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Analysing macbeth and literary devices
Analysing macbeth and literary devices
Key themes in macbeth act 1
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Revealing Macbeth’s Characteristics (Act 1.7)
Within everybody, there is the ability to act upon good or evil intentions. In Macbeth’s soliloquy (1.7.1-28), Macbeth reveals that despite Lady Macbeth’s attempt to influence his decision to kill the king, Duncan, he still has his own reservations. He showed himself to be someone who is very indecisive as he battles between his options, is fearful of the outcome of the murder, and he is feeling guilty about even considering murdering Duncan.
In this soliloquy, Macbeth proves that between his own personal thoughts and his wife’s persistence, he is an indecisive person. He fights the idea of how benefiting and easy the murder could be contrasted to what a good king Duncan has been for himself and
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(1.7.2-7)
Macbeth explaining he would gladly risk punishment in present and afterlife if the murder and whole situation would end right away. Then using imagery, he explains how easy it would be, saying it would be a net, catching everything and preventing consequences. He then goes on to talk about all the good Duncan has done, saying;
Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off. (1.7.16-20)
This is Macbeth weighing both of his options, going from thinking how beneficial the murder would be to why he shouldn’t do it. Thus proving, Macbeth has many thoughts clashing thoughts making him to be indecisive.
The next trait revealed is that Macbeth is fearful of what could happen after the murder occurs. He states, “We still have judgment here, that we but teach/ Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return/To plague th' inventor” (1.7.8-10). The lines explain Macbeth’s fear of his actions to influence others negatively, ending up coming back to torment the person who started the evil, which would be Macbeth. This relates to the theme of revenge as he is not necessarily afraid of killing Duncan but that if someone is going to end up getting back at him as revenge. For that reason, Macbeth proved himself to be fearful in this
In the third soliloquy Macbeth is still contemplating how he obtains the throne, but now he knows that murder is the only way, yet he fears ‘judgement’ and damnation. We see here that Macbeth has a conscience, and his mind cannot take the simple fact. He begins bringing up lots of excuses as to why he should not do it, but inevitably his ambition gets the better of him.
After a long and hard battle, the Sergeant says to King Duncan, “For brave Macbeth,-well he deserves that name,- disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smok’d with bloody execution , like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage till he fac’d the slave;” (1.2.16) . This quote shows that Macbeth is viewed as a valiant soldier and a capable leader. However, it does not take long for the real Macbeth to be revealed- a blindly ambitious man, easily manipulated by the prospect of a higher status. His quest for power is what drives his insanity, and after having been deemed the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth’s ambition can immediately be seen. In a soliloquy, Macbeth says, “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings; my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastica, shakes so my single state of man that function is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.140). Macbeth has just gained more power, and his immediate thought is of how to gain an even higher status as king. He imagines how to kill Duncan, and then is troubled by his thoughts, telling himself it is wrong. This inner struggle between Macbeth’s ambition and his hesitation to kill Duncan is the first sure sign of his mental deterioration. Although Macbeth does kill Duncan, he questions whether or not he should to do so, which is far different from how Macbeth feels about murder later in the play. Macbeth becomes king, and this power leads
He says, “Better be with the dead, whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, than on the torture of the mind”(III.2.46). This quote takes place just before he does the daring deed and shows the reader that he knows it is not the right thing to do before he even goes to do it. His conscience tries to stay strong but he wants all the power as soon as possible so his conscience gives out and he decides that he will kill Duncan. He states before the domino effect of murders starts that he would rather be dead, than to be a guilty murderer. As the character gives into his dream of being the king he goes to do the deed and murder King Duncan. After he commits the murder, Macbeth feels immediate guilt. This is shown in a conversation with his wife yet again. He says, “I am afraid to think what I have done. Look on’t again I dare not”(II.2.56-57). This quote takes place right after the murder of King Duncan but he accidentally left the daggers in the bedroom with the corpse of Duncan. He immediately feels the guilt which is good for his conscience because he realizes he did something he should not have. He says to Lady Macbeth that he can not stand to even see what he has done anymore. Soon after Macbeth’s daring act his guilt begins to haunt him
I do not need to remind you of the great scenes preceding the murder, in which Macbeth and his Lady pull themselves together for their desperate effort. If you think over these scenes, you will notice that the Macbeths understand the action which begins here as a competition and a stunt, against reason and against nature. Lady Macbeth fears her husband's human nature, as well as her own female nature, and therefore she fears the light of reason and the common dayllight world. As for Macbeth, he knows from the first that he is engaged in an irrational stunt: "I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on the other." In this sequence there is also the theme of outwitting or transcending time, an aspect of nature's order as we know it: catching up the consequences, jumping the life to come, and the like.
Macbeth is put together with many character traits. He is a very complex character. In the beginning Macbeth was brave and loyal. He won the battle of Norway and became the Thane of Cawdor. For brave Macbeth disdainding fortune with his brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution( ACT1 SC2 LNS18-20). Macbeth is also a gullible man, when he runs into the witches he believes them when they say, all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter(act1 sn2 line 50) . He is so gullible to what these witches said that he killed his best friend Banquo and nearly kills Banquo's son. Macbeth also was convinced by his wife to kill Duncan. Macbeth conscious becomes guilty after he kills Duncan when he said, will all great neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?(act2 sn2 lines 79-80). He is thinking that nothing can take back the murders he had committed.
