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Macbeth as a tragic drama
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Macbeth is a true Shakespearian tragedy, in which mast murders take place, in order for one man and women to take the throne and become king and queen. It starts with Duncan’s murder, which is done because Macbeth did not want to see Duncan’s son next in line for the throne and the only way to prevent that was by eliminating Duncan. The nest murder was that of Banquo. Banquo is a friend of Macbeth and his murder is un-predictable. Macbeth may have feared that if he did not kill Banquo, Banquo would kill him in order to gain a position power seeing that the witch’s just informed both Macbeth and Banquo that Macbeth will be the next King of Scotland and Banquo will never have the chance to hold the throne. Once Banquo is out of the way, Macbeth turns his attention to his real target, King MaCduff. Although at first hesitant about killing MaCduff, Macbeth chooses to murder MaCduff, a man who Macbeth himself said was a good man and a fine leader. The last murder is of MaCduff’s family. Macbeth can not take any chances and must kill any associated with the former king (King MaCduff). The murder of MaCduff’s wife and son is the most vicious crime of them all because for one we see the killing on stage and number two a child is murdered, the most vicious and horrific thing one can show. Macbeth murders for personal gain and has no regrets or else he would not have continued his mass slaughtering. Macbeth is responsible for these murders because he commits them himself, without any assistance, he kills everyone out of necessity, and because all these acts were done out of free will.
The underlining fact in the play is that Macbeth kills these people all by himself, there is no accomplice and therefore if this were brought to a court of law the only person who would be found guilty of murder would be Macbeth. There is no crime for saying “go and kill that person,” there is only a crime for actually killing a person. Also, Macbeth’s killings resulted in Macbeth gaining a position of power he wanted. He says “The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, for in my way it lies.
That murder was the killing of the king which he had to do since Duncan named his son, Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland which also meant that when Duncan passes away, Malcolm will be his successor and Macbeth knew that he had to murder King Duncan to keep his dream of becoming king, alive. This decision to murder the king backfires due to Macbeth regretting it because he became king in a sinful way and he also lacks the fundamental skills of being a king such as putting the people in your kingdom before himself which ruined his reputation.
There is much speculation as to who the third murderer is who assisted in the slaying of Banquo. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and one of the Weird sisters are a few of the best candidates as to filling this role. Each of these three main characters has their own motive as to why they would want to join in on the assassination. Out of these three possibilities of filling this third murderer's role, all have reasons as to why they could or could not fill the position.
It all began when “three strange figures” who later turned out to be three witches “told [Macbeth] he would become king (Nuttall 1). Macbeth at this time was a loyal kinsman to Duncan, the current king. While it was a thought in the back of his mind that Macbeth would eventually like to take the throne, it never occurred to him that he would have the murder Duncan in order to do so. The witches added turmoil to this idea by talking about Banquo as well and stating that Banquo’s sons will become king as well. This prophecy made it inevitable that murder would eventually take place. Although hesitant at first, Macbeth, with the persistent help of Lady Macbeth, followed through with the murder and took the throne as King. Had the witches not told Macbeth his prophecy, Macbeth would more than likely not have resorted to the tactics and actions it took for him to in due course become king. At this point in the story, Macbeth is not a cold-blooded murderer who he is destined to become later. Duncan’s murder was Macbeth’s first time to kill another man; however, this wouldn’t be his last as a cover-up would be needed. “[Macbeth] require[ed] a clearness” so t...
Macbeth was a high-ranking thane of Glamis, who was greedy. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth only killed when he was in battle. For his bravery and loyalty, Macbeth than becomes the thane of Cawdor, because the original thane was, as it says in act 1, sc. 2 line 52 “ a most disloyal traitor.” Now those may argue Lady Macbeth is responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, but Macbeth could have told her that it was wrong to kill Duncan and if she wanted King Duncan dead, she would have to do it herself. Lady Macbeth says she would have killed King Duncan, except she could not because he resembled her father,"Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't.” Macbeth’s conscience knows that murdering King Duncan is wrong, but he lets Lady Macbeth’s harmless persistence and greed destroy his judgement. Macbeth knew that his actions were wrong, yet he still murdered and also committed treason against his country, Scotland for social status, power, and riches. Macbeth not only murdered King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family and servants, he murdered the innocent guards. Macbeth speaks of how he could not refrain from murdering the guards in act 2, sc.3, lines 90-96, “Here lay Duncan, His silver skin laced with his golden blood… there, the murderers, Steep'd in the colours of their trade, their daggers Unmannerly breech'd with gore… Who could
As a result of Malcolm and Donalbain's suspicions resulting in their departure to England and Ireland Macbeth became king: this was the ultimate power that he and Lady Macbeth had as their goal (well, actually it was more of Lady Macbeth's goal), and now he eventually had received it. Nothing was going to take away this ultimate power from Macbeth, and he would do anything to keep it. Macbeth's ruthlessness results in him ordering three murderers to murder his best friend, Banquo. The power of being king has taken over Macbeth's life, and he is a victim of his own greed for power. He is a tyrant. Not only does Macbeth murder Banquo (not directly, of course), he also murders (actually he has people murder) Macbuffs family.
In Macbeth Lady Macbeth is perceived to be very evil and conniving, she is the catalyst that pushes Macbeth into killing King Duncan. She emasculates and manipulates him, causing his psychotic tendencies. Before the murder of Duncan, Macbeth played the role of a honorable servant of the King, and was praised for killing the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. Instead of the praise of Macbeth’s bravery bettering his personal integrity, he lets his prophesies that the witches informed him about go to his head. He is willing to kill to try and set himself further ahead, and after he is crowned King, he would kill anyone that stood in his way. This eventually catches up with him when the other characters put the pieces of the murders together and realize that Macbeth is responsible for all the deaths. Once this happened, Macduff, the Thane of Fife, set out to Macbeth’s castle at Inverness with a large army disguised by birnam wood to behead Macbeth, so Malcolm could be crowned King. Macbeth’s lack of courage throughout ...
