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Analysis of Macbeth by Shakespeare
Macbeth's relationship with other characters
Analysis of Macbeth by Shakespeare
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When external forces are ensued chaotic and malicious behavior occurs. This is evident in William Shakespeare play Macbeth, as the main character strives for a position that is higher than him. At the start, the witches take interest in Macbeth and Influence his fate which ultimately led to his downfall. Banquo while he was a friend of Macbeth, threatens Macbeth’s ill desires and ambitions. Lastly, Lady Macbeth influences Macbeth’s thoughts and actions regarding his ambitions. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, external forces drives one to become immoral and commit evil acts.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare conveys that external forces coerce one to become corrupt and commit obscene acts; this is demonstrated through the Witches. From the outset the witch’s
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Banquo’s existence is a foil to Macbeth, even in death. For example when the witches say “Lesser than Macbeth and greater. Not so happy, yet happier. Thou shalt get king though thou be none” (I.III.68). And the quote: “There the grown serpent lies the worm that’s fled, Hath nature that in time venom will breed” (III.III. 34). It is clear that Banquo’s genuine loyalty and skepticism of the witches makes him the better opposite of Macbeth. Banquo is a devoted father, while Macbeth has none (no heirs), due to all of this he will pose as a threat to Macbeth- “Lesser than Macbeth and greater” the use of oxymoron on Macbeth. The use of personification- Banquo is the serpent- the worm that escapes, his son, he will be the father of kings though not himself, just like the witches predicted. In addition Banquo is a threat to Macbeth in death. For instance when Macbeth witnesses Banquo’s ghost: “Avant, and quit my sight!... Thou dost glare with” (III.IV.113; 117). And the quote: “It will have blood! They say blood will have blood. Stores…The secret’st man of blood!”(III.IV.151; 155). It is clear that Macbeth is stricken with fear and guilt when facing Banquo’s ghost. He is expressing his internal guilt (for the first time) and causes an inner turmoil within him. Banquo almost appears to be a manifestation of this turmoil, and …show more content…
She is by far the most influencing character on Macbeth. For example when she says “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here…make thick my blood…the effect and it!”(I.II.33; 43). Here it is clear that Lady Macbeth is ruthless and will try to do anything to make sure Macbeth becomes king. She conceives the entire plan before Macbeth himself could grasp at what to do with his dark desires. She goes so far to influence Macbeth into killing the king that she doubles the assurances by ‘unsexing’ herself. In addition, Lady Macbeth’s influence over her husband is very potent. For example when she says, “When you durst do it, then you were a man: (I.VII.54). And the quote: …Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums that dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you Have done to this” (I.VII.60). To begin, Lady Macbeth calls into question Macbeths manhood. This form of manipulation had succeeded and wounded his ego. It drove him to the point of constantly wanting to prove his manliness. However like the manipulative woman she is, Lady Macbeth turned to guilt in order to push him to actually act. This made clear to Macbeth that Lady Macbeth has stronger (more courageous) feelings towards the plan, and as a result affected his decision into killing Duncan. His wife appeared more devoted than himself. Therefore Lady Macbeth Is
Here, Macbeth realizes that if something is not done to Banquo, his sons will become Kings. Macbeth can not have this. He had already worried that his soul will go to hell for what he had done. His fear become evident in this scene also, "But to be safely thus: our fears in Banquo Stick deep;" [Act III, S I, L 53-54] Macbeth has Banquo murdered,
In the play Macbeth, Macbeth and Banquo are good friends, and even after hearing the prophecy told by the Three Witches, they only laugh and joke about their individual prophecies. It is only after Macbeth kills Duncan that the thought of having to kill Banquo in order to secure his place and his bloodline on the throne ever crosses his mind. After killing Duncan, Macbeth was initially struck by grief and remorse, but when it came to killing Banquo, Macbeth had shown no real signs of guilt for it (there is even speculation that the third, secret hitman was actually Macbeth himself!). After killing Banquo, Macbeth had visions of Banquo as a ghost, but no real signs of grief as he had with Duncan. He seems more troubled over the fact that the murderers he had hired hadn’t been able to kill Banquo’s son, Fleance.
