Who could be a biggest enemy of a person? - Greed, which can never be satisfied. Macbeth is a tragedy play by William Shakespeare. In Macbeth, Shakespeare shows that greed changes Macbeth's personality overtime and transform him into an evil person and is a reason behind Macbeth's ultimate downfall. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare allows us to see how greed can force people to make irrational decisions: committing murders, suicides and believing in superstitions.
Shakespeare shows that it is greed that forces Macbeth to commit murders in order to acquire more power. In the Macbeth, Macbeth commits several murders to obtain more power. He plans his first murder when, King Duncan announces that '' Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
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Lady Macbeth becomes victim of her own greedy ambitions, which leads her to commit suicide. Lady Macbeth realizes that only she is responsible for the evil doing of Macbeth. Macbeth would never have done any of those horrible things if it were not for the murder of King Duncan, which was forced by Lady Macbeth. These thoughts were killing Lady Macbeth inside her heart. In Act 5, scene 1, the discussion between doctor and gentlewoman shows Lady Macbeth is suffering from the mental illness due to her guilt. She comes in and starts to rub her hands, in a washing motion and says, '' out damned spot! Out I say ... yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?'' (5.1.30-35) ,in this quote the word blood emphasizes her guilt and she is trying to get rid of that guilt by ''rubbing'' hands. Lady Macbeth could not handle the burden of guilt and commits suicide. In Act 1 Lady Macbeth is willing to do anything, even wants to lose her feminine qualities, to acquire power and now in act 5 her sleep walking, mental illness and suicide attempt represents that greed has controlled over her rationality. In addition, when Macbeth's servant gives him news that Lady Macbeth is dead, he replies, ''she should have died hereafter'' (5.5.17). It shows that greed has made Macbeth so irrational and senseless that he is unable to react on his wife's death, which he used to …show more content…
In act 1 scene 4, when witches' first prophecy, ''Thane of Cawdor'', comes true, Macbeth is in shock. He greedily wants rest of the prophecies and wants to do whatever he can. Therefore under the influence of witches' prophecies, he kills King Duncan. However, when he becomes King, he still displays greed and his greediness makes him kill Banquo and his son. Witches' prophecies forces Macbeth to think that Banquo is a barrier in his way to acquire power. Therefore he says, ''Our fear is Banquo'' (3.1.48). Moreover, after getting news that Fleance has escaped, he learns that his first attempt to change the fate has failed. Therefore he revisits the witches to know the future predictions. It shows that Macbeth is keen to know the prophecies, as he says,'' Call'em: let me see'em'' (4.1.63). It shows that witches are controlling Macbeth's mind and due to witches' prophecies Macbeth decides to attack Macduff. Therefore he says, ''The castle of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; give to th'edge o'th, sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunable souls'' (4.1.150-153). Macbeth's greedy ambitions have forced him to extent where he has become fully devil and willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. In the beginning of the play Macbeth was honest and trusted soldier but unfortunately, throughout the play witches'
While the name "Macbeth" means "son of life" in Gaelic, Shakespeare contradicts its meaning as he shows the gruesome consequences that Macbeth faces. Macbeth, a modern tragedy written by Shakespeare, cautions the audience of those consequences. He highlights the terrible choices driven by ambition that Macbeth makes, and in the process, warns the reader to stay away from those choices. Shakespeare's use of symbolism in Macbeth reveals greed's power to destroy one's mind and soul.
He no longer is the innocent soldier he once way, he now has “unclean hands”. Lady Macbeth however, assumes his innocence. She claims she cannot murder Duncan herself because Duncan looks to much like her sleeping father. She is all words and no actions. Macbeth is devoid of any human emotions as the play goes on, and Lady Macbeth assumes the emotional role. Lady Macbeth begins to have dreams in which she cannot get the blood off her hands, and ultimately commits suicide from guilt of her actions. This breakdown of Lady Macbeth really highlights how inhuman the murder of Duncan has made Macbeth.
