Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a play that mainly focuses on one common theme of insanity. Macbeth gradually becomes plagued by intense guilt as his desire for power drives him to attain his goals by any means necessary, including committing murder. He kills Duncan in cold blood in order to become King, has Banquo killed by three murderers because he wishes to maintain his position as King, and finally, he has Macduff’s family slaughtered. Each of these occurrences takes place because of Macbeth’s will to be King, or they are a result of his guilt. Nonetheless, they are all completed of his free will, which is what causes him to deteriorate mentally.
She is a good manipulator and she knows what is her job. Lady Macbeth’s monologue ,from the scene I, is showing that Macbeth does not possesses enough cruelty, and that his consciense, at that point, would prevent him to go with the act of murdering Duncan. She says: What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness She knows that Macbeth will not kill Duncnan unless she influences him.
Many people argue over who is to blame for Macbeth’s demise. The real question is what is to blame? A tragic flaw is a trait that a character usually possesses too much of and causes the character death or suffering. Macbeth was a great warrior who became king and was so determined to stay king that he was led to his own demise. Macbeth had a tragic ending and it was all because he had too much of something which turned him into a tyrant. Others say that Lady Macbeth is to blame for Macbeth’s downfall but the real reasons were his tragic flaws ambition and credulousness.
‘Macbeth’s ambition is his only weakness’. Do you agree? Macbeth’s greatest weakness is his ambition, but it is also his greatest strength. Despite his ambition being one of his major weaknesses, it is not his sole weakness he exhibits that contributes to his inevitable death.
Here Macbeth shows his willingness to do anything to gain power. He admits that even though he doesn't have a good reason to kill Duncan he still wants to. Macbeth shows his free will by saying, "I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show: False face must hide what the false heart doth know"(1.7.90-93). This shows that Macbeth is fully committed to killing Duncan.
After killing Duncan, Macbeth’s mental state changes completely. The difference between the moment before the murder and the moment after is that Macbeth’s lack of determination. He feels personally responsible for the murder and wishes it never happened. Thus, he is afraid to look at the dead body and face what he has done (2.2.54-56). His regret of the murder shows the transformation of Macbeth’s attitude: he lets his remorse overpower him to the point of madness.
In the beginning, Macbeth felt a deep guilt about planning to kill King Duncan. Once he did kill him, though, his conscious slowly started ebbing away. Within a short time, he was killing and manipulating many people; he even went as far as to kill the innocent wife and children of a man whom he considered his enemy. What started out as a doubt acted upon became a quick, almost unstoppable path of destruction. Every aspect of who he was, his conscious, was covered by the dark shadow cast by the corrupting sin.
Because Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s decision to murder Duncan, Both face the guilt of the power they abused portrays on the shadows that reflect on them as well as the natural consequences they will face.
The first murder of King Duncan only sealed Macbeth’s paranoia and served as a foundation for the murders of Banquo and Macduff’s family. After the first murder, Macbeth feels a colossal amount of guilt and shame. After the murder of Banquo, he feels that it is not enough since Fleance escaped, developing his guilt and shame of harming others into a fear for his own safety; a devastating degradation. However, during the assassination of Macduff’s family, Macbeth gives the command immediately without thought and without a trace of remorse after doing so. This thereby concludes his psychological downfall as he no longer feels guilty, ashamed, or fears
Macbeth started off as a valiant and courageous soldier, who would do anything for the king. By the end of the play, Macbeth was a tyrant and a horrible leader who killed those who trusted him to maintain the throne. It takes many factors to take a strong man and transform him into an evil monster. Macbeth’s downfall was caused by the deception and temptation of the witches and their prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s greed and aspirations for her husband to be king, and Macbeth’s own greed, jealousy and ambition.
However, when she begins to tell Macbeth her ideas he attempts to be steadfast in his loyalty to King Duncan. Macbeth states that “We will proceed no further in this business:/he hath honoured me of late;” (1.7.507-508). Macbeth’s only issue with murdering King Duncan is that he just got honored by him and that would be rude. Again it does not take much time for Macbeth’s ambition to take control due to his wife stating how much more of a man he could be if he just went through with it. Despite these influences Macbeth is in control of his own actions.
Macbeth feels that the only way to make his anxiety and shame disappear is to kill anyone who threatens his kingship, so his conscience begins to believe that killing people is ethical. Near the end, Macbeth realizes that he has "almost forgot the taste of fear" (IV.iv.9). By murdering so
Because of his dangerous mentality, he became reckless, paranoid, and boastfully insane. Macbeth soon began to not trust anyone This is especially illustrated in Act 3, Scene 3, where the murderers were waiting to kill Banquo and Fleance. In the scene Macbeth had a third murderer join the two that he had already hired. As one of the original murderers stated, “He needs not our mistrust; since he delivers our offices, and what we have to do.” (3.3.3) Macbeth's disposition led to the defeat of himself and losing his place in the throne.
The witches tell Macbeth he “shalt be king hereafter” (1.3.53). He then kills off Duncan, fulfilling their prophecy. When Macbeth decides whether or not to kill Duncan his greed gets the best of him and he says“I go, and it is done.” (2.1.75) . He betrays Duncan, a man who he was once loyal to, in order to achieve his goal.
Macbeth is More Responsible In Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” Macbeth is seen to be as the one responsible for King Duncan’s murder, as Macbeth’s hands were the ones that actually killed King Duncan. However, while Macbeth may be thought of as ultimately responsible for his actions, but there are other influences that actually show on a closer inspection of the text, the three main influences to his decision are Lady Macbeth, himself, and the witches. This is (in my opinion) convincing evidence that Macbeth is completely responsible for the murder of King Duncan.