ipl-logo

The Role Of Reasoning In Macbeth

802 Words4 Pages

Megan Weetman Professor Rommesser Composition 1 October 6th, 2016 Macbeth In the beginning, Macbeth withholds a strong sense of judgement and moral standard for himself and his behavior. He is ripe to the slightest suggestions to murder his liege and lord. The three witches plant the seeds and Lady Macbeth waters them, however, Macbeth takes it upon himself to harvest the ugliness. Macbeth allows these multiple aspects to come between him and his power for reasoning which results in his downfall. During Act I, Scene III, the third witch powerfully says “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” Macbeth is very superstitious towards all three witches in the play and believes that everything they say is gold and will become true. …show more content…

Macbeth questions his wife on whether they will fail in completing the task of killing Duncan or whether it will lead to sentencing and punishment. She replies to him by saying, “We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking place,/ and we’ll not fail. When Duncan is asleep—/ Whereto the rather shall day’s hard journey/ Will I with wine and wassail so convince,/ That memory, the warder of the brain,/ Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason/ A limbec only: when in swinish sleep/ What cannot you and I perform upon/ The unguarded Duncan? what not put upon/ His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt/ Of our great quell?” Alongside her efforts to persuade Macbeth to do the deed she explains to him as to why the plan will not fail. This, in addition to the help of the witches, is a turning point in the play where Macbeth allows Lady Macbeth’s cunning mind and negligent advice to intercept his knowledge on what is right and what is wrong. Although, in turn, Lady Macbeth should be more cognizant towards her husband, as a potential king and strong leader, Macbeth should be able to uphold strength behind his own beliefs and should evaluate each situation for himself. Instead, he jumps at the first opinion of someone who does not have his best interest at

Show More
Related
873 Words | 4 Pages

She emasculates Macbeth and challenges his bravery, which to him is the essence of a being a man, "coward." Compelling her husband by giving him an ultimatium, be a coward or kill the king. Macbeth succumbs to evil and in doing so, betrays his King. God 's divine order is disturbed as Macbeth challenges God by killing the God appointed King and assuming the role for himself in his quest for power. Later on in the play, Macbeth asserts his right over Lady Macbeth, flipping their dynamic, and distances himself from her,"be innocent of the knowlded dearest chuck.

Read More
1724 Words | 7 Pages

In act one scene 7, Macbeth doubts if he should kill the king; however, his wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulates him into proceeding. It might be difficult for Macbeth, the renowned warrior, to hear his wife accusing him of cowardice. Therefore, under Lady Macbeth’s influence, as she questions his manhood, he commences the murder in order to prove to her that he is not a “coward.” This is important to note because his soliloquy shows his determination to proceed.

Read More
919 Words | 4 Pages

In Macbeth, Shakespeare writes about a man named Macbeth, who has a very strong ambition to be the the king of Scotland. His credulousness led him into believing the prophecy from the three witches without thinking rigorously. Because of this prophecy, Macbeth is willing to do everything he can to gain the throne, even to the extreme of murdering someone. Shakespeare uses syntax, similes, and personification to convey the evolution of Macbeth’s insanity.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

At the beginning of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ the protagonist Macbeth is described as ‘brave’, ‘noble’ and ‘honourable’, however Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeths desire for power consumes them. Macbeth’s ambition overrides his conscience and transformed his greatest strength into his greatest weakness. Macbeth’s inability to resist temptations that led him to be greedy for power, Macbeth’s easily manipulative nature which allowed his mind to be swayed, Macbeth having no self control and his excessive pride was what allowed him to renew his previously honourable and celebrated title into one of an evil ‘tyrant’. Macbeth is led by the prophecies of the witches after they foretell he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Not only the witches, but also his wife easily manipulate Macbeth as she attacks his manhood in order to provoke him to act on his desires.

