Examples Of Manhood In Macbeth

One must be careful how they light their way with the flashlight of pride, lest they blind themselves. This truth is found in William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, which follows the story of the titular character Macbeth. Upon being delivered a prophecy of his kingship by three mysterious witches, Macbeth’s ambition boils over as he casts aside his morals to the point of regicide in order to fulfill what he sees as his fate, encouraged and assisted by his equally power-hungry wife, Lady Macbeth. As Macbeth’s reign continues, he and his wife cling to their crown through increasingly corrupt and immoral deeds until they both fall victim to the destruction their actions set into motion. Through Macbeth’s story, Shakespeare conveys

When Macbeth initially confides in his wife, Lady Macbeth, about his thoughts of murdering King Duncan, she calls upon the aid of “spirits that tend on mortal thoughts” to “unsex [her]” so she may be filled with “direst cruelty” to prepare for the crime (Shakespeare 1.5.47-50). Lady Macbeth’s desire to have her gender taken away from her suggests that she believes her femininity is a weakness that prevents her from involving herself in murder and that she must become more masculine in order to become strong enough to do it. Later, on the night before Macbeth and Lady Macbeth put their plan to murder King Duncan into action, Macbeth’s good sense begins to return and he begins to have second thoughts about killing the kind ruler. However, Lady Macbeth chastises him, asking “what beast” had the courage to “break this enterprise to [her]”, and that “to be more than what you were” would make him “so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.53-55, 57-58). Macbeth is successfully provoked into proceeding with the plan by having his pride and masculinity attacked. His desire to prove himself alongside his wounded ego blindly overcomes his shame, and it is only after the deed that he realizes the full extent of what he has

Immediately following the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth comes into the room shaken by what he has just done, but Lady Macbeth shrugs it off, coldly replying that “a little water clears us of this deed” easily and that “your constancy hath left you unattended” (2.2.86-88). Lady Macbeth’s pride and satisfaction with the successful murder shield her from the implications of the horrible moral sin she has just committed. Ironically, she is affected the hardest once her actions’ full effect becomes clear to her, becoming mentally afflicted and dying soon after. Despite these prophetic events, the now unstable Macbeth is unconcerned for his safety, remarking that “the spirits that know all mortal consequences” have declared that “no man that’s born of woman shall e’er have power upon [him]” and that as a result “the mind [he] sway[s] by” and “the heart [he] bear[s]” will hold steadfast against the army (5.3.4-7, 10-11). Macbeth has been entranced by the witch’s prophecy, keeping blind faith that the promising future he was told is unchangeable and that it will come to pass no matter what. This stems from his pride in the foretold benefits from the same three witches that also predicted his