Even the thought of having power corrupted Macbeth. Once Macbeth committed the murder he felt that he had the power to continue murdering. Therefore, the audience can see that power corrupts. The third theme in this play is violence. Violence ended up destroying Macbeth.
In conclusion, the idea that Macbeth is a work in which human feelings mix with enigma and mystery should be highlighted. The struggle between good and evil plays a very significant role in the success of Macbeth. In this case, the good would be Macbeth’s thoughts towards the murder of King Duncan, before when he thought as a loyal soldier would. The evil won and he became ambitious and oblivious to his actions just to end up dead, killed by Macduff as revenge for his family. The blood on every page of the play shows the guilt of Macbeth and how it drove him to the end, just for his
Misfortunate Souls Macbeth, a play about misfortune or should one say a misfortunate soul? In the First Act of Macbeth, we hear of this heroic character known as Macbeth...who later turns out to not be as heroic as we thought. This play has various hidden meanings, but most importantly it has one authentic theme: the nature of power. Macbeth bears the responsibility for the death of Duncan, his king, his kinsman, and his guest; however, he only gets away with all these murders with the help of Lady Macbeth. Nevertheless, he is accountable for most of the murders.
From murder to greed Shakespeare’s Macbeth portrays a story of how one’s flaws can transform into a person’s way of thinking and acting. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth changes from a cold-hearted, greedy, shell of a human body into a guilt ridden woman. Her selfish desires met with ambition and a want for power pushed her into driving Macbeth to kill Duncan. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth become very guilty because of the crime they have committed. Although Macbeth actively kills the King, Lady Macbeth was more guilty of Duncan’s murder than Macbeth.
In the play, Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the theme of the corrupting power of ambition, Macbeth’s character flaws, and the theme of cruelty versus masculinity to show Macbeth’s misdeeds were a direct result of external influences. Throughout the play, Macbeth commits several wrongdoings including, killing King Duncan, his friend Banquo and manipulating others into carrying out his wishes. By appealing to Macbeth’s strong desires to become king, the witches’ prophecies leads Macbeth to commit several murders. Through fueling Macbeth’s inner insecurities, Malcolm prompts Macbeth to irrationally continue wrongdoings. Similarly, Lady Macbeth’s manipulative persona, encourages Macbeth to commit wicked actions.
There are some threads, that, once pulled, will unravel the whole sweater. In a similar sense, there are some events that can trigger the mind to unravel itself into insanity. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, a Scottish general by the name of Macbeth, stumbles upon three witches, while walking with a man named Banquo, who foretell his ascent to the throne. Driven by the prophecies of the witches, the influence of his wife, and his own ambitions, Macbeth kills King Duncan and becomes king. Eventually, Macbeth, ridden with guilt, fear, and paranoia, commits even more murders in an attempt to secure his power; instead, he is overthrown and killed by Macduff.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is portrayed as a ‘butcher’ whilst Lady Macbeth is ‘his fiend-like queen.’ However, it can be said that Shakespeare provides a contrast in the views of these characters as the audience are presented with Macbeth’s moral conscience and consequent suffering and Lady Macbeth’s dissimulation. Shakespeare depicts Macbeth as a butcher and tyrannical leader in order to warn the audience of the chaos ensued if the king of a country is not its rightful leader. This mercilessly cruel nature is exposed when Macbeth plots to commit regicide, in order to ensure the prophecy of the witches becomes true. This ‘vaulting ambition’ is evident in ‘[Aside] The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step/ On which I must fall down,
Her idea is to kill the current king Duncan by getting him drunk and murdering him in his sleep. Macbeth hesitates to perform this action, and Lady Macbeth responds to his uncertainty, “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.” (I.vii.56-58) This quote proves how Lady Macbeth believes that in order to be a man, Macbeth needs to kill Duncan to show how he is valiant and indomitable therefore elucidating the impression that Lady Macbeth’s definition of a man is being strong and courageous. Macbeth continues to be fearful and replies, “If we should fail [this murder? ]” (I.vii.68). Lady Macbeth responds, “screw your courage to the sticking place/And we’ll not fail.” (I.vii.70-71) Lady Macbeth believes that screwing Macbeth’s courage and bravery in place will help him get through the process of killing Duncan, and she believes courage is what will make him manly.
At first, Macbeth felt guilty after killing Duncan for he, “couldn 't reply ‘Amen’ when they said ‘God bless us!’ ”(Act 2.2, 27-29), however later on after meeting with the witches again, the remorseless Macbeth states, “I have walked so far into this river of blood that even if I stopped now, it would be as hard to go back to being good as it is to keep killing people” (Act 3.4, 142-145). From this, the audience can gather that he witches are the main source of ambition throughout the entire story. It seems as if they are the ones controlling ambition, specifically the desires that are negative (murder, power, etc.). Macbeth’s ambition is powered by these WItches after learning one day he will be king after the death of Duncan. Although they tell him this, he does state they he had not desire to have more power until he met the three witches.
Lady Macbeth 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. This shows that lady Macbeth emotionally abused Macbeth, which lead Macbeth to see his wife as very manipulating and threatening. Therefore, she is the true murderer. Even though Macbeth took action and murdered the king, her manipulation of him made it such that she might as well have been holding the knife