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Shakespeare historical plays
Macbeth and macduff essay
Macduff as a foil to macbeth
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In this well known play by Shakespeare, one of the main characters, Macbeth, goes through many personality changes. At the beginning of this story, Macbeth is a loyal subject to king Duncan, and greatly respected. Macbeth was in the King’s army with honor and etiquette. After his triumph in the battle against the Thane of Cawdor, (which was Macbeth’s last serving for King Duncan) Macbeth begins to change. Change commences for Macbeth when the Witchs' prophecies guide out Macbeth's ambitious nature and he contemplates the idea of the King’s assassination. The change in Macbeth was initiated when his wife, Lady Macbeth, discovers the predictions of the Witches. She then challenges Macbeth’s manhood by encouraging him into doing his first evil deed. This was to kill King Duncan. She wanted Macbeth to be the king, but King Duncan wanted his own son to be king. Although Macbeth did murder King Duncan under the pressure from his wife, his evil deed then backfires onto him because of the guilt he felt. Macbeth begins to become mentally impaired from agitation and his guilty conscience. This furthermore leads to more evil crimes that …show more content…
He believes that Macduff will become a big threat to him and his rule because Macduff doesn't supports King Duncan’s son Malcolm to be the king. Therefore, Macbeth wants to get rid of this threat, but he does not succeed. Macduff is in England trying to retrieve Malcolm so Malcolm could come back to rule Scotland as the obvious successor as King. Macbeth knows that Macduff is aware that his loyalties do not lie with him, and this makes Macbeth angry. Macbeth then does something incredibly evil and terrible. He sends his murderers to kill Macduff's family and succeeds. Since Macbeth has no compassion from killing Macduff's family, this shows how distorted his mind is. This was his final step of his transaction to becoming true
Although he is expected to do great things all he does is bring tragic news onto others. In this part Ross went to England to tell MacDuff the bad news of his family. “Your castle is surprised, your wife and babes Savagely slaughtered. To relate the manner Were on the quarry of these murdered deer To add the death of you.” (4. 3. 240-243). Ross is telling MacDuff that his wife and his children have been murdered, and his castle has been captured. And that they are looking for MacDuff next, so they could kill him. Malcolm, the prince that fled to England then gave MacDuff ten thousand men to kill MacBeth and anyone who has helped him. Malcolm is helping MacDuff is because he also wants MacBeth dead. He wants him killed because of the bad stuff he has done. Although MacBeth was praised for killing men before, now he is being shamed for it. He is being shamed for it because his reason for killing is because he wants to regain all that power that he most likely never really had before. Now that he has power he wants it all. He is a greedy man, and that is another bad trait that MacBeth
being just a war hero and may be tempted by the thought of being more,
Macbeth has changed from Act I to Act III in many different ways. For example, Macbeth have become more ruthless. In Act I scene II, Duncan considered Macbeth as a valiant, loyal, and brave general warrior, but In Act III scene I, he asked two convicted murderers to ambush Banquo and his son, Fleance, on his way to the party and make it seem like an accident, and he doesn’t hesitate and think about his plan or murdering his best friend. Furthermore, Macbeth is turning very ambitious for power because he is being influenced by the prophecy or the supernatural of the three weird sisters. In Act II scene II, Macbeth was forced to kill Duncan himself, planned by Lady Macbeth, in order to make himself the next king. In fact, after Macbeth killed
Shortly after the deed is done, Macbeth is crowned king and with that his personality begins to change in a dramatic way after this deed is "washed away", going from a noble, honest and loyal thane to a murderer. His prior feelings of guilt and remorse are also washed away as he becomes a whole new Macbeth, he even starts to see himself as a better man then he was before. We see more and more throughout the play that Lady Macbeth has impacted her ways onto Macbeth, we notice how his personality changes aggressively. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth may have conspired together on the murder of Duncan, but without the persuading and manipulating of Lady Macbeth onto the once noble Macbeth he would have followed his conscious and not committed such a crime.
Character Changes in Macbeth & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; Macbeth is the main character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth goes through drastic changes throughout the play. He changes from good to evil. Many different things cause these changes. & nbsp; In the beginning, Macbeth was such a nice guy.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, changes happen. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a well liked and good man of Scotland, who turns into an evil, cold hearted, murderer by the end. His rewards and punishments could have been predetermined by fate, but the actions he took to get to get those rewards and punishments were determined by Macbeth’s free will. In Macbeth, he attempts to control the future and hide the past by listening to other people and committing multiple murders of innocent people.
Macduff was the first to openly defy Macbeth by his decision to go to his castle in Fife rather than Macbeth’s coronation in “Scone” (2.4). Macduff flees to England to rally support and revolt against Macbeth (4.3). Macduff acts on his free will, uninfluenced by the power of Macbeth nor others, and does what he believes to be the best for himself and everyone else. He retains his independent thoughts and his sense of masculinity despite the consequences he might suffer, standing his grounds with his beliefs and ideology of being a true patriot. Later on, upon hearing the news of his family’s murder, Macduff shows his sensitivity: “I shall [disput it like a man], but I must also feel it like a man” (4.3). He depicts the ability to have emotions and link it to his masculinity as a part of human traits, embracing his weaknesses and flaws and showing that he also acts as he believes he should act. The sharp contrast between Macbeth’s cowardly actions and Macduff’s strong will is shown at the final battle between the two; Macbeth refuses to fight with Macduff when Macbeth learns Macduff is that one person in the prophecy that would defeat Macbeth until Macduff threatens to capture him alive and humiliates him in front of the crowd (5.8).Once again, Macbeth masculinity is threatened, and he gives in to the threat rather than stand his ground, leading to his ultimate demise. Macduff’s
Mac Bethad mac Findlaích became king of the Scots after Duncan’s killing in 1040 and was murdered in 1057 by Malcolm III in battle . William Shakespeare immortalized Macbeth and his life story in his famous play which goes by the very same name: Macbeth. Shakespeare used Holinshed's Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed as his primary source, the basis for the plot of the play. Shakespeare made a considerable number of alterations in the story line and form. In this essay, I will explore what changes Shakespeare made and for what reason.
