Lucifer himself was once a magnificent angel. In the Bible, Satan is a guardian and servant of God, who becomes the personification of evil itself when he rebels against God to inaugurate himself as the ruler of heaven. Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth illustrates a story of a similar nature; it is a tragic tale of a man whose humanity is stolen by the evil of ambition. At the beginning of the play, three witches prophesy to Macbeth that he will become King of Scotland. Macbeth’s partner, Lady Macbeth, convinces him to act on his intrusive thoughts to kill the current king, Duncan, and seize the crown for himself. In the Elizabethan Era, kings were believed to have been appointed by God to rule as his deputies, so Macbeth’s crime of regicide further …show more content…
While Macbeth originally has a stronger moral compass than his wife, he eventually caves into his inclinations, seemingly even enjoying the savagery of his actions in grim humour when he says, “...the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell, “That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” (2.1.62-65) This moment in the play marks Macbeth’s self-condemnation to eternal damnation, continually following Lucifer’s footsteps. Instead of recognizing the wrong in his treacherously sinful act of regicide, Macbeth embarks on a downward spiral and begins to exponentially accelerate his descent into the underworld. He is crowned King of Scotland after the news of Duncan’s demise spread, yet he remains unsatisfied with his current status. Despite being told to stop at his first crime, Macbeth remains set on the idea that he has “scorch’d the snake, not kill’d it,” and decides he needs to purge anyone who might be a threat to him