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The Nature Of Evil In Macbeth's '

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Macbeth suffers greatly as a result of his choices. His inability to resist the temptations or chose to maintain a moral code, and staying true to his conscience are the major culprits to his final outcome. This is evident beginning in Act 1 when the Weird Sisters give his and Banquo 's prophecies regarding their future status, he remains rational and doubtful about the level of truth in their words. However, in the end, he is responsible for betraying his moral code and letting Lady Macbeth influence him into committing regicide in order to fulfill the Witches’ last prediction of his kingship. He acknowledges the wrongs and due to this regretful act that he has done, he was troubled with sleepless nights while being mentally exhausted as …show more content…

Macbeth’s desperation and the decision of overly trusting the Weird Sisters in Act 4, taking their forecasts too literally as well as letting others’ ideas influence him eventually leads to his downfall as their main goal is to create evil and dominate his mind. This is where Macbeth’s character shifts significantly as he becomes increasingly confident and puts his ambition over conscience. As a result, he is no longer honored and respected by the people of Scotland and he hates to admit that he is not able to govern properly as he wishes the doctor can cure the country. It is evident that others perceive Macbeth from this point on as a madman and devil especially with Caithness and Angus’ descriptions of him being a “dwarfish thief” and unfit for being the king as he claimed it illegally while not realizing the demands upon him. He lacks the greatness, character, and ability to fill the role. In a way, through his choice of letting his ambition control him, he has sacrificed his family, relationships over power and …show more content…

Macbeth holds no doubts to the witches’ prophecies the second time, and he is alarmed by the apparitions words regarding Macduff, so he proceeds to act on behalf of his own safety and decides to act instantly the moment he has a plan to prevent himself from changing his mind. He did so by commanding the murderers to slaughter Macduff’s whole family including his son and all his servants. After Macduff has gotten this message, it only strengthened his desire to rebel against and kill Macbeth. With Macbeth’s false confidence that derived from his belief that no one is not born from a woman and the forest cannot move, he possessed no fear to the news of Malcolm and Macduff proposing a war and reaching his

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He believes that he can rule as a king however he wants and that no one will be able to replace him. Macbeth feels comforted and releases some of the stress and nightmares he was previously having. His newly gained comfort gives Macbeth a false sense of security that leads to Macbeth’s poor preparation to resist the English troops. Thinking that he cannot be harmed, Macbeth does not take the necessary steps to protect Scotland and his life. When he finally encounters Macduff on the battlefield, he believes it will be an easy fight as he deems himself invincible, but he is slaughtered.

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These are not considered evil until he caves into the temptation of power (Gimelli Martin 165). His weakness is shown when he makes the decision to murder King Duncan and secures the position as king. He even goes as far to murder his friend, Banquo, because he feels uneasy about his suspicions (182-183). At this point in the story he is even comparable to Satan, “Like Satan, Macbeth becomes the chief equivocator in his own hell, unwittingly uttering objective truths to his subjects even while telling subjective lies.” (183).

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Moreover, Macbeth will continue to commit even more heinous crimes, as a result, Macbeth’s loses sight of humanity and sanity. Once he realizes that Macduff is a potential threat, he says “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; / Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword / His wife, his babes” (4.1.164-166). Macbeth has finally lost all sense of guilt and humanity. His decent into evil made him obsessed to maintain his throne to the extreme point of insanity. He decides to murder the wife and child of his potential threat, Macduff.

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Macduff went to England to find Malcolm, King Duncan’s son, who fled Scotland so he would not be killed like his father. Macbeth no longer considers Macduff loyal to him and becomes apprehensive. Macbeth consorts with the murderers again to kill Macduff’s family, “give to the edge o’ the sword his wife, babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line” (Act 4, Scene 1). When a messenger comes to deliver the news to Macduff, he becomes sad but Malcolm tells him “… Let grief convert to anger…” (Act 4, Scene 3).

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