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Good and evil characters in macbeth
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Three messages from Macbeth 4:2 In the story Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth had done some evil things, throughout the whole story. He has taken many lives, and throughout act 4:2 he continues to take even more lives. Throughout Act 4:2 in William Shakespeare’s story Macbeth there are many messages to be learned from. The messages to be learned from are “Bad things happen to good people”, “Don’t leave your family unprotected”, and “Bad king equals a bad country”. The first message from Macbeth’s Act 4:2 “Bad things happen to good people”. This message from William Shakespeare’s story Macbeth relates to all the good people that had lost their lives to Macbeth throughout the story. “Who thought the old man would have so much blood in him” said by Lady Macbeth while sleep walking. Macbeth had ordered for Macduff to be killed and his whole family if they did not tell them where he was, even though Macbeth knew that Macduff had fled like a bird to Scotland. Macbeth had planned it out so that the murderers he sent to Macduff’s castle would slaughter his wife …show more content…
This message is extremely important to William Shakespeare’s story Macbeth because, Macduff leaves his wife and young son alone and leaves them unprotected even though Macbeth is still alive and slaughtering everyone in his sights that he wants to. By leaving his family unprotected they looked at him differently and his wife questioned his man hood, because a man would not leave his family unprotected. “Fathered he is, and yet he’s fatherless”, said by Lady Macduff. The young son asks Lady Macduff if his father is a traitor and she tells him yes “a traitor is one that swears and lies”. Leaving his family behind, Macbeth sends a murderer to Macduff’s castle to kill the young son and Lady Macduff. This is a great message to learn from because by Macduff leaving his family unprotected he doesn’t have a family
Thirdly, feelings of paranoia and guilt cause Macbeth characters to make damaging choices. When Macbeth asks the witches to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers a prediction to allay Macbeth’s fears. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff. Macbeth says that he has already guessed as much. Later when Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth in reply says, “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.” (4.1.149-152). As Macbeth descends to madness he becomes obsessed with eliminating any threats to his power. Macbeth orders the murderers to kill Macduff's family and eliminate any threat to him. Ironically, this is the moment that Macbeth seals his own fate, by murdering Macduff's family he ensures Macduff's retaliation against him, which ultimately leads
After murdering Banquo, Macbeth begins to fear other powerful men around him, such as Macduff. The witches provide Macbeth with Apparitions that tell him his fate for the future as king. The second Apparition, a bloody child tells Macbeth that no individual born from a woman can harm Macbeth. Macbeth then replies “Then live Macduff; what need I fear thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure and take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, that I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, and sleep in spite of thunder” (4,1,93-97). Even though Macbeth gains the knowledge that no individual born from a woman can harm him, he acts cowardly to protect himself. Macbeth turns to murder instead of facing the powerful Macduff himself. As Machiavelli said men act cowardly, and Macbeth demonstrates just that by murdering anyone who seems to pose even a slight threat towards him as king. Macbeth believes murdering Macduff will allow him to “sleep in spite of thunder.” Macbeth uses this metaphor of sleep by saying the people who sleep are innocent and the ones who don’t sleep are guilty. Macbeth believes if Banquo is dead, he can sleep as an innocent person. Macbeth presents a cowardly character who believes murder is the “right” way of handling his problems. As a result of Macbeth murdering more and more people out of fear, his people will think of him as a cowardly king. Macbeth wants his people to think he is a strong king, but by killing good people out of fear, individuals will have their idea of Macbeth’s character alter into being a
“Disdaining fortune; with his brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution like valor’s minion carved out his passage till’ he faced the slave” (I.ii.17-20). This quote shows Macbeth's insane determination to achieving his goals. A major problem with this is that he sometimes has too much ambition. Near the end of the play, Macbeth's flaw finally catches up to him as Macduff executes him. “Yell I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff, and damned be him that first cries ‘Hold, Enough’” (V.vii.61-63). In this quote it shows that the tragic hero Macbeth will never give up for what he believes in. His beastly determination to succeed every challenge he is turn upon leads him to this point. “And wish the’state o’th’ world were now undone. Ring the alarm bell! Blow, wind! Come, wrack! At least we’ll die with harness on our back!” (V.v.50-52). Not only is he accepting defeat here, he is also accepting death. These series of quotes show Macbeth's true courage and that he is a warrior till' the end, and nothing can modify
The Lady Macbeth and her son receive a very strange and unexpected visit from an unknown man which tells them that they are in danger and that they should leave somewhere safer. The message, as important as it is, was treated like a joke by Lady Macbeth which we know must have regretted it. The murders appear and kill all of Macduff's family leaving no one alive. When Macduff receives the message he gets raged and swore to kill Macbeth.
All good men need a a good reason to keep doing what they are doing especially if they know that it is wrong. Macbeth’s rationalization is evident when he states, “Thou marvell’st at my words: but holds thee still;/Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill…”(39). The writer continues to use weighted words such as “marvell’st” ,which has a positive meaning,and “ill”, which has a negative one, to further illustrate and allow the reader to visualize the downward spiral of Macbeth. Furthermore, it is clear to the reader that although the internal conflict continues it is evident evil is taking over the character. He continues to be subdued by his evil actions and completely gives in. Macbeth relates to his wife the
In Act 4, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth was on his way to ask the witches questions about his prophecy because he felt like he would potentially lose his throne to people like Banquo and Macduff, when he walked in on the witches casting spells. When Macbeth entered the witches were saying “Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble” (4.1.10-11). In this speech, there is a lot of rhyme, the rhyme adds a lot to the speech and how it is told. The speech is told by the witches, witches are known for creating potions and rhyming words while doing so, the rhyme in this speech is used to emphasize the significance of a witch, and show how they use words to do certain things such as creating spells. The rhyme scheme
When the play first opens we hear 3 strange witches standing in a field while it is thunder and lightening. They begin to chant spells and talk about their meeting with Macbeth as they vanish into thin air.
