Good Vs Evil In Macbeth

Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play about how greed can demoralize a person. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s minds were corrupted due to their lust for power after hearing the prophecies given to Macbeth by the witches. First or all, Macbeth’s lust for power was apparent when he ordered Banquo and his son’s death. He wanted to ensure his position as king would not be taken, and as the witches stated - Banquo’s sons would be king. The first evidence of Macbeth losing his mind was after he ordered Banquo’s death.

He says “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’other”(ActⅠScene ⅶ) Macbeth has enough self-awareness to realize the dangers of killing the king yet his temptation to complete the prophecy is too strong. Another example of ambition is when Lady Macbeth plans the murder of Duncan and continually urges Macbeth to do it in order to fulfill the prophecy and desire. Lady Macbeth puts aside her reasoning and lets her temptation run her actions. Ambition is what drives the both of them to commit such atrocities. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth wanted to be powerful so bad that they were willing to compromise their morals in order to be successful.

In the entirety of the play Macbeth gains power by murdering his enemies and those who suspect him. This also ties into his downfall, if you hear the witches prophecies clearly you might be able to tell that they also predict that happening. Yet Macbeth blinded by power has overlooked this and is only looking to gain more strength and build on what he has already. “Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promised, and I fear Thou played’st most foully for ’t.”(act 3, scene 1, pg 1). Banquo’s suspicion evidently leads to his death as Macbeth has him murdered before the banquet.

Present fears are less than horrible imaginings” (1.3.150). The show that Macbeth thought has terrify himself that he think in order to the prophecy come true he has to kill King Duncan. After Lady Macbeth has found out about the witches’ prophecy of Macbeth latter. Her strong desire and ambition of power has led Macbeth to assassinate Duncan by insulted him “wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem 'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting “I

First is the prophecy that the three witches proclaim to him and Banquo in the forest. This occasion is what starts the entire debate of possessing power or not through violence. Next is Lady Macbeth for the reason that she is thinking of the benefits being the queen will have. Lastly, Macbeth’s own ambition of gaining power and seeking the love he does not wish to be lost from his wife compels him to accomplish the cowardly act of murdering King Duncan while he is asleep. So far, Shakespeare wanted the audience to not necessarily villainize Macbeth, but see him in a bad

“O, I could play the woman with mine eyes, and braggart with my tongue! But, gentle heavens, cut short all intermission; front to front bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; Within my sword's length, set him...” (Shakespeare Act IV, Scene III). Macduff decides to kill Macbeth after he learns of the the death of his family at the hands of Macbeth. If Macbeth hadn’t been as ambitious or power hungry, and desperate to stay on the throne, he might not have died, as Macduff did not want to attack until after he heard the news of his family's demise. Conclusively, Macbeth’s ambition, and his need to get and maintain power, resulted in his own downfall, thus meeting the second requirement of the classical definition of a tragic

THIRD WITCH All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter! (i.iii.51-53) Macbeth the once brave and kind thane evolved after his motives of gaining power clouded his judgment. Once Macbeth the antagonist commits an act of evil, in this case killing King Duncan for to fulfill the witches prophecy to become king. Leads to various incidents including deceit and hypocrisy. This showcases that unnatural deeds leads to unnatural events, which is a pivoting moment for Macbeth as it is unnatural for him to be king.

It was her ambitious plan on murdering Duncan, but Macbeth does not want to kill him. After Lady Macbeth reads the letter she says, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.” (Shakespeare 1:5:30-33). This quotation by Lady Macbeth says “unsex her”, which means she is wanting to be like a stereotypical man to give her enough power and to be less emotional. She says this because she can then make herself a cruel person and murder Duncan.

Macbeth was not the true villain because he was influenced by ambition and persuasion in the form the witches prophecy, “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter.”(1.3.50) This led to the thoughts of murder for Macbeth’s gain. It is clear that the witches are the only true villain, because only they were the main cause for all of Macbeth’s murders. Not only is it clear in the play, but if you look at the background knowledge surrounding the play, you would know it was written for King James of England, who was very persistent in capturing and prosecuting “witches” , so Shakespeare had made the three witches the villains to give himself a good image with the king. This is why the witches are the true villains, because they had planted murderous thoughts in Macbeth’s mind and then tricked him with illogical prophecies. With all this said, the witches’ absolute supernatural powers corrupted them

After Lady Macbeth has become queen, she would rather “be that which we destroy, Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy” (3.2.8-9). She would rather be Duncan, who she helped murder, than be queen in constant fear. Lady Macbeth murdered Duncan to become queen; however, being queen is a new source of problems. In this way, the “fair is foul” world renders her unable to correctly judge the nature of things, such as the consequences of her actions. In the same way that expectations of Lady Macbeth failed to hold up to reality, Lady Macbeth’s expectations were unreliable, because of the veil of “fair is