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How Does Macbeth Change Throughout The Play

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English commentary

Macbeth, a tragedy by William Shakespeare in 1606 was written as a play to be performed before King James I and VI. So far in the play, Macbeth and Banquo have returned from fighting the invading Norwegians in Scotland. However, Macbeth had also recently received a fortune from 3 witches who prophesised 3 events which would eventually allow him to become king. In this scene, Macbeth sees the prophecy begin to take place as he is named ‘Thane of Cawdor’ by the king of Scotland. This commentary will discuss how Shakespeare was able to symbolise and emphasise the significance of this scene within the play through language, themes and imagery.

The themes of desire, murder and betrayal are frequently shown throughout this scene. …show more content…

‘Stars hide your fires’ is a metaphor for Macbeth hiding his true feelings. Macbeth’s real emotions are the feelings that will eventually engulf him and lead him to kill the king. Macbeth must hide this dark passion as he recently had pledged his loyalty to the throne. Shakespeare uses this phrase to highlight the deceit and lies hidden by Macbeth towards the king. Stars is a metaphor for the eyes, and the eyes are the ‘window to the soul.’ The word ‘fires’ is further symbolising Macbeths determination to obtain the throne. Essentially, Macbeth must hide his adamance and eagerness to acquire the title of ‘king’. Furthermore, King Duncan says ‘my worthy Cawdor’ as Macbeth leaves. This statement by the king is immediately hailing Macbeth as the thane of Cawdor shortly after the previous Thane of Cawdor has died. This language implies that the relationship between Macbeth and the king is very strong and built on ‘trust’. The king is under the false impression that Macbeth is loyal to him, while he is actually only loyal to the throne. This emotive language may invoke sadness within the reader as it is apparent that despite being hailed by the king, Macbeth is still willing to murder him to achieve …show more content…

Such as dark, powerful and sentimental imagery. In this scene Macbeth has a sudden change of heart as he discovers that the prophecy is coming true, to emphasise this change of heart, Shakespeare has incorporated dark, powerful imagery. Macbeth says ‘Which the eye fears when it is done’ at the end of a monologue where he tells the reader about his plan to kill the Prince, It is powerful as Macbeth knows what he is doing is wrong, he is fearful, despite having fought in a war, he is afraid of murdering someone that has close relations to him. This powerful imagery is then again incorporated when Macbeth says ‘Stars hide your fires’, this emotive quote from this scene highlights how Shakespeare desires for this scene to include powerful imagery to be a staple in the readers memory, to symbolise the turning point of the play. The sentimental imagery is implicated through King Duncan and Macbeths interactions, it is evident that King Duncan has the upmost respect for Macbeth as he immediately entrusts Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor. ‘My worthy Cawdor’, this statement has a clear emphasis on the word my. The word my depicts an image of trust between the two. This trust is only to be broken when Macbeth said ‘Let not light see my black and deep desires’, Macbeth illustrates to the audience how he is willing to give up any good in him to obtain power,

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This shows Macbeth’s desire to become king, even though he already has a high ranking position in the land. He is not content with he has and desires an even higher position. He desires it so much to the point of betraying the trust of people who are close to him just for his own greedy self gain. Macbeth betrays and backstabs many characters in the story, an example being King Duncan himself.

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Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor / All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (1.3.46-49) This quote sets the motion for the rise and tragic fall of Macbeth. Macbeth after hearing these words spoken to him is filled to the brim with mixed feelings that cause him to lose grasp upon himself and his nobleness. Macbeth was ordinarily noble and devoted to his country prior to the incident with the witches which led him to be blinded by his overwhelming sense of cupidity.

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This shows he is brave because, due to his valiant efforts and bravery in the war, the King believed this was enough to bestow the title Thane of Cawdor upon him. Furthermore this shows that King Duncan believes it was him alone that won the war for Scotland. Macbeth is also shown as kind when Lady Macbeth says “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o ' th ' milk of human kindness” this tells me personally that Lady Macbeth thinks that he is so kind that it is actually a handicap for him, in the sense that because Lady Macbeth wants him to kill the King she believes that his kindness will prevent him from doing such a devious act to acquire power. This could also be a metaphor for the level of his kindness, you could say that the only way to

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651 Words | 3 Pages

The play entitled Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth, a loyal and brave thane to the king. When a prophecy reveals he will become king, Macbeth is overcome with ambition and greed. Convinced of this prophecy and the encouragement from his wife, he is able to kill the king and take the throne. Although Macbeth was able to obtain the throne, he was was overwhelmed by power and guilt leading to internal conflict, which suggests that success is not desirable through cheating and corruption and ultimately cost more than its actually worth, Macbeth`s reckless pursuit of killing and becoming the king is representative of the power he has and what he is able to do with the power he's gained; therefore. His relentless ambition for king reveals the guilt behind power.