Ross says, “I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, it would be my disgrace and your discomfort. I take my leave at once” (Shakespeare 4.2). This quote shows that Ross has no evil-minded due to the fact he leaves Lady Macduff and her child to die. Still, this shows Macbeth cruelty by sending the soldier to kill Macduff’s family. Macbeth says, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife give th ’edge o’th’sword/ his wife, his babes, all unfortunate souls” (Shakespeare 4.1). The significance of this quote shows Macbeth cruelty thinking about his plan on how to kill the Macduff’s. Since Macduff’s family are not a threat to him, but his mind led him to worsen the situation. Macbeth says, “Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits: / the flighty purpose never is o’ertlook/ unless the deed go with it” (Shakespeare 4.1.). This quote shows that Macbeth is talking to himself about time so he can make up his plan instantly. He promises that from this time on if dreams the plan, he will act on it and carry it out for a purpose. To conclude with paragraph 3, Macbeth has no innocence over the people that do not have a threat to him. So Macbeth’s morality finds its way to justice which has to be solved.
Macbeth is swaying between the forces of good and evil. He wants to stop killing but he also wants to become king and in his mind the only way to do that is to kill whoever is in his path, saying “I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o'er.” (3.4.168-170). Macbeth is already deep into this situation and if he were to turn back now, it would cause him greater hardship than relief. Macbeth has been dealing with this inner conflict ever since he was told by the weird sisters that he is fated to become king. This conflict ties everything together, between fate versus free will and sane or insane. Macbeth started the play as being a glorified war hero, however as time moved on he transformed into a bloodthirsty tyrant. Macbeth has gone through so much that he has shifted into a guilty man haunted by nightmares and hallucinations but will not stop until he gets what he came for. Macbeth has gone so far into the void of guilt that his name has now fell into infamy, as shown by quote by Young Siward saying “The devil himself could not pronounce a title/ More hateful to mine ear.” (5.7.10-11). Macbeth had already grown a name for himself while he kept his innocence, however with all the killings macbeth has made, he has done nothing but shame his name. Macbeth name to others is more hateful and there is nothing that Siward would rather do than to end Macbeth’s life, thus ending all the guilt and evil inside
In act 2, scene 4 it shows how Macbeth will do whatever he takes to become King. After killing the King, he is crowned King, but at what costs? Macduff says does not state that bad things will happen but he says, “No, cousin, I’ll to Fife” (2.4.50). This quotation is saying that he knows bad things will happen and he will leave before they do. On my slide I chose a picture of horses. That picture shows the unnatural events that occurred after the death of King Duncan, where the horses ate each other. In another passage from the Old Man, it describes Macbeth’s outcome to the murdering, “A falcon, tow’ring in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed” (2.4.15-16). Also, “Make war with mankind” (2.4.22). This vivid description
Scene 1In a cavern, a boiling cauldron hisses and spits, and the three witches appear. They circle the cauldron and chant spells and add bizarre things their brew. Hecate appears and compliments their work. One of the witches chants: “By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes” (Act 4. Scene 1. Lines 44–6). In fulfillment of the prophecy, Macbeth enters. He asks them to reveal truth to him. To answer the questions, they call apparitions, each one gives a prediction to alleviate Macbeth’s worries. First, an Armed head (symbol of Macduff) warns him to “Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife.” (Act 4. Scene 1. Lines 71-72.). Next a bloody child (symbol of Macduff a birth) appears and tells him “none of woman born / shall
Scene opens in a large, dimly-lit skating rink. Duncan enters with Lennox, Malcolm, Donalbain, and several servants trailing behind. Loud music courses through the air as they receive their skates from a tall man behind a counter. They all sit on thin benches to lace up their skates and begin discussing current events.
The scene I chose was act 2 scene 2 of Macbeth written by Shakespeare. It was between two characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. I played the role of Macbeth. In the scene, Lady Macbeth celebrates her plan being a success. Lady Macbeth waits for Macbeth to come with news that he has killed Duncan. Macbeth announces that he has committed the murder but he is so afraid that he brings the bloody daggers with him and Lady Macbeth takes them from him, to place them with the sleeping guards. Macbeth hears knocking sounds which frightens him so his wife comes to lead him away, they then wash the blood from their hands before they get caught. My character was challenging because I had to understand his emotions and find ways of interpreting that on stage. I chose to perform this act because Shakespeare was able to create tension, build the right atmosphere to show them Macbeth’s reaction to Duncan’s murder but also show the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Shakespeare’s use of imagery, dramatic irony, rhetorical questions helped emphasise the guilt Macbeth felt after the murder.
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” Once said by Marc Twain, this is an excellent example of the human nature that is represented in the play: Macbeth. Shakespeare demonstrates that all humans have the ability to do good or evil. This is strongly affected by the choices that we make and by our actions. These decisions will have a huge impact on our lives and the lives of others. Throughout the play, Macbeth experienced a huge decent into evil and violent action that lead him to his death. With his thirst for power and constant paranoia, he killed his way to seize the crown. By killing Duncan at the beginning of the play, Macbeth soon realizes that nothing can be undone and his blood stained hands can never be cleaned. “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.3 70) said by Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder. But what they don’t know is that this is the start of the bloody massacre that will change who they are and how they think forever. Macbeth has multiple hallucinations and his paranoia leads him to hire murderers to kill Macduff’s family out of anger and spite. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and gets to the point of madness when she kills herself at the end of the play. This demonstrates that our actions can be affected by human nature and our thoughts can be easily corrupted by temptation.
from one of the last lines in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play. The three witches speak this line