The play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is about selfishness controlling our lives and reveals that selfishness can come to the point of controlling our lives that it blinds us to our own actions. One major example is in the dagger speech in Act 2 Scene 1. In his speech Macbeth sees a hallucination of a dagger floating in the air pointing to Duncan’s chamber. Here Macbeth is completely infatuated with the thought of being king himself. Not only is he thinking crazy thoughts, he is starting to see things that are a “sign” of exactly what he wants. Some other examples of Macbeth’s selfishness is when Macbeth says, ”If you shall cleave to my consent, when ’tis, It shall make honor for you” (2.1.24-25). Here Macbeth is trying to
William Shakespeare's Macbeth is not necessarily a play of fate, but rather a tragedy that occurred as a result of uncontrollable greed and malevolence by Macbeth and his wife. The weird sisters only make suggestions about Macbeth's road to kingship; they do not cast spells to make true all their predictions. These interpretations lead Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to kill Duncan and secure the title Thane of Clawdor. While in kingship Macbeth elects to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance, for Macbeth was fearful about losing his throne to Fleance. Senseless violence and inner rage cause the King of Scotland to murder Macduff's children and wife.
In fear of losing this power to his friend Banquo or his son Fleance, whom of which the witches said would be king after Macbeth and would yield a long line of kings, Macbeth had them murdered in the woods while they were out horseback riding. This proves that he truly believes in what the witches have to say about him and his future, which leads him to back to seek out more of the witches half truths to see what else would come of his future. The next set of prophecies that the witches had to offer were shown in a set of three apparitions. The first said “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife,” the second apperition then spoke “none of woman born can harm Macbeth,” the third aperition then said “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him”(Shakespeare,168-170). Some say it was the witches fault for Macbeth’s actions next, but in reality it was Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s alone. Due to these three prophecies Macbeth’s level of arrogance went up along with his hunger for power as well, his level of common sense was decreasing faster and faster. Macbeth’s lack of common sense caused him to make rash decisions without thinking them through. Such as when he says “From this moment the very firstlings of my
After the death of King Duncan, Macbeth becomes the more controlling one, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death. Lady Macbeth is in fact the one that performs the preparations for the murder of King Duncan, but still shows some signs of humanity by not committing the murder herself because he resembles "My father as he slept". After the murder has been committed, she also shows signs of being a strong person because she calms Macbeth down in order to keep him from going insane.
Lady Macbeth cannot accept loss of power and control, so she commits suicide. In (Act 5. Scene 8.69-71) “That fled the snares of watchful tyranny, Producing forth the cruel ministers of this dead butcher and his fiendlike queen,Who, as ’tis thought, by self and violent hands took off her life; this, and what needful else that calls upon us, by the grace of Grace, we will perform in measure, time, and place.” This explains why Lady Macbeth enemies perceive her as a cruel and evil queen. In (Act 5. Scene 1. 40-43) “This disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds”. The kingdom should celebrate since Macbeth got killed and his Queen has committed suicide. Lady Macbeth physically has removed the blood from the her hands but mentally she stills has guilt about assisting in the killing of the King. In (Act 5. Scene. 1. 43-36) “This disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds”The doctor could not help Lady Macbeth cure her
The kind of ambition Shakespeare emphasizes in his play carefully follows up on the unmerciful acts Macbeth commits and what circulates in his not - so - pure mind. A soliloquy that digs into the changes in Macbeth’s character was when Macbeth quotes, “From this moment; The very firstlings of my heart shall be / To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done… The castle of Macduff I will surprise / Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword; His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line” (iv. i 150-160). Previously during his second encounter with the witches, Macbeth was given a mirror in which he sees Banquo, along with eight other men standing before him and claims that this was a “horrible sight.” Furious, Macbeth states that he will act quickly based on his thoughts and will eliminate anyone who he believes will take his position.Because of his this corrupted and fearful mindset, he send out orders to assassinate Macduff’s family. Another quote, “Come, seeling night / Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day / Good things of day begin to droop and drowse / Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse” (iii. Ii 48-55). As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth converse, Macbeth spills out how excited he is for the night of Banquo’s death to occur. It is important to note that not only are Macbeth’s actions
