Examples Of Paranoia In Macbeth

Macbeth’s tragic decisions within the play are motivated by his incredible fear and paranoia. He performs the following “tragic decisions” out of fear; The killing of the guards and , Killing of Banquo, killing of macduff’s family.

Macbeth’s killing of Duncan and the guards was motivated by his fear of not gaining the throne. Following Malcolm’s appointment as the succeeding king, he feared that the witches prophecy would not come true. At the start, his fear stopped him from performing these deeds as seen when he says “We will proceed no further in this business”. Macbeth is shown to be higly fearful of killing Duncan when he says “ Thou sure and firm set earth, hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear thy very stones prattle my

whereabouts” however his fear of not gaining the throne is much greater as he kills Duncan. When Duncan’s murderer says “Whiles I threat, he lives. Word to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives” it shows that he is scared of his words make his purpose cool. and his murder of the 2 guards, wasn’t part of the “plan”, however, when his fear and paranoia bids him to hear “Sleep no more Macbeth does murder sleep” he kills the guards, fearing them as witnesses to the bloody crime scene.
The protagonist’s second tragic decision was to kill Banquo, which, like Duncan and his guards, is also fuelled by fear.

In this part of the play, he starts to believe the witches prophecies since he is now king as they predicted. When he remembers what the witches propesised about Banquo “thou shalt get kings though thou be none” he starts to grow fearful of him. This fear is furthered when Banquo says “Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all…and I fear thou played’st most foully for it”, and fearing the earth which may hear his steps, he fears Banquo’s suspicions of regicide which make him a threat to his kingship. Macbeth also shows his fear of Banquo when he says “to be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus” it tells the audience of his fear of Banquo and his threat on his kingship as he isn’t yet “safely thus”. Banquo’s threat on his reign as king is put under a microscope when he says “There is none but he whose being I do fear; and under him my genius is rebuked” showing clearly that he fears Banquo’s superiority and threat to his power. Lastly, when Macbeth says “our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reign that which would be feared” we can be certain that he fears him and the witches prophecy of his royalty. Macbeth’s fear of banquo’s threat to his reign, was more powerful than their comradeship, which led to Macbeth’s order to kill

Banquo.
Macbeth’s last tragic decision, is the killing of macduff’s family, which just like the other decisions, were motivated by his incredible fear.. His fear of the witches prophecy “Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife” and his trust in the witches, led him to think of macduff as a threat, which in turn made him fear him. Macbeth fearful of macduff, then wanted to kill him which is shown when he says “time, thou anticipast’st my dread exploits”, dread exploits meaning macduff’s death.