Macduff does not attend Macbeth’s coronation making Macbeth guarded. Macbeth also goes to the witches again and they deliver apparitions of the future for Macbeth, the first apparition states “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. Let me go. Enough”(A4, S1). The apparition gives motive for Macbeth, at this point he is impulsive and acts without thinking. Macbeth summons the murders again and asks them to kill Macduff’s family. Macbeth states ,“I will do this deed before I lose my sense of purpose” this quote implies the spattering of Macduff’s families blood and the thoughtless actions of Macbeth. Like Banquo, Macbeth indirectly murders Macduff’s family. Macbeth has gone far enough to kill the innocent and loses his sense of self. Macbeth indirectly is associated with the murder of Macduff’s family, the track record of the other murders leads to Macbeth. Macduff’s family being murdered shows what appears to be normal to Macbeth but the reality is, he isn’t killing for Scotland he is killing for himself. The spilling of treacherous blood gives others drive to eliminate him as he betrays those around him, as Macbeth has spilled family blood of Macduff and Malcom motives increase to spill vengeful
Macbeth’s character gives the impression of having undergone enormous changes as the tragedy progresses. But are the real changes in the personality itself? Or is the change really the way in which the same personality is portrayed? Prior to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth is a famous warrior, a fierce warrior, but his approach to humanity is predisposed as compassionate. After the first murder he commits, he continues to execute, seeming like a completely contrary individual. However, in reality Macbeth is the same person. The disparities appear obvious, but the similarities lurk beneath the surface, seemingly unrecognizable. Macbeth was a fierce warrior, but kind hearted off the battlefield, but after murdering his king and leader, Duncan, Macbeth changes, his personality seems to become inverse, varying from fierce on the battlefield and kind off of it, to weaker on the battlefield, and more demonic off of it.
For example, because he felt threatened by Macduff, he chose to kill his entire family. This caused Macduff to be filled with many emotions. He felt upset at the loss of his family but also angry knowing Macbeth's true personality. He even told Malcolm out of anger, "Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself. Within my sword’s length set him; if he ’scape, Heaven forgive him too." Macduff explained to Malcolm that he would avenge his family's death by fighting Macbeth. After the fight between the two, MacDuff returned exclaiming "Hail king! For so thou art. Behold where stands The usurper’s cursèd head. The time is free. I see thee compassed with thy kingdom’s pearl, That speak my salutation in their minds, Whose voices I desire aloud with mine. Hail, King of Scotland!" Macbeth was killed by Macduff, and his position as king, which he had worked so hard to obtain was given up to Malcolm. Macbeth lost his position only because he chose to deceive the public. Had Macbeth actually been a good king, and not deceived the public with a false image, he would still be alive, and have
Malcolm suggests revenge to Macduff, which is answered by saying nothing could be worse than losing one's family. Macduff believes that because Macbeth has no children true justice can not be achieved. Macduff is affected by their death, in the sense that nothing could compare to what he has been through. This is a paradigm shift in Macduff’s character, being that he now has nothing left to lose. Obsessed with the death of Macbeth, changing his character from the level headed man into the vengeance thirsty man, hereafter. Macduff speaks of his wife and children who still haunt him. Begging “fortune, to find”(V, vii, 24) Macbeth, Macduff’s Character change is evident as he seems to be irrationally wrapped in anger. His passion being that the only thing he wishes for is Macbeth’s death. Having “no words” and with his “voice in his sword” (V, iii, 9) Macduff is clearly very different than the start of the play. Macduff’s conquest was in vain and was unneeded. Unneeded because Macbeth would have died either way, but Macduff felt it his responsibility to avenge his family. This negatively affects Macduff’s character, because he put his own need above that of the majority. In the past Macduff would have never been so blindly wrapped with revenge. Macduff seeked out his passion so madly he didn't take time to think about the
Macbeth is portrayed differently in each and every scene of the first act. In each scene, he is described by different characters, which may have influenced how differently he is portrayed. In Act I Scene 1, the witches start the play by discussing their next meeting. Macbeth was mentioned by the witches, and this hints to the fact that he is possibly associated with the witches.
After told that his enemy, Macduff, had fled to England, he says, “Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits./ The flighty purpose never is o’ertook/ Unless the deed go with it. From this moment/ The very firstlings of my heart shall be/ The firstlings of my hand. And even now,/ To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done(Shakespeare 4.1).” It seems Macbeth is frustrated in his hesitationnto kill Macduff. Macbeth promises himself, he will act immediately when he is given a chase to attack. Truly, this shows that Macbeth will do anything to be king. This proves Macbeth will do all he can to
Macbeth, the main character in the tragedy of Macbeth, undergoes a series of character changes throughout the play. His transformation occurs in three major stages. First comes his attitude at the beginning of Macbeth where it is very positive and powerful. Subsequently he endures a change with the murder of king Duncan that reduces him from his moral and good status. Finally, he becomes wicked in his ways and develops into a tyrant and a butcher. This series of changes are evident as one reads the tragic play of Macbeth.