She achieved the highest level of political power and was still not content; she is seen suffering the wrath of her convictions and is unable to attain true happiness. When she is no longer able to contain her sanity, Lady Macbeth begins sleepwalking and speaking of her past crimes: “Here 's the smell of the blood still: / all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little / hand.” 5.1.52-54. It can be surmised that the guilt is consuming Lady Macbeth to the point of her longer being able to contain it. Within her dream she is attempting to cleanse her hands of the blood with foreign perfumes, which is symbolic for her attempts to purge herself of the crimes she has remorsefully perpetrated. Near the end of the play, Seyton announces, “The queen, my lord, is dead.” 5.5.16. Lady Macbeth committed suicide in response to her dissolving mental state and her mingled fear of both past and future. She fears that what she has done can never be reversed nor repented, as she stated earlier in the play: “...What’s done, is done.” 3.2.12. However, it can be assumed that she also is in fear of her afterlife and the unsalvageable state of her grief-wracked soul. In conclusion, Lady Macbeth sincerely rued her iniquitous acts and was unable to reach a resolutionary
...e prophecies give Macbeth a false sense of security. Macbeth is very insecure, which is an explanation as to why he feels he has to kill anyone who he remotely views as a threat to his reign including his plan to murder Macduff:
What drove him to become a power hungry tyrant was his wife. She put ideas in his head that changed him. A day before Macbeth would not speak of the idea of killing the king and now he was considering it. By killing the Duncan, gaining the title and king, and not being caught, Macbeth was given an enormous boost. He now felt invincible and let power finally get to him and corrupt him. With this new amount of power, Macbeth was not willing to let it slip away. To protect his power, he did whatever was necessary. Macbeth cowardly had Banquo killed, going against everything he ever believed in. Killing Banquo was not enough for Macbeth. Shakespeare shows to the audience how power can make a person go higher in the world but at the same time make them more vulnerable. Macbeth was now vulnerable, to solve this he sent the murderers to kill Macduff.
Macbeth’s private ambitions are initially displayed in the beginning through asides and soliloquies, making him seem ‘golden’; displaying Macbeth as ‘good willed’ and ‘honest’. However, it is until Macbeth encounters the three witches, that his own flaws are shown. The three witches arguably play the most import part in the play- with their prophecy’s fanning the flames of ambition within Macbeth, serving as the primary motivation to plot the death of Duncan- and as result Banquo; with there prognostics resonating deeply with his ambitious tendencies. As the prophecies come true, the possibility of becoming king increases and Macbeth immediately "yields to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix [his] hair" (1.3 144-145) as he fantasizes about killing Duncan. Macbeth becomes self aware of his thoughts; however, the idea that Malcolm poses a threat to his ambition outweighs his own moral conscience. He summons darkness to conceal his thoughts of murdering from heaven: "Stars, hide your fires;/ Let not light see my black and deep desires:/ The eye wink at the hand!" (1.4
The witches do not force him to kill Duncan, but they do plant the idea is his head. After murdering Duncan, Macbeth made the decision to murder the guards, making Macduff suspicious of him. He also chooses to kill Banquo, and Macduff’s family. His actions are the reason that his life ended in the way that it did. At the beginning of his moral conflict he says in an aside “If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir” (1. 3. 143-144). Macbeth is thinking to himself that if he is meant to be king by fate, he should just sit back and let it happen. He does not want to betray his king. After some careful thought, Macbeth chooses to take matters into his own hands by murdering the king. He was not influenced by the witches when he makes the decision to have Macduff’s family murdered. In an attempt to scare Macduff and show that he does not fear the Thane of Fife, Macbeth seals his own fate and ensures his death. Shortly after the death of his children and wife, Macduff returns to Scotland for revenge.
Self - destructive tendencies, overwhelming need for power, and mass murders , these are three things that describe Macbeth. Greed, ranked as the fourth deadly sin, can cause someone to forget all their morals as desire overpowers logical decisions. This is evident in the story of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. In this play, Macbeth’s desire for power ultimately leads to his own demise.
Macbeth shows how greed and ambition can bring down a person as well as others and how the changes of power occur because of loyalty and betrayal. Macbeth is the play’s main unhappy character. The play tells of Macbeth's greedy thirst for power is a dangerous trait.