Macbeth Manipulation Analysis

The theme of manipulation is often seen throughout the play, as Lady Macbeth and the Three Witches manipulate Macbeth in order to gain what they want, and what they think he wants. Our initial impression of Macbeth is that he is courageous and skilful, as based on the Captain's descriptions of him in battle. Even the King, Duncan, holds Macbeth to high regards and decides to crown him Thane of Cawdor. He says; "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face: he was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust." However, this impression of Macbeth is immediately complicated as Macbeth becomes fixated on the witches prophecies and what they hold for his future. Whether they had evil intentions or not, their prophecies manipulate

As a result of this, the power he possesses begins to craze him in two ways; he uses it to his advantage to get what he wants, but he's also fearful of it. As Macbeth becomes more and more crazed with power, he uses manipulation to secure his reign as King. All has come true from the prophecy but one thing, that Banquo's descendants will be king. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance whilst out riding, however he fears that this war against the future that he poses will not end in his favour, and he becomes paranoid that his reign as King will not continue in his bloodline. Although he has built a thicker skin compared to the beginning of the play, Macbeth still battles with this fear, and comments on how the dead never really die, as he sees Banquo's ghost at a dinner party; "The time has been that, when the brains are out, the man would die, and there an end. But now they rise again, with twenty mortal murderers on their crowns and push us from our stools." Shakespeare used Banquo's ghost to symbolise Macbeth's conscience and reflect the psychological wounds that the murders have had on him. The first murder sets up a logical sequence of other murders as Macbeth becomes crazed with power and begins to kill out of paranoia. After seeing Banquo's ghost, Macbeth comes to the

His life begins to revolve around power and keeping his authority, and he isolates himself from everything that made him happy. Macbeth initially believes that by seizing the highest authority he will gain immeasurable amounts of happiness, however this is not the case. Macbeth not only gains nothing, but loses everything that made him happy; society's respect, his wife, his peace of mind, and relatively moral values. After Lady Macbeth's death, this reality dawns on him and he broods on how meaningless his life was; "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Shakespeare's use of metaphor in this short soliloquy reveals that Macbeth was a puppet, and although he had immense power, he was not the one pulling the strings. He realizes that he has been manipulated by the witches, by his wife and by his own desires. He let his own ambition and want for power blind him from the horrific deeds that he was carrying out, and realises that his life's purpose had become retaining his position as King of Scotland, and he had lost everything he hoped for in life in the process. Macbeth had let his mind become so corrupt, that he lost sight of morality, and let his ambition and desire for power control him. Although there were many