Good And Evil In Shakespeare's Macbeth

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Murder. Evil. Prophecies. Persuasion. These concepts aid Macbeth to transform into the “dead butcher” Malcolm describes him as. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as being heroic and noble since he proudly fought for his country in the war. However, he is soon described as a “tyrant” and as “wicked” after learning of the witches’ prophecy and pursuing their misleading vision. The witches and Lady Macbeth push Macbeth in order to cross the line between good and evil: the witches implant the idea of murdering King Duncan and usurping his throne, while Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill the King. Although Lady Macbeth and the witches push Macbeth to commit these acts of murder in exchange for power, Macbeth possesses evil, an ambitious desire to carry out these atrocities.
After the witches prophecy over Macbeth, Macbeth shows signs of his unstable mindset, which stir up his hidden ambitions of greater power to act upon the prophecies that lead to his destiny. Once Macbeth receives the news of his promotion to the Thane of Cawdor, he begins to evaluate what has just happened to him: “Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill/Why hath it given me earnest of success/Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor./ If …show more content…

Macbeth illustrates a debate between fate and free will. Are people’s destinies already set in stone? Do destinies come about as a consequence of our actions? How much free will is truly bestowed upon people? Originally, it may seem that the malicious, manipulative women are to blame for Macbeth’s fate, but because they are women, they do not possess the equal amount of power a man has. Macbeth can decide whether or not he pursues his “destiny,” while they can merely impose their point of views. Macbeth must take responsibility for acting upon his ambitions. However, many wonder, what if Macbeth had not acted upon the prophecy at

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