Macbeth’s soliloquy towards the end of the play shows how Macbeth’s character has developed and changed over the course of the play because Macbeth becomes emotionless due to his current mental state and his wife dying cause, and Macbeth realizes the futility of life, believing life is meaningless. The first section of the monologue shows how Macbeth feels indifferent and does not express his feelings strongly. Macbeth’s reaction to his wife’s death is far different from the affectionate relationship the pair shared at the beginning of the play. Macbeth reacts to his wife’s death by saying, “She should have died hereafter;” (16). Macbeth has a complete lack of emotion due to his current mental state, which is that Macbeth has little or no conscious …show more content…
Macbeth’s mental state changes by him starting off as a man with good intentions, but overwhelming greed and ambition cause him to become evil and a murderer. At first Macbeth was a noble thane to the king who obeyed his every command, and therefore not a single wrong thought crossed Macbeth’s mind about potentially committing murder or any other other evil act. However, Macbeth had a weakness in his character, that was the fact that he was easily manipulated by the people closest to him and eventually his own ambition and greed caused his downfall.
The next section shows a shift in Macbeth’s focus. Macbeth recognizes the fragility of life and how it lasts for a very short time. Macbeth provides a depressing view of human mortality, by saying that life has no real, lasting meaning or impact. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth has an overall positive view of life and thinks that life is very significant. He
Macbeth not falling into the temptation right away would be very frustrating for the witches. The witches needed someone that Macbeth trusted that could convince Macbeth that this was really the right thing to do. This person would be Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth learns from the witches that Macbeth is going to be King. Lady Macbeth becomes immediately influenced and under Satan’s control.
Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.
In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, Macbeth truthfully expresses that life is ultimately repetitive and meaningless towards the actions that lead to death. Claiming that life is short and easily extinguished from his reaction towards Lady Macbeth’s apparent suicide. Shakespeare applies rhetorical elements to emphasize Macbeth’s responsiveness to the concept of life and death. Initially, Shakespeare commences with repetition of the word “tomorrow” thrice to accentuate the hopeless future Macbeth perceives.
Walking in the night he heard the screams of women and said “I have almost forgot the taste of fear” (V.v.9). The shriek of women at the late of night would frighten most all of us, but not macbeth. He has been around so many wicked acts and it does not faze him. After getting news of his wife’s death he told the messenger “She should of died hereafter” (V.v.17). Although he does feel sorrow over her, he blames her death as an inconvenience.
Macbeth’s mental condition begins to dwindle as time goes on, starting with the murder of Duncan. At first, Macbeth is seen as a soldier that everyone aspires to be, strong, brave, and compassionate about his duties to the king. In act one scene two, Captain says, “...For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-...” This shows that he is a likeable person who has only the objective of serving his king. After meeting with the witches and hearing his prophecy, Macbeth starts to think about what it would be like to be king of Scotland.
Only the people who have read Macbeth will understand the example he is trying to make, which doesn't make it a very good claim to use in his argument. In conclusion, Michael Mack formed a very well and effective argument that even though it may seem like Shakespeare is hard to understand on your first read and not worth your time, it is worth reading and you can gain something from reading it. As Mack said, within his speech it will help you understand life better and although it may seem complex at first, you will enjoy it if you give it a chance. It can even give you a new perspective on life, a vicarious feeling, and can prepare you for real world
Lady Macbeth has shifted away from the nihilism that she had possessed before as she is now consumed with guilt over her actions. Later after Lady Macbeth’s death. Macbeth realizes that for them there is no long lasting fulfillment in life as he has no heir and has not accomplished anything that would allow him to leave a legacy. Even though Macbeth knows that there is no point in his actions. He realizes that his power is inevitably going to be lost.
When Macbeth states this he is mourning the loss of his wife, also
He realizes he has “fallen from grace”, the world would be against him since he had destroyed the Elizabethan order. He does not see any meaning in life and therefore detaching himself from his emotions to turn himself into a vicious murderer. Macbeth’s despair over the loss of meaning in his life is reinforced in his Act 5 Scene 5 soliloquy, where he says life “is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing” (Act 5 Scene 5 lines 25-27). Macbeth comes to a point of realization that all his efforts to gain the throne are like the “sound and fury” of the tale, just acts crafted for the sake of the show without any actual outcome in the end. In exchange for kingship, he loses his “milk of human kindness” and his wife.
The death of Lady Macbeth acts as a “clear recognition of the fragility, and ephemeral nature, of human existence” (Markham, 2016). After the death of apparently the strongest character in the couple, Macbeth is left alone to deal with the actual situation. Killing himself appears the most obvious possible course of actions, but as if Macbeth has finally man up, he decides to fight and face his final judgement. Coupled with this is the element of the passage of time. “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”, “and all our yesterdays have lighted fools”, show how both the past and the future have no significant meaning to the main protagonist.
Lady Macbeth starts out the play as a ruthless and ambitious woman but her evil actions that she used to brush off starts to weight on her. After she becomes queen she starts to take notice that she is not as happy as she should be. She says: “Naught’s had, all’s spent, / Where our desire is got without content..” . Lady Macbeth questions her happiness and questions weither her sins are worth the crown. “'Tis safer to be that which we destroy / Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.”
Death is the main recurring theme throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth and is an important element for the play. Several characters share their opinions on death throughout the play regarding how much significance and meaning a death holds. Malcolm and Siward share their thoughts later in the play that how a person dies holds significant meaning to his or her life as well as his or her afterlife. Macbeth, however, believes that death and life are both meaningless and that how you die holds no significance.
Throughout this play, the character of Macbeth evolves and Shakespeare displays how his mind deteriorates from a virtuous to a sinister man, due to the events that occur throughout this tragedy. Macbeth’s reputation is immediately introduced into the play
Macbeth changes much from the beginning of play to the ending of the play. Macbeth is a noble person in the beginning but then turns into an evil person at the end of it because he wanted everything quickly. Macbeth hires three murders to kill Banquo and Fleance, he hires the murders to kill them because the witches told him that Banquos son will rule the castle for a very long time. This triggers something in Macbeth and drives him crazy to get everything quickly.
Currently, Macbeth is unsure of what to do. Since Banquo (a general in King Duncan’s army) who was offering his sword to Fleance and reminded Macbeth about King Duncan, he remembers about the sadistic plot that Lady Macbeth forced Macbeth to commit, which was to overthrow the current reigning monarch by killing him and him to take over King Duncan’s throne. Now, Macbeth is sharing his soliloquy to the audience, having a guilty conscience. Macbeth starts to discuss a knife/dabber that he imagines handling with his hand but also states that it could be a hallucination caused by his fevered brain, which leads him to pull out a genuine knife and compares it to the one he imagines seeing. After that, Macbeth shares his sentiments for wife’s intentions