Banquo was a threat to him because he was witness when the witches told them the prophecy. Macbeth said, “He's also clever enough to act when the time’s right. He’s the only one I’m afraid of ”(p.51). In the beginning he was hesitant and didn’t want to kill, but now it seemed natural to him. Overtime, Macbeth’s personality slowly changed and is willing to dispose those who pose a threat to him. Macbeth said to his wife, “My dear wife, My mind’s full of scorpions! You know that Banquo and his son Fleance are alive.” Macbeth destroyed himself by his wicked and selfish ambitions. He let his greed lead him to
Lady Macbeth has a greater control on Macbeth’s actions than any other character in Macbeth apart from the Weïrd Sisters. She is well known for her persuading speeches to her husband, convincing him to fulfill the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth’s manly qualities, and informs him that only when he follows through with the murder that
In the beginning of the drama Lady Macbeth dramatically influenced Macbeth. Macbeth would always second guess his decisions. Macbeth seemed inclined to listen to his wife. Throughout the story, Lady Macbeth would find a way to twist Macbeth’s emotion. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you where, you would be so much more the man” (Shakespeare, Macbeth 1.7 49-51). In this quote Lady Macbeth was insulting Macbeth, she was telling her husband he wasn’t man enough to kill King Duncan. “I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling…dashed its brains out, had I sworn as you have done to this” (Shakespeare, Macbeth 1.7 54-58). Lady Macbeth brings up the baby that they had together. The baby died long before she says this. She explains that she would “smash” its head for him. This became the turning point in Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan. At first he was hesitant to kill him, but Lady Macbeth angered and then saddened Macbeth. She twisted his emotions and provided the motivation Macbeth needed to kill Duncan. This is the start to Macbeth reign as King.
Lady Macbeth is also one of the main characters that have some of the control throughout the beginning and middle of the play. In the play when we first meet her she already sets the plot by controlling Macbeth into killing king Duncan. She is much stronger, has more ambition, and is ruthless. She pushes Macbeth to commit complaining the lack of a man he is. At that point she wishes she wasn’t a woman so she can commit the murder herself. The theme of Lady Macbeth character is control and gender; she has more of a male soul trapped in a female body. As it explains in the line in the play “undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males” (1.7.73–74). Lady Macbeth makes her husband with control, overriding all his objections; when he thinks twice about murdering Duncan. What she says makes Macbeth think twice and go forward with her advice she bullies him. If it weren’t for her controlling aggression would Duncan still have
Later in the play Banquo starts to have a bad feeling about Macbeth. "Thou hast it now: King, Cowdor, Glamis, all,/ as the weird women promised, and I fear/ thou play'dst most foully for `t." III i 1-3, this is a quote from Banquo explaining how he feels about Macbeth's predictions coming true. Macbeth realizes this about Banquo and he starts to have feelings about killing Banquo. This isn't the only reason he feels this way, the witches had also made predictions for Banquo. "Thou shall get kings, though thou be none." I iii 67, Macbeth doesn't want any of Banquo's family to rule Scotland; he wants his own family to continue to rule. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his on Fleance. The murderers end up killing Banquo, but Fleance gets away.
We start to see Lady Macbeth’s actions have a huge impact on Macbeth’s character as he transforms from a decent being to an overly bitter creature. The cause of his alteration is due to the fact that Lady Macbeth is constantly excreting heartless information into his mind. "Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?" (I;vii;39-41) "And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." (I;vii;50-51) Lady Macbeth uses these quotes to push her husband beyond limits and is therefore responsible for his dramatic change in attitude. She is constantly feeding his thoughts with negative comments and later on Macbeth realizes that he has another side to him. As he moves along to discover the concealed side of him, Macbeth falls in love with himself and begins to be drawn towards his evil desires. Because Lady Macbeth was the main cause of his new hidden discovery, she is fully responsible for opening up the door and letting the darkness in. This results in Macbeth committing both murders.
It is in human nature that the more power one desires the more corrupt actions one must do to attain it. In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, a Scottish noble's craving for power leads him to do terrible deeds that leads to his demise. Shakespeare shows that power corrupts by using Macbeth who corrupts under the thought of have power over others. Macbeth becomes corrupt under the thought of becoming king and gaining almost complete control over the people that he rules. Macbeth wants the power badly enough to do horrible deeds such as commit regicide. Lady Macbeth becomes very ambitious and allows herself to become seduced to the idea of becoming Queen. Her ruthlessness urges Macbeth to commit regicide by questioning his love for her and his own manhood.
