Finally, Macbeth’s surrender to his uncontrolled passion for power led to his own tragic death and to his total transformation from being one of moral character to a heartless murderer. Although Macbeth’s decline evokes pity and compassion from the reader which makes him a tragic hero, passion without reason cannot be tolerated , because every man has a specific gift: the freedom of choice. Indeed, the prophecies of the three witches, Lady Macbeth’s wicked inspiration and encouragement, and Macbeth’s lustful passion to keep the throne altogether provided the perfect elements for the development and the end of the Shakespearean tragic play,
To fight for an individual’s country was a noble deed. However, in Macbeth’s case, it becomes a symbol of guilt and discomfort. In the beginning, Macbeth is a revered soldier and a confident nobleman but after murdering Duncan, he experiences a change in character, becoming uncomfortable and paranoid for committing such a horrible crime.
Macbeth’s very first soliloquy characterizes him as a person who is both loyal and honorable to his king; he knows that he must honor his king by fighting every battle like it would be his last, but his mind gradually begins to alter and generates a chain of betrayal. Macbeth was a great man in the commencement of the play, “Till he faced the slave; which ne’er shook hand, nor bade his farewell to him, till he unseamed him from the nave to th’chops, and fix 'd his head upon our battlements” (L. 9). After the three witches antagonize Macbeth, he changes even more from being the righteous soldier that he was, by saying to himself; “Let not the light see my black and deep desires: the eye wink at the hand yet lets tis should be which the eye fears, when it is done to see” (LL. 51-53). Nevertheless, many of the happenings in the play occur because of betrayal, whether it is betrayal regarding the main character or even betrayal of leaving people dear to you behind.
Macbeth’s impatience for power leads to drastic actions. He murders the king in the belief that “this blow might be the be-all and end-all” (1.7.5). This assassination could never “trammel up the consequence” (1.7.2-3), as Macbeth believes, but only leads to more trouble. Although Macbeth seizes the throne, Macbeth had to betray his loyalty to the king whose “virtues will plead like angels” (1.7.18-19), and his morality has paid the price. Macbeth has now lost all sense of what honor is by using such dishonest ways to become king.
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.
After the Macbeth kills Duncan, he has committed his first real murder. Though he has killed before, this is the first time he has ever killed someone he was supposed to be loyal to, the first time morality was not on his side. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is overcome with guilt causing him to lose his sense of what is real, of the real limits and properties of the world around him. To him his king’s blood spills in endless amounts from his hands. ““Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
Macbeth clearly distinguished himself as a great warrior, but his battlefield heroics did not carry over into heroic behavior off the battlefield. It is ironic that he, who had defended Duncan from traitors colluding with Irish and Norwegian armies, himself harbored traitorous thoughts. As he was contemplating assassinating Duncan, Macbeth was having trouble in justifying what he was about to do. “I am his kinsman and his subject, / Strong both against the
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, undergoes several instances where outside forces sway his judgement and virtues. It is evident that these factors play a heavy role in Macbeth’s life for these urge him to commit the unthinkable crime, which is to assassinate the king. This then leads to the
Macbeth, who was initially a brave and respected nobleman of Scotland, performs an unforgiving deed by killing his loyal counterpart, King Duncan, to be crowned king and satisfy his ambitions. Initially, King Duncan viewed Macbeth as a trust – worthy and loyal individual as he is “in double trust” with Macbeth. Despite the loyalty and trust that Duncan expressed towards Macbeth, Macbeth’s prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s convincing words were enough to motivate his ambitions to betray King Duncan. However, after committing the murder and claiming the crown, Macbeth is unable to enjoy his superiority. This is predominantly due to the growing sense of guilt that has plagued him for
A Character Analysis of Macbeth In Act I and II of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, Macbeth is depicted as a weak-minded character, whose excessive ambition eventually overpowers his conscience. Macbeth’s ambition in the battlefield wins him the title of “the Thane of Cawdor”. However, as the play progresses, he is driven to evil business by his ambition and desire of power, “but only vaulting ambition, which o 'erleaps itself and falls on th ' other” (1.7.26-28) He realizes that his hubris will lead to his downfall when he battles his conscience, but his desire of power prevails. He starts to deceive his friend Banquo “I think not of them” (2.1.23) and eventually murders the king.
According to Aristotle, "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. An Aristotelian tragic hero must possess specific characteristics such as flaw or error of judgment (hamartia), a reversal of fortune brought about because of the hero's error in judgment, the discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero's own actions, excessive pride (hubris) and the character's fate must be greater than deserved (The Poetics). In the end these factors lead to a fatal demise to which they are destined. Corresponding to Aristotle’s genre of tragedy Macbeth is in fact a tragic hero. Although his actions do not bestow nobleness, other characters imply that he is honorable for example when Duncan states “True, worthy Banquo.
In everyday life, humans strive to become the best people that they can become. Sometimes their actions influence other people. If the actions are big enough, then a person can be classified as a hero. In the story Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the land of Scotland was once a positive and happy place that later became a cruel and terrifying place.
Violence in Macbeth by William Shakespeare “Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops,/And fixed his head upon our battlements” (1.2.16-23). This is our first introduction to the title character Macbeth, hearing about how brave and noble he is in battle, and a description of a man being sliced from his stomach up to his jaw, only to be beheaded and put up for display by Macbeth. It is very fitting to be introduced to Macbeth this way, hearing about his violent acts, as he continues this trend throughout the entirety of the play. In this paper I am going to give many examples of how the theme of violence being used to get what someone wants run rampant throughout, and why Macbeth is universally associated with violence.
The namesake of the play, “Macbeth” is a man who faced a decision between his own personal passion and his moral obligations and duties. The two choices pulled at him and seemed to torment him even after he made a decision. Through the conflict that Macbeth felt because of his decisions, the reader can better empathize with him, and can obtain a more profound lesson from the story concerning decisions between personal passions and moral obligations. Macbeth is not what one would call “perfect.”
Introduction Although most readers of Macbeth have argued that Macbeth doesn’t lose his mind, duty, and love of life but, closer examination shows that through his action his psyche has evolved. Macbeth can be shown to be losing his mind because when he is in the woods, he has a vision of a dagger which leads him to Duncan’s bed where he ultimately kills Duncan. He has lost his sense of duty because the one whom he pledged his loyalty to, he has betrayed and slaughtered. He can be shown to have lost the love of life because when he is told of Lady Macbeth's death, he has no emotion except that he had expected it.