Read More
1590 Words | 7 Pages

He feels that because the witches said it that it must be true no matter what the consequences in the future are. This is a leading factor that causes Macbeth to decide to murder King Duncan. Macbeth consciously makes the decision to commit treason and knows that it will have consequences. He even ponders the fact that although he will have a prosperous life on

Read More
1054 Words | 5 Pages

Although introduced as a thoroughly hardened, ambitious woman, Lady Macbeth’s seemingly unbreakable character shatters when she is consumed by the demon of guilt. The guilt of Lady Macbeth seems nonexistent when she persuades Macbeth to kill King Duncan, but the heinous acts she and her husband commit throughout the play strain her slowly. Eventually, the guilt Lady Macbeth harbors emerges from her subconscious and crumbles her. The downfall of Lady Macbeth reveals that even the toughest, strongest, and most powerful people can succumb to guilt. At the commencement of William Shakespeare’s

Read More
1015 Words | 5 Pages

In today’s society many people possess strong ambition when it comes to getting a job, following a passion and being immensely successful in life. Having an abundance of aspirations can have both successful and faulty outcomes depending on the situation and how individuals respond to the circumstance. For example, in the play **Macbeth written by Shakespeare, a prime example of an excessive amount of ambition is displayed through both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s actions. Essentially, Macbeth becomes power hungry and goes on a rampant killing spree that causes Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to be overcome with guilt. They both contain an excessive amount of desires due to their ultimate goal being for Macbeth to be crowned king.

Read More
769 Words | 4 Pages

Lady Macbeth persuades and manipulates Macbeth by pointing out his insecurities successfully and pressuring him into murdering the king. Along with this, Lady Macbeth also questions Macbeth’s manhood and masculinity when he does not want to carry out the plan when she says “When you durst do it, then you were a man;//And to be more than what you were, you would//Be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.49-51). By saying these things, Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to believe that murdering the king will be his redemption from being a

Read More
682 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth states, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other”. This quote represents Macbeth’s effort to succeed in his actions, Macbeth’s “intent” signifies the horse that he is trying to mount and “I have no spur to prick the sides” meaning that there is nothing forcing his intent to move other than his “vaulting” ambition. In the process

Read More
805 Words | 4 Pages

In the play of Macbeth, there are some characters that could be responsible for Duncan’s death. I personally think Lady Macbeth is the cause of Duncan's murder. She is the most ambitious to kill the king in the beginning of the play, pressuring Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was persuasive of driving Macbeth to commit the murder. She manipulates him to go through with the murder even though he was very doubtful about it.

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

She pushes him into killing King Duncan, “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail” (Shakespeare 1.7.60-61). This is a prime example of how humanism replaces religious values during the time of expansion in the Kingdom of England. Shakespeare wrote this play to demonstrate the shift in values and beliefs during this time period of which he was alive in

Read More
780 Words | 4 Pages

Lady Macbeth’s strong character portrayed in Act I Scene V creates suspicion of dark events later in the play. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth reveals her true character in her speech and foreshadows King Duncan’s death. Throughout her speech, Lady Macbeth reveals her lust for power and desire to kill Duncan to become queen. Although Lady Macbeth’s character is recently introduced into the play, she reveals her true self as a sadistic and covetous person which foreshadows the murder of King Duncan and Macbeth’s prophesied future.

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

At first these thoughts remain hidden, but when the witches approach him with their predictions his desires reform his character. The witches wait for Macbeth and tell him series of predictions. The specific prediction, “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.51) causes Macbeth’s desire to become more intensified. Their prediction that he would become king brings a change in his character.

Read More
1241 Words | 5 Pages

Macbeth’s ambition is one of the most prominent things that drive Macbeth in the play and truly becomes evident when he hears of the Witches prophecies. When the witches stop talking, he demands to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more” (I, III, 73-74). This portrays his excessive curiosity on the subject as well as his craving for more desirable prophecies. This ambitious nature and craving for power is also demonstrated only moments after hearing the witches, when he starts formulating a plan to kill Duncan in order to make the third prophecy come true.

Read More
876 Words | 4 Pages

The witches played a colossal role in Macbeth’s downfall and ultimately, his death. Since the first part of the prophecy stated Macbeth as being the new Thane of Cawdor, he believed he could continue to become king as well. In knowing his prediction, Macbeth also realized that since the king was in good health, so he would have to kill the king himself. For the rest of his prophecy to come true he would have to kill the king for himself. “All hail, Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter!”

Read More

More about The Role Of Reasoning In Macbeth

Related Topics

Open Document