what’s done is done,” meaning that Duncan is dead and their plan is through, so he does not need to do anything more or kill anyone else (3.2.12). Macbeth can sense that Lady Macbeth will not advocate for any more murders and therefore he “does not make her a party to the murder of Banquo” (Williams 222) and so when Lady Macbeth tells him to “sleek o’er your rugged looks”(3.2.27) in order to stop him from his planning of further murders, he simply agrees. At the banquet where Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, after everyone has left, Macbeth is talking about how he has more schemes to kill people, it is seen that Lady Macbeth’s “dedications to evil… [are] not going to sustain her”(Williams 222).

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426 Words | 2 Pages

With this loss of morality comes an immense guilt that is depicted through a hallucination of Banquo, who Macbeth murdered earlier on in the book. “What man dare, i dare. / Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, / The armed rhinoceros, or th’ Hyrcan tiger; / Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves / Shall never tremble… If trembling I inhabit then, protest me / The baby of a girl. / Hence, horrible shadow!” (3.4.121-125, 3.4.127-128).

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