Paradox In Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare about Macbeth, a scottish general and thane of Glamis who, after hearing prophecies from three witches and with the help and encouragement from his wife, devises and carries out a plan to become the king of Scotland. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the author proposes a sense of evil, darkness, mystery, and suspense through the use of paradox, character struggles and motivation, violence, and the working of fate in order to describe characters, foreshadow events, show conflict, and show the outcome of evil ambition.

When the play begins, the author introduces three witches during a thunder and lightning storm who are speaking in rhyme and paradox, setting

He is portrayed as a being generally good. Banquo, another Scottish general is also introduced early in the play as loyal. Macbeth and Banquo encounter the three witches and hear their prophecies. The first witch hails Macbeth as the Thane of Glamis. The second and third witches also hail Macbeth by sharing their prophecies and stating “All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of cawdor” and “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”(act 1, scene 3, line 49-50). The witches also predict that although Banquo will not become king, he “shalt get kings”(act 1, scene 3, line 67) meaning his “children shall be kings”(act 1, scene 3, line 86). The witches continue saying “lesser than Macbeth and greater”(act 1, scene 3, line 65) when referring to Banquo and that he is “Not so happy, yet much happier”(act 1, scene 3, line 66). The use of paradox here both describes the characters and foreshadows their fate. Macbeth is first conflicted about the witches’ prophecies but after the first prophecy comes true and he is named the Thane of Cawdor, he is motivated to start taking action to secure what he now believes to be his fate as king. The use of paradox by the witches during their encounter again foreshadows both men’s destiny and shows that things aren’t always what they seem. We are introduced to the conflicts

She encourages Macbeth to kill king Duncan in order to ensure that he will be king. She is cruel and insults his manhood. She is motivated by greed and evil. She even tells Macbeth that the blood on his hands will wash away after he kills king duncan. As the events of the play take place and she plans and participates with Macbeth in the murders of king Duncan and his chamberlains, she begins to struggle with guilt and the conflict between good and evil. She realizes that she has gained nothing but spent everything when she says “naught 's had, all’s spent”(act 3, scene 2, line 4). She begins to sleepwalk, become ill, and realized that the blood on her hands will not wash away as she yells “out, damned spot, out, I say!” she commits suicide(act 5, scene 1, line