Ethical Issues In Macbeth

Hamish Macbeth is a man caught between two worlds. On one hand, he is an officer of the law, set with protecting the legal rules set by those above him. In contrast, Macbeth is also a Scotsman, a memer of his longstanding community of Sutherland. These two forces each have a distinct and long-standing set of rules that govern daily life. Due to this Macbeth is faces with two sets of ethical orders and the moral questions that go along with it. As he attempts to uncover the murder within his community, Macbeth faces walking the fine line that divides these two sets of principals that he acribes to conduct.

Macbeth spends the entirety of the novel working in his employment of a police officer within his small home town. As he investigates the murder of the dentist, Macbeth must labor within the moral boundaries of his employment. As a law enforcement officer, it is expected that Macbeth remain squarely within the legal boundaries set by the current laws. As police officer within

What are the ethical/moral requirements as a Scotsman/Sutherland citizen? Although Macbeth is a man of the law, he is perhaps first, a man of his native land of Sutherland. A true Scotsman, through and through, he shows that their are rules within his community that must also be followed even though they are now written laws. These reflect a system of beliefs that was a part of the people from before many of the legal rulings of the land. In many ways this reflects the idea that not all rules are set within legal law, and that each community has their own guidelines. An example can be seen in the way that Macbeth approaches the illegal alcohol operations within his community. Although “bootlegging” is prohibited by the law, Macbeth does not want to turn in the offenders as this operations is not seen as being illegal within their community. Macbeth explains that this is a part of Scottish tradition, regardless of the current laws set by government