He consciously makes the decision to kill King Duncan. He is also shown to know that his feelings and actions are with evil intent “Stars, hide your fires;/Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.333-334). The fact that Macbeth is in control of his actions is proven by Banquo. Banquo also was told a prophecy by the three sisters “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater./Not so happy, yet much happier./Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”. However, Banquo remained totally loyal to King Duncan never even slightly wavering at the opportunity of his children being royalty.
He was well known and seemingly loved by almost all the people he came across. Slowly, his relationships and strong bonds with people begin to deteriorate. “Besides, this Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taking-off” (Shakespeare Act I Scene VII). Macbeth even begins to disregard the current king, through his reign has been good and beneficial to everyone. That doesn’t matter to him, he feels as if he will do better. Macbeth begin to feel as if the bonds and relationships were fake, so he turned against the people who supported him with little to no regret. He was solely focused on this motive of becoming king and gaining as much power as he can. For example, he ended up killing his best friend Banquo and almost killed Banquo’s son. This was all to try and prevent them from fulfilling the second part of the prophecy, Banquo’s descendants becoming king. His valuing of human life, even those close to him, disappear right before the reader or viewer’s
As the play progresses, the audience sees that Macbeth is losing the little control he thought he had. His paranoia and fear of losing his control cause him to take his fate into his own hands and do whatever necessary to keep these things. He becomes king but remembers that Banquo was told his sons would be kings as well. Macbeth's increased paranoia leads him to think that Banquo is suspicious of Macbeth and that he may try and kill him in order for his son to gain the throne, insert quote. He makes the decision to have Banquo and his son, Fleance, murdered to ensure his own safety. Macbeth is successful in the assassination of Banquo, but Fleance escapes. With Fleance still alive, Banquo's prophecy is still possible and will most likely
Macbeth was an honorable and loyal soldier to King Duncan. As he stumbled upon the three witches and hearing their predictions. He began to question his future when King Duncan had given a higher rank to his son Malcolm. As if Malcolm was to become king Macbeth’s second prophecy of him becoming king wouldn’t come true or at least it would take a longer time for him to be king. His ambitions toward the crown grew and it slowly but surely began to corrupt his mind. Along with the help of his wife Lady Macbeth, who encouraged and convinced him to go through the plan of killing Duncan, his mind and soul slowly turned insane.
Macbeth is now king and his fear towards Banquo is now greater than ever he fears
A villain- a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot. Macbeth’s greed for power is what shaped him to be the villain in the play. In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, despite the good Macbeth had done in the very beginning his actions throughout make him the villain.
Before the crime, it was a struggle on whether he should abandon his morals for a position of power. It could be argued that Macbeth would not of committed the crime if Lady Macbeth would not of provoked him. At this point in the play, Macbeth still has some morals and integrity compared to Lady Macbeth, shown by his remorse after the assassination. However, the murder of Banquo was fueled by his ambition for power. During this murder, there was no one making the descions except for Macbeth. He knew that Banquo was the only thing blocking his triumph, so he came to the conclusion that murdering him would be crucial. This is the point during the play when Macbeth changed from his previous morals and became someone who would do anything for power and wealth, including murder and treason. He does not take into consideration his close relationship with Banquo, and is blinded by his thirst for supremacy. The murder of Banquo juxtaposes from the murder of Duncan. During the murder of Banquo, the power and wealth caught up to him and got into his
Ambition is a powerful motivating force. In my opinion, Miley Cyrus is a very ambitious person because she is a role model to many and has achieved many goals in life that are impossible to reach for countless people. In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, ambition is considered desirable since it inspires people to realize their dreams. Macbeth, a general in the Scottish army learns that he will become the King of Cawdor and as a result he lets his ambition take control of him. He meets the three witches who prophesize his future and that lead him to thinking that no one should get in his way or else they will be killed. Macbeth's actions of committing a series of murders will lead to many consequences and eventually
In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth believes he will be king. The power he thinks he will have causes him to kill the people who stand in his way
One of these changes is his relationships and trust between many of his trusted and best friends. After achieving the throne, Macbeth recalls the prophecy saying that Banquo’s children will eventually take the throne and so, Macbeth's ambitions rise once more, “Both of you know Banquo was your enemy, So is he mine”(3.1). Macbeth, even after feeding his ambitious thoughts for his first goal of achieving the throne, his ambitions grow even more with new goals to secure his position for good. However,once again, there are those who stand in his way of his goals to securing his title, and so, Macbeth must again kill for the sake of his ambitions. Ambition has very different effects on those who are good and those who are bad, the ambition that takes hold of Macbeth is so strong, that he is unable to resist it and is even willing to kill his own best friend to satisfy his ambitions. In the opening scene, Macbeth and Banquo are heros together, but when Macbeth changes with ambition, he becomes power hungry and it controls him. Even though ambition takes control, Macbeth is still human and feels the guilt of all he has
Banquo is a brave, noble and loyal general, who fights beside his fellow general, Macbeth, to protect his King, Duncan, and his people. He is a man who keeps his promise and does not betray trust given to him. His close relationship with Macbeth and King Duncan and his encounter with the three witches prove to be important in the course of the play and gives us insight on how he is important dead as he is alive.
Macbeth” is a tragedy written by Shakespeare. The story is played somewhere between 1600 and was performed for King James 1.It is a tragedy about a man’s fall. It could be suggested that macbeth is responsible for the death of king Duncan. According to my point of view, Macbeth didn’t killed Duncan , banquo and macduff 's family because he wanted to be evil because he met the witches .He did everything because of ambition, jealousy , lust for power and because he was power hungry from the beginning. Macbeth made the choices by his own,he wasn’t forced or fated to make any of the choices he made. He killed King Duncan and took the scottish throne for himself. He was so power-hungry that he also wanted to kill Duncan’s son but they ran away and he was proposed as the king. He blamed two
Shakespeare has written numerous famous plays, MacBeth being one of his darkest plays, touching up on the topic of the thought that power sometimes leads to corruption, and how it can manipulate someone’s thoughts and actions, bringing them to do things they thought they never would. In MacBeth, there are many examples of MacBeth trying anything to gain power, even if the guilt will eat him alive.
Lady Macbeth, who through her hospitality, appears to be of no threat to king Duncan, uses her “false face” (1.7.82), to “hide what the false heart doth know” (1.7.82), so that the king is mesmerized into a false sense of security. She, through her courtesy, appears only to be entertaining king Duncan and his grooms with a fine fest, but in reality is using the “wine and wassail” (1.7.64), as an instrument in the dastardly drugging of Duncan's grooms. She too, herself, makes it look as if "she is nothing but “th' innocent / flower” (1.5.56-57), when in reality she is nothing but the “serpent under’t” (1.5.58). Lastly, Banquo presents himself with a mirage of forever lasting loyalty towards Macbeth, but in reality he too wants the witches prophecies to come true for him and bare kings as children. Banquo, who did not fail in suspecting that Macbeth might have “played’st most foully” (3.1.3), for such a prestigious title, takes on the role of “chief guest” (3.1.11). Why would a man not fled nor turn against the one who he suspects to be
Lady Macbeth influences Macbeth to kill Duncan, but he continues to have second thoughts about it (i.vii.31-34) and feels terribly guilty afterwards (II.ii.63-66). However, following the murder of Duncan, Macbeth loses any ethics he had left. Macbeth kills the servants, Banquo, and Macduff’s whole family in cold-blooded murder. On the other hand, when Banquo ponders the witches prophecy for him, he contemplates the thought of having to kill someone to get power, but he quickly shuts it down (III.i.9-11).