Imagination. The killer.
How Macbeth’s Strong Imagination Prompts Him and Makes it Harder for Him to Kill King Duncan.
Imagination is something that everyone possesses. Some people have stronger and more active ones than other people do. This is sometimes a good trait and a bad one to have as well. Often times, if someone has a broad and active imagination, they will have very vivid and strange dreams, and will be really good writers and artists as well. People that claim they don’t have an imagination are normally very boring and are not creative compared to other people. Macbeth’s imagination is very active and it helps him to commit this awful crime but it also hinders him from it because he sees that being king would be a good thing, and
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he starts being haunted by the crime that he commits, but he still wants the power of being King of Scotland. Macbeth’s vivid imagination shows itself the first time we see Macbeth conversing with the three evil witches. When the three witches see Macbeth, they hail him Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King hereafter. Once this is said, Macbeth starts thinking about how he is already the Thane of Glamis and how it would be cool to be King. When the messenger comes in and informs them that Macbeth is names Thane of Cawdor, he starts having thoughts of two down, one to go. Then Duncan names his oldest son Malcolm as next in line for the throne and Macbeth’s imagination starts thinking of what he will have to do to get rid of the king and the boys so he can be King. The darkness he is thinking is shown well in Act 1, scene 4, lines 49-51, when Macbeth speaks in an aside and 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. Stars, hide your fires; Let not the light see my black and deep desires:” As well as making him think it would be good to be king, Macbeth’s imagination starts taunting him as well. Macbeth is thinking about this “business” he needs to deal with, and he is thinking about why it would not be a good idea to kill the king.
Right before Macbeth commits the crime of killing King Duncan, he sees a bloody dagger hovering in the air and when he reaches for it, he cannot get it. This shows us Macbeth’s imagination is starting to take an effect from the dirty deed Macbeth is planning. We see this in Act 2, Scene 1 lines 33-35, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand/ come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” Macbeth is starting to hallucinate, which is part of his imagination going crazy because of the deed that is bugging him. Although Macbeth’s imagination is showing him things that are making him not want to do it, he is still being prompted to go through with the …show more content…
deed. Even though Macbeth is having second thoughts about killing Duncan and he is seeing things, his imagination is still picturing how it would be nice to be King and he is still prompted to do the deed and do whatever it takes to keep his title.
The sons of Duncan run off to different countries so Macbeth doesn’t have to worry about them, but by the end of Act 2, the body count is up to 3. Macbeth claims he killed the guards because they killed the king, but it is easy to assume that he did it so suspicion would not fall on himself if the guards gave anything away. In Act 2, Scene 3 lines 107 and 108, Macbeth says to the others, “O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them.” He is admitting that he killed the body guards because of what they “did” to the King. Obviously, Macbeth is determined to be king, and he does not want anyone to get in his way.
Macbeth’s imagination is a very powerful thing that ends up being his down fall. He wants to be king and his imagination is showing him what it would be like to be king, he wants to do anything he can to keep his position as king. There are many points in the play where we see his imagination at work, and as we get further in and see him hallucinating, we see that his imagination is taking a toll after the dirty deed was done. Sometimes, having an active imagination is not a good thing. In this case, it is not a good thing at
all.
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
Soon after, Macbeth and his wife are discussing how they can murder the current king so that Macbeth will become king. This is wild thinking. Before Macbeth commits the murder he says, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: -- I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” (Shakespeare’s Masterpieces 18) Afterwards he says, “I have done the deed.” (Shakespeare’s Masterpieces 18)
Macbeth’s disorder first unfolds when he and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are planning to murder their close comrade King Duncan. In the early scenes of the play, Macbeth questions his state of mind, and his stress and anxiety causes him to imagine things, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand” (2.1.33). In preparation for the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth envisions a bloody dagger hovering there in front of him, that will lead him in the evil ways (execution). Macbeth is trying to cover up his hallucinations, “A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (2.1.38-39).
Macbeth is captured by his wild ambition at the opening of the play when he and Banqou meet the three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor, and later will be king. They tell Banquo that his sons will be kings. Instantly Macbeth started to fantasize how he is going to be king. He understood that in order for him to become king he has to kill Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical”(Act 1 Sc. 3, p.23). He was pondering about the assassination until the moment that he could no longer control his emotions. “To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other-“(Act 1 Sc. 7, p.41). Because of his “vaulting ambition” he killed Duncan.
After Macbeth kills Duncan, he is too scared to even carry the daggers back into the king’s chamber. When the king’s body is discovered, he kills the two guards that were in Duncan’s room, and places the blame for the murderous deed upon them. His fear forces him to act this way in order to make him seem innocent. Macbeth’s fear of being caught acts as an indicator of his guilt; however at first none of the other characters are able to realize this.
This demonstrates Macbeth's obsession because it indicates that Macbeth values his power over his friends. His obsession with power causes Macbeth to feel guilty and lose his sanity. Macbeth's guilt and loss of sanity is indicated in the hallucinations he experiences. His first hallucination occurred just before killing King Duncan. Macbeth sees "A dagger of the mind, a false creation" (Act II, Scene I, line 38).
Macbeth’s ambition to obtain power convinces him that it is his destiny to become King of Scotland, and that he should do anything to fulfill that destiny, even if it involves him committing tremendously immoral acts such as murder. After Macbeth realizes that the witches may actually speak the truth due to the second prophecy (Thane of Cawdor) becoming true, he begins to have an eerie and frightening thought of him killing his king and friend, Duncan, in order to ac...
Macbeth's own thoughts prevented him from fully enjoying his cheated titles as he dwindled himself into isolation. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare portrayed Macbeth as a hero, and someone who was admired for his bravery. The king and all of his associates were loud in his praise, “Hail, brave friend! Say to the king the knowledge of the broil as thou didst leave it,”(1iil5). Macbeth had fought against his traitor and secured. As the play developed it was clear that he began to isolate himself from others to be in his own thoughts. The witches have a big role in creating Macbeth's isolation. They had made three prophecies, in particular “All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter,” (1iiil50). This awakened Macbeth's strong yearning to become king and started his journey towards isolation. The thought of being king was joyous but also carried along terrible thoughts of murder, “my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical” (1iiil139). Macbeth began to wonder whether the reign would simply fall to him, “if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir,” or whether he would have to perform a dark deed i...
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...
Macbeth’s blind ambition leads him to surrender to his dark desires that taunt him throughout the play. Macbeth is frequently tempted to result to the wrongful methods that seem to roam inside of him. In the beginning however Macbeth tends to ignore these desires and depends on chance. He declares “if chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (Shakespeare, act 1, scene 3