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Examples Of Ethical Issues In Macbeth

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Throughout life, all human beings experience circumstances where they have to make important decisions. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he demonstrates a common dilemma amongst humans, where one must choose between what is morally right and wrong. As the play progresses, Shakespeare focuses on how Macbeth’s predicament becomes even more complicated after making unethical decisions. Through this exploration of Macbeth’s moral principles, Shakespeare invokes the question on whether sacrificing one’s integrity is worth the inevitable consequences of fulfilling unnecessary desires. In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare introduces us to Macbeth where three witches are predicting future occurrences, to him and his peer Banquo. They predicted that Macbeth would one day become the King of Scotland, and that Banquo’s kinsman would also eventually rule. Even though they predicted Macbeth would eventually become the king, he knew that he wasn’t next in line for the throne. So once Lady Macbeth read the letter from Macbeth stating the he could become king one day, she felt that they should take immediate actions in order to speed up the process. With her impactful persuasion, Lady Macbeth was able to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Macbeth was against the idea at …show more content…

During the night he was going to murder Duncan, Macbeth saw the dagger he was going to use covered in blood. So Macbeth held out his arm trying to grab this imaginary object. Like any other human being, envisioning a bloody dagger startled him, because he was no longer a heroic fighter, but instead an evil murderer. Shakespeare used the powerful imagery in this scene, to represent the severity and regret Macbeth will have for killing an innocent man. The sword itself symbolizes Macbeth cutting ties with his noble reputation, and the blood symbolizes a stain that the displays how the damage caused by the sword will always be

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