Kayatu Haidara Word Literature Professor Brooks 3/5/24 The Tragedy of Macbeth: The Unchanging Path The beast will crawl this Earth, then fall in the dirt to feed the crows, they’ll rip apart his flesh, ‘til all that’s left is glorious bone. Wiseman, Frank Ocean In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, we follow the story of a Scottish general, Macbeth, who encounters three witches who reveal prophecies about the future of the Scottish crown, one of which being that he will become king of Scotland. Realizing that this means the current king must die, Macbeth murders him. As the story progresses, Macbeth becomes more obsessed with the crown and greedy for power, causing him to continuously kill people out of paranoia. The significance of human …show more content…
Lady Macbeth's actions while sleepwalking show that Duncan’s death weighs heavily on her conscience. Her inability to remove the smell of the blood shows that the guilt will forever linger. This guilt leads to her mental breakdown and eventual suicide: “And his fiend like queen (who, as ‘tis thought, by self and violent hands, took off her life)” (Page 191). Lady Macbeth's death occurs as a result of her guilt. Through deciding to help and encourage Macbeth to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth plays a role in the most pivotal scene of the play, causing her to be set on a path that she can’t come back from, ultimately sealing her fate. Malcolm and Macduff also begin to suffer at the hands of Macbeth. As a result of killing people mercilessly out of fear, Macbeth harms the families of both men, forcing them to revolt. As Act Five comes to an end, Macduff confronts Macbeth: “That way the noise is, Tyrant, show thy face! If thou beest slain, and with no stroke of mine, my wife and children’s ghost will haunt me still” (page 183). Despite not being at fault for Duncan’s death, Macbeth's actions still heavily impact Macduff, one of the main ones being Macbeth's decision to kill Macduff's