Macbeth begins on a bloody note: a battle rages from which Banquo and Macbeth survive bloodied, but heroes. They are the generals of Scotland; the country’s future is in their hands and in their blades. However, when one clutches once to such power, it is hard to let go. Macbeth cannot let go. Macbeth also ends on a bloody note: Macbeth’s head is cut off and presented to Malcolm, his replacement. Peace is restored through war; bloody injustice is righted finally with bloody justice. What falls between these two notes—the beginning and end of the tragedy—is a symphony of treachery, deceit, and murder. The images of nature gone awry spread all through the play—from the gardens that have turned to weeds to the horses that have turned to cannibalizing each other—for murder of one’s king is so unnatural that the entire landscape, all that is natural, is affected. Macbeth, by killing Duncan, is himself made an enemy of nature. Macbeth murders sleep, the ultimate embodiment of peace and nature, when he murders Duncan. However, the title character is not as evil as is first suggested; Macbeth is only led to his evil deeds by those who surround him. Macbeth’s only crime may be that he is weak minded and afraid. Macbeth was lured and cajoled into his mistakes by his wife and the weird sisters.
Firstly, the protagonist of the play is a monster due to the murders he committed. Throughout the play, we encounter that he has killed Duncan for power, Banquo and more. To prove this, Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,/ And chastise with the valour of my tongue/ All that impedes thee from the golden round” which indicates that his
Based on the text it states, “And, on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes. Now o’er the one-half world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse…..I have done the deed.” This illustrates that Macbeth went through with the plan his wife cameup with. He killed King Duncan so he could become King. His ambition caused him to take part and do a bad action such as killing Duncan. The killing and wrong doings don't stop there however. Macbeth’s ambition pushes him to the limit. Macbeth then kills his close friend Banquo and attempted to kill Banquo’s son, based on fears that Banquo’s son will become king. Macbeth brings forth murderers and states, “ Know That it was he, in the times past, which held you So under fortune, which you thought had been Our innocent self…. So is he mine, and in such bloody distance That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near’st of life. And though I could With barefaced power sweep him from my sight.” Macbeth deceives the Murderers and tells them that Banquo is to blame for their misfortune. He then convinces them that Banquo is the enemy and he must be killed. Macbeth also tells them, “The moment on ’t, for ’t must be done tonight….Fleance, his son, that keeps
Macbeth did not have to kill all of the innocent people he had murdered. Instead, he could have turned himself in and said he killed the king. Like most people he didn’t want to die, so he decided to keep this as a secret and tried to live life as best as he could. In order for this to stay a secret he needed to murder a few people. He first had murderers go out and kill Banquo and Fleance. The murderers were able to kill Banquo, but Fleance escaped. Macbeth felt better that Banquo was dead since Banquo knew about the witches rules in order for Macbeth to become king. Therefore, Banquo would assume that Macbeth murdered the king. Now, there would be no assumption from Banquo that Macbeth killed Duncan. Macbeth wanted Fleance to be dead, since the witches said that Banquo’s sons will become the next kings after Macbeth, but Macbeth wanted his family to be the royal family forever. The next person that gets murdered by Macbeth is: Macduff’s family. Macbeth had people hired to kill Macduff’s family. This led Macduff and ten thousand soldiers from England to defeat Macbeth and ultimately kill the villain. All of the murders and the stress that people had to go through because of Macbeth made him a
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth tells the story of a general who commits a regicide in order to become king. Early in the play, Macbeth is conflicted as to whether or not he wants to kill his kinsman, the king. In the first two acts Macbeth is not portrayed as a ruthless killer; he is a sympathetic character who succumbs to the provocation of his wife and a prophecy foretold by three mysterious witches. In contrast, Lady Macbeth is a manipulative, immoral woman.
Macbeth knows that killing Duncan is morally wrong as demonstrated in (I, vii, 31-32) where he states, “.we will proceed no further in this business: he hath honour’d me of late”. Yet it is his vaulting ambition that gets the better of him as he shows signs of wanting to kill Duncan. Macbeth says, “The Prince of Cumberland”. – That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap.
To begin, we'll address Macbeth's subsequent murders, following Duncan's. For Macbeth, he's just killed the King of Scotland and blamed it on his son. It worked and he became King, however he remembered the witches' prophecies. They claimed that Macbeth would be King, but it would be Banquo's children that would follow after him. This made Macbeth very angry, he risked everything to become King and after him none of his family will follow.
Secondly, it?s Macbeth?s own ambition to become king. One way he proves this is by killing his best friend Banquo because he wants to keep the throne and the witches said Banquo?s sons shall be kings. ?It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul?s flight?? (III.i.144-145). This quote shows how Macbeth evil is taking over him. He kills his best friend and he starts to murder innocent children. ?He has kill?d me, mother?? (IV.ii.83). Although he regrets murdering Duncan, murder to Macbeth was not a big deal anymore.
In the start of the play, you can tell that Macbeth is extremely reluctant on his choices. Macbeth will probably get to be above all else, yet he wouldn 't like to do what he needs to do so as to end up ruler at first. The ruler that was at that point set up was Top dog Duncan, Macbeth; with numerous impacts, chooses to murder Lord Duncan. Also, everything changes from that point. Attempting to achieve his objectives, Macbeth begins to execute everybody in the method for him getting what he needs.