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.
She persuades Macbeth into murdering Duncan. Macbeth was reluctant to commit the murder. During Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s conversation he mentioned, “If we should fail?” (1:7 59) and Lady Macbeth replied with a long statement explaining that they will not fail. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth then configured their plan: Lady Macbeth was to make the guards drunk and ring the bell once it is safe for Macbeth to go kill King Duncan. Once Macbeth completed his mission, he went back to Lady Macbeth with the bloody daggers and proudly stated, “I have done the deed.
When Macbeth states that "We will proceed no further in this business” (Shakespeare i, vii), Lady Macbeth starts to uses rhetorical questions in order to persuade her husband into committing the murder. In the conversation between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth feel guilty by asking: Where in you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? /And wakes it now, to look so green and pale/ At what it did so freely? (Shakespeare i, vii).
An important character in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is Macbeth because he changes. We see Macbeth changing as he progresses from an honourable hero to a disrespected tyrant, through his relationship with Lady Macbeth, and through his viewpoint on killing those close to him. One example of Macbeth changing is how his status changes from the honourable hero to a disrespected tyrant. In the beginning, Macbeth is a noble hero. I know this because in Act 1 Scene 2, Duncan says “Noble Macbeth hath won” and, “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman.” This shows us that Macbeth was portrayed as a highly respected hero who everyone seems to be looking up to.
Throughout Macbeth, three characters seem to have control of Macbeth’s action and his life. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and the We’ird Sisters all have some type of control over the actions of Macbeth. The wife of the play 's tragic hero, Lady Macbeth, pressures her husband into committing regicide so that she can then become queen of Scotland. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth constantly diminishes her husband 's manhood forcing him to feel less of a man. Unhae Langis, once wrote that, “Lady Macbeth evokes shame in him [Macbeth] to get him back into the contest.” By constantly shaming her husband, Lady Macbeth holds a great amount of control on the way he sees himself.
Again, like the witches, while she may manipulate Macbeth, it is he who carries out the act. His deep and dark urges are merely waiting for an excuse to be let loose. Once the seeds of murder have been planted in his mind, Macbeth is unable to withstand the dark impulses others have stirred up within him. Blaming others for the murders Macbeth commits himself or orders himself is counter-intuitive. The hand that wields the sword bears the
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, masculinity is not axiomatic, rather, it is constantly challenged and redefined by different characters throughout the play. After the murdering of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth ridicules Macbeth for behaving weak and naïve, by saying “my hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white” (2.2.63-64). Even after committing the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth’s masculinity is challenged, since he experiences feelings of guilt, shame and fear, all of which do not fall under the Macbeths’ definition of manhood. Lady Macbeth criticizes Macbeth, because even though she also plays a role in the killing of king Duncan, Macbeth, who is supposed to be brave, fearless and undaunted, cowers like an infant and allows his conscience to to guilt-trap him, proving that he is not evil, heartless or manly enough. On the contrary, Macduff has a different definition for manhood, for he believes that manhood is a matter of strength and responsibility, which he proves after his family is murdered in act four.
William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character; Macbeth, is seen as an evil character. The play is based off of Macbeth’s decisions and his actions to become King. In the beginning Macbeth starts out as a hero in Scotland’s war with Ireland and towards the end he is transformed into a murderer. Macbeth is not wholly evil because of is heroism in the war, his love for Scotland, and because he didn’t want to kill King Duncan initially. Macbeth was brain washed by his wife and tricked into killing the King.
This evidence can be crucially represented in the shared common ideology that Macbeth first turns to violence as his first escape while presenting a lucid example of this lust for peace behind bloodshed. In further reasoning, another critical reason behind the development of Macbeth's insanity was his everlasting paranoia and guilt. Throughout the play, Macbeth's struggle to cope with his guilt was displayed numerous
William Shakespeare’s play introduces Macbeth as a brave warrior, whose fame on battle wins him great honor and pride from the king, Macbeth eventually becomes vulnerable and naive as his lady begins questioning his manhood. He is pushed to an extent that he feels he must commit murder to prove his manhood. He is often emasculated by his wife. He is an ambitious man whom is greedy and rash and would do anything for power. This essay will briefly discuss the character traits of Macbeth and how he was a victim of his own demise; his traits include bravery, vulnerability and ambition.