Lady Macbeth is a very loving wife to Macbeth and she wants to do anything she can for him to achieve his goals. She just takes it a little too far, and she puts too much pressure on Macbeth to commit crimes that he is not sure he wants to do. After Macbeth sends her a letter about the witches’ premonitions, Lady Macbeth is no longer the sweet innocent lady we expect her to be. She turns into a person who is just as ambitious as her husband and she wants to do whatever it takes to help him get Duncan out of the way. She even goes to the point of calling Macbeth a coward, and mocking his bravery when he fails to complete the job. She is even willing to do it herself (plant the bloody knife with the guard). Lady Macbeth is constantly putting the pressure on Macbeth to do things that he is not sure about. She almost turns into a bully who dares Macbeth to go out and do evil things. She even says in a soliloquy that she wants to be released of all her morals and values so that she can help him commit these crimes.
Not only does Shakespeare utilize him to highlight Macbeth’s weakness of ambition, but to convey Macbeth’s development as a character. Additionally, Banquo plays a crucial role as the initial character to oppose Macbeth. Even after death Banquo’s impact was very much alive. Ultimately, Banquo was able to live a just and virtuous life. Furthermore, his legacy was carried on by establishing a lineage of kings. Living life as an honest and well-respected person is a considerably difficult task. Banquo is a fantastic role model of staying true to one’s own morals and his integrity is a great example to
showing that through the witches temptation not only is Macbeth destroyed the Kingdom is as well. They are part of the 'larger organism'. The witches also give misleading advice throughout the tragedy. This advice causes him to become scared and makes him feel as if he needs to kill more people to protect himself. This false sense of fate and power on his part is a major factor in his downfall. So, the witches influence Macbeth by causing his ascension, his madness, and his demise. They cannot thus compel his will to evil; but they do arouse his passions and stir up a vehement and inordinate apprehension of the imagination, which so perverts the judgment of reason that it leads his will toward choosing means to the desired temporal good.)
While not the only contributing factor, Lady Macbeth does play a substantial role in the downfall of her husband. She is a like a catalyst for Macbeth and essentially pushes him to do what he would not have been able to do on his own. Macbeth himself highly ambitious and determined, but his wife is even more so. At first he refuses to kill Duncan but she persists and eventually gets him to do it. It is important to note here that Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth forward by manipulating him. In this sense, she can be related to Cathy Ames from East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Also, being a woman, she is confined by the conventions of society which prevent her from doing much. At what point she even wishes that she were 'unsexed' so she could commit the murder herself. Because of this, she pours her ambition and desire for power into Macbeth. Again she accomplishes this through manipulation. For example, at one point when Macbeth is disagreeing with her idea of killing Duncan, she questions his manhood:
Everyday we are faced with different conflicts in society and struggle with society itself. Individuals find themselves at a crossroad between doing the right thing or the wrong. In the Elizabethan play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in 1606, Macbeth is predicted for kingship of Scotland by the “weird sisters,” but is aided further down the dark corrupted path. He experiences both internal and external conflicts in order to keep his name to the throne. His wife, Lady Macbeth, is there along with him, for extra encouragement. She is the evil behind his initial works, manipulating him into doing the unthinkable until their roles soon reverse. As this happens, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s sanity slowly slips away as they deal with the conflicts at hand.
However, this experience is not one that gives him courage or ambition but one that gives him fear, enough to make a man go mad. At the party, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost which he describes as “a bold one that dare look on that which might appall the devil” (III.vi.63). He begins to act like a madman in front of all those loyal to him and reveals that Banquo is dead. Despite Lady Macbeth’s attempt to cover up his act by blaming it on a childhood illness, Macbeth’s followers begin to lose question their king, lose trust in him, and even wonder if he is the one who murdered Duncan. After the banquet, Macbeth seeks the witches out of their cave so that he can learn more about his future and silence those who are plotting against him despite what the consequences may be. This reveals that Macbeth has completely fallen for the witches prophecy. There, he sees a line of eight kings followed by Banquo’s ghost. The last king holds a mirror to reflect a never-ending line of kings descended from Banquo. When he sees this, he exclaims“ thou art look like the spirits of Banquo: down!” (IV.i.123). This vision confirms that Banquo’s descendants inherit the throne and contributes to Macbeth’s anxiety, fear and to his further loss of control. He becomes even more insecure about his position as king and can no longer make his decisions