This shows that he really didn't want to kill Duncan, but he did it in order to prove himself to Lady Macbeth, and to become the king. By the end he had no fear, and had killed not only Duncan but also many other people. He now had different views from which he had in the beginning of the play. Macbeth realizes that he is no longer afraid "no, nor more fearful. (Act V, scene vii, l 9). He is now considered a man, but he doesn't like the fact that he has killed all these people.
In Act 1 Macbeth is troubled by his desire to kill the king that is countered by his morals that state he should not kill Duncan for the fact “First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Macbeth still has some good in him before he commits his first murder. His constant struggle to decide if he will kill the king shows he still has a conscious. He feels Duncan is a good leader, and as his kings men he is supposed to protect Duncan. Macbeth at this part of the play is too virtuous to betray him in such a manner. He also fears the...
To begin, Macbeth experiences an internal downfall due to his ambition where he battle between his desires and moralistic values. Initially, the idea of attaining power over Scotland by killing King Duncan sparks a sense of fear and paranoia in Macbeth, however, his conscience struggles to take over his ambition: "that we but teach/ Bloody instructions, which being taught, return/ To plague the inventor. [...] I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Valuing ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on th' other-" (1.7.8-28). At this moment, Macbeth contemplates on killing King Duncan as he visualizes the long term consequences of committing the crime. The reader can grasp his moral judgement as he understands that by proceeding with the murder, he is only causing his own demise and punishing himself. With that b...
Duncan is the most unlikely character to be killed because of his personality, but his title as King of Scotland, causes for Macbeth to loathe Duncan. In the play there is very little interaction between Macbeth and Duncan, showing the little time in which Macbeth gets more power. Prior to the witches’ prophecies Macbeth is loyal to Duncan, and would never imagine killing him. After the one of the witches’ prophecies comes to be true, the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth "yield[s] to that suggestion / whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / and make my seated heart knock at my ribs" (1.3.146-148). Partly because of Lady Macbeth’s suggestion his "vaulting ambition" is starting to take over, and he begins to take into consideration killing Duncan, to become king. Macbeth however, does not feel comfortable in killing Macbeth, giving himself reasons why not to kill Duncan: “First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself,” (I, vii, 13-16) Lady Macbeth, convinces Macbeth, that killing Duncan is the right thing to do until right before he performs the murder. We learn from this murder that Macbeth truly had faith in the king and was very loyal, but knowing that one day he would become king, his ambition and the persuasion of Lady Macbeth, causes him to perform the act, that he will regret. This murder changes Macbeth as a person, however, and he soon feels little regret for killing King Duncan, but this act will soon aid in his downfall.
He begins to decide on a course of action. It becomes apparent that Macbeth has contemplated killing Duncan when he (aside) acknowledges his “black and deep desires” (1.4.58) Macbeth knows that, if he wishes to take the throne, he must kill Duncan.... ... middle of paper ... ... The paradox “fair is foul and foul is fair” characterizes the changes the protagonists undergo in acts one, two and three. Throughout the play Macbeth, the “fair” one, becomes overcome by guilt and becomes “foul”.
He “acts badly” (Bradley, 136) and loses his composure whenever his imagination triumphs over his practical side; however, Bradley also asserts that Macbeth’s imagination is “the best of him, something usually deeper and higher than his conscious thoughts” (133). Macbeth is therefore unable to make use of the “better” imagination with which he was endowed and instead only appears “firm, self-controlled and practical” when he is “hateful” (136). A product of these clashing sides, Macbeth’s murder of Duncan is borne of his inability to properly acknowledge the conclusions drawn by his imagination. In his soliloquies and in his visions, he recognizes that his planned act is immoral, but his “practical” side has other, higher priorities.... ...
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass
Macbeth's excessive pride is now his prevailing character attribute. This feature of his personality is well depicted in Act IV, Scene 1, when he revisits the Witches, without any coercion. His confidence and impression of subjective impregnability are the main cause for his tragic downfall.
Ambition is an underlying theme throughout Macbeth, it is the tragic flaw in human kind, bound to lead to disaster. In Act 1 scene 7 this is one of the most interesting scenes of the play. This is the last time as we see Macbeth a freeman, he can still make the decision whether he wants to be good or evil. The choices that are preventing Macbeth are committing the murder, fear of the consequences on this earth, variety of feelings of kinship, loyalty, and hospitality he admires Duncan’s goodness as he is not the most moral character but hes power is what urges him on that are motives of good A soliloquy, which is found in Act 1, scene 7, in the lines 1-28, Macbeth debates whether he should kill Duncan. The imagery that is in this speech can be dark and moody for most people. Some examples we hear of imagery are “bloody instructions,” “deep damnation,” and a “poisoned chalice”—and suggests that Macbeth is aware of how the murder would open the door to a dark and sinful world. When the soliloquy ends, Macbeth goes to resolve to not kill Duncan but this only...