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Was Macbeth Conscious

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In life our minds make us imagine and turn our reality into our desired dreams. In the play, Macbeth, he was told a prophecy where he could become king, he was overjoyed by the idea of having that power. However, Macbeth was not told how to become king but he thinks in order to become king he has to kill the current one. Meanwhile, he is forced to make the decision about killing the king, but he does not believe it is a decision, Macbeth sees the prophecy to be true and that he has no choice but throughout his journey his conscious stop shim and makes him think about his actions. Macbeth’s desire to kill the the king prevails over his conscious, however his conscious ultimately made Macbeth question and have concern about killing the king …show more content…

He reaches for the knife but is unable to “clutch” it. “ Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee (2.1.44-4).” He is uncertain about killing the king because as he goes to reach for the handle on the knife he is unable to rasp it. Above all, when he misses the handle Macbeth thinks that might be a sign not to kill the king.

Although Macbeth’s conscious is preventing him to kill Duncan, his belief in the prophecy overwhelms his mind and he inches closer to Duncan. While Macbeth gets closer to Duncan, he walks slower and more quietly because he does not want to do anything that will cause him to have to stop, “Alarmed by his sentinel, the wolf, whose howl’s his watch, thus with with his stealthy, pace, with Tarquin’s ravishing [strides] towards his design (2.1.65-67).”

Macbeth is walking slow because he is concerned that if he stops he will think too much and have doubts about killing Duncan. With this in his mind, he is nervous that he will become to scared. His conscious tries to prevent him from killing the innocent king but he has more desire for the power he will

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794 Words | 4 Pages

In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare a character Macbeth was told he was going to be king and he did everything in his power to make it happen. Macbeth tries to control the future by listening to lady macbeth and takes matters into his own hands to become king he did unspeakable things to make sure his prophecy came true. Macbeth allowed Lady Macbeth to convince him to not wait around to be king and take action to make certain that he will become king. Three witches told Macbeth that he would soon become king and when lady Macbeth heard she knew she would become queen so she became adamant on it happening she couldn't wait for the prophecy so she fed Macbeth terrible ideas for the prophecy to come true sooner than

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However, his desire for power has pushed him to such an extent that he is willing to embrace even the possibility of a supernatural weapon to aid him in his dark deeds. The phrase "come, let me clutch thee" shows how far he has fallen into madness and how deeply he is willing to embrace his twisted ambition. Furthermore, the imagery of the "bloody" dagger is symbolic of the bloodshed that Macbeth will soon cause. It foreshadows the murders that he is about to commit and reinforces the idea that his quest for power has warped his perception of reality. The dagger is also described as having its "handle toward my hand," which can be interpreted as a sign that Macbeth feels he is being led towards his gruesome fate by his own desires.

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Is this his wavering conscience or destiny signalling to him? Shakespeare uses the personification here, where Macbeth asks to, “clutch thee,” implying that the dagger is beckoning him to commit the murder, again blaming external circumstances when really, interestingly, revealing his own intention. This visual imagery appears in the reader’s mind, crafted with a lure of power that even the bravest Macbeth could not resist. Shakespeare uses mimesis here, and mimics the reality of man in art: even somebody as infallible and heroic as Macbeth crumbles in front of unconstrained power and space. This is how weak and frail human nature is.

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The voices he hears that threaten: “Macbeth shall sleep no more” indicate a relationship between guilt and madness. Therefore, the manifestation of the dagger suggests that he feels guilty because of his attempt to murder Duncan. There are three major transitions of thought. First, he contemplates about the dagger’s existence; the second is the invocations of dark images; finally, there is the bell that cuts off Macbeth’s contemplations. The transitions between topics indicate that while Macbeth feels guilty for the murder, his determination makes him ignore

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679 Words | 3 Pages

So Macbeth and his wife plan and do go through with the murder of King Duncan. In return strange things happen throughout the night such as Duncan’s horses eating each other etc. Macbeth then turns his sight on the

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568 Words | 3 Pages

“Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? /Come, let me clutch thee/ I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” This soliloquy is representative of the emotions Macbeth faces and how he must come to terms with the idea of what he might do next. His femininity can be seen throughout the play, it can be observed just how loyal Macbeth is to those he values, this love however is detrimental and ends up resulting in vicious murders as well as loss of Macbeth's overall character.

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For example, when the witches notify Macbeth that he will gain a new title, they are simply telling him of the fact and are not prompting him to act upon it (Rahman and Tajuddin 138). In spite of that, he instantly conjures up an image in his head of himself killing King Duncan in order to get the position of the King, and subtly questions if his thoughts are against his own morals (Mac I.iii.130-137). This thought is not the witches’ fault, but if they never told Macbeth of his imminent future, he would not think this way. Macbeth’s murderous thought of Duncan lets readers see that Macbeth has a lust for power, which ultimately leads to the tragedy (Kesur 5561). In addition, the witches’ apparitions also play a slight part in Macbeth’s decision making.

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Lastly, Macbeth’s own conscious played a role against him as he had set in stone that due to Malcolm being named next ruler of Scotland. He exclaimed that since fate did not deal him the hand he wanted that he would deal his own fate to becoming king. This in of its self proves he chose free will to become king. He as well, wanted to prove to Lady Macbeth that he indeed is man enough to kill the king and claim what was promised to him. Yet, all of this arose due to the Weird Sisters engraving into his mind the idea of becoming

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The Destiny of Macbeth Fate has already sealed Macbeth’s destiny to become King of Scotland, yet he uses his free will to commit a series of immoral acts to better his chances of becoming king. Macbeth’s initial reaction was to let destiny take its course, “If chance will have me as king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir. “Afterwards, he decides to alter what he thought was inevitable to better his chances of becoming and remaining King of Scotland. Macbeth’s actions counteract with the fate given to him by the witches.

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Macbeth is also a power hungry man who would do just about anything to achieve his goal of becoming King. When Macbeth first hears the prophecies from the three witches he instantly became invested with the journey to become king. Similar to Lady Macbeth, nothing was going to come between him and his potential power, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man. That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.52-55). This quote exemplifies how Macbeth’s initial solution to becoming king was murder.

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861 Words | 4 Pages

He wants to please her and make her believe that he is tough. When he meets the three witches they tell him he will be King of Scotland, he knew he would have to kill Duncan in order to fulfill the throne. Macbeth is forthright with his decision at first barring the unsteadiness about going through. He becomes worried, depressed and very unsure of the outcome. “Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” (Line 2).

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630 Words | 3 Pages

In the past scene Macbeth is being hesitant in going through with the assassination of King Duncan. Macbeth has a moment where he talks to himself after he sees a floating dagger and says “Is this a dagger which I see before me/ The handle toward my hand?/Come, let me clutch thee./I have thee not, and yet I see thee still./Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/ To feeling as to sight?or art thou but/A dagger of the mind, a false creation,/Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?.” (II.I, 44-49).

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Through the lens of Sigmund Freud, concepts in the play Macbeth take on an entirely deeper meaning. Because the characters in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare repress their feelings of guilt, they display their true psychological states through the acts of their subconscious in order to eradicate their feelings of remorse and to show that guilt is within human nature. Within the play, Shakespeare uses hallucinations and sleepwalking to show that acts of the subconscious are manifestations of guilt. In Act 2.

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He thinks about this despite the fact that he serves the current king. Macbeth’s belief in his inherent right to power leads to fantastical dreams

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