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I am thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock at my ribs” (Shakespeare, 1.3, 133-37). This quotation describes Macbeth’s newfound desire

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Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” by using exclamatory sentences and diction to add a sense of foreboding and shows the witches as agents of chaos, this first the prophecy that turns the story into one where we question wether the strory is one of fate or of flaw. By repeating “All hail, Macbeth!” This is when we see him first questioning his actions. Another example of Macbeth being forced to do anothers bidding is when his wife lady Macbeth belitals him by saying, “When you durst

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The play Macbeth is about how the main character Macbeth was blessed with prophecies to be king and his own actions stripped that gift away from him, leading to his death. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s starts out as a loyal soldier and the Thane of Glamis, but his demeanor and communication changes from being respectful, and loyal to being overconfident, and authoritative as he becomes more powerful over the course of the play. Right after Macbeth becomes the Thane of Cawdor he is thankful of Duncan for choosing him for this position, and Macbeth expresses that ¨the service and the loyalty (he) owe(s) in doing it pays itself. Your highness' part is to receive our duties.¨ (1.4.23-24) Although Macbeth is very honored to have this

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775 Words | 4 Pages

The witches told Macbeth that he shall be the Thane of Cawdor, and he shall be king. (Later he fulfilled both of those prophecies.)Macbeth and Banquo were greeted by Ross, and Ross called Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth sort of has a mental break down and start arguing with himself. While he is doing this he is discussing whether he should or should not go through with

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If the stars shine their light, his “black and deep desire” will be revealed to everyone. Because he knows that what he is about to do is immoral and no one should hear about it, Macbeth is compos mentis. “The eye wink at the hand” refer to Macbeth’s wanting to blind his eyes so that he will not have to see the actions he will be making. Macbeth have an emotional conflict because he knows he might regret his actions later on and he is afraid to see the outcome. Due to the concerns he is having, Macbeth is still sane because he thinks about it before committing the actions.

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The fact that Macbeth believes the witches’ prophecies are not evil nor good foreshadows how he will go on to kill any other person standing in his way to more power. His ambition blinds his mind to make him even think about ruthlessly committing a murder. This forceful way of gaining power will only lead Macbeth to become a “tyrant” in Scotland and his “fantastical” desires of killing Duncan and receiving the crown will lead Scotland to failure. Under Macbeth’s rule, Scotland seems to be in a terrible condition. With distrust among the people, there is tension all within the country, as Macbeth’s totalitarian regime had rendered the prosperity of Scotland.

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Macbeth’s mental condition begins to dwindle as time goes on, starting with the murder of Duncan. At first, Macbeth is seen as a soldier that everyone aspires to be, strong, brave, and compassionate about his duties to the king. In act one scene two, Captain says, “...For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-...” This shows that he is a likeable person who has only the objective of serving his king. After meeting with the witches and hearing his prophecy, Macbeth starts to think about what it would be like to be king of Scotland.

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Macbeth’s pride allowed his wife to use his ambition as leverage calling him a ‘coward’, ‘lesser than a man’. Macbeth was unable to withstand the belittlement and his masculinity mocked. Previously, Macbeths desire to obtain the

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Macbeth come across the three witches, there they state, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor” (Act 1, Scene 3). In reply to the three witches, Macbeth demanded “stay you imperfect speakers! Tell me more”. With just these few statements announced, Macbeth’s thirst for power and glory arises and is clearly seen.

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This debate between the pity found in Macbeth’s mental state and the fear he evokes through his actions continues as Macbeth becomes a vicious tyrant. Not only does he kill off more of those around him, including the family of MacDuff, all for the sake of proving his power over those around him, but he rains famine and tragedy across the land. Macbeth’s inhumane actions easily draw fear from the audience as it expresses how uncontrollable and deranged, he has become; Macbeth is truly far from the hero first introduced. Extensively Macbeth begins to trust fewer and fewer individuals, he becomes more paranoid about the things going on around him. Specifically he can’t sleep and fears loosing his power.

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It is because that Macbeth desires Duncan’s throne. Macbeth defeats the enemy bravely for the country at the beginning. People praise his courage and devotion. Even the king of Scotland, Duncan, admires his contribution, and greets him the thane of Cawdor. However, Macbeth’s ambition is aroused by the witches’ prophecy, which is that he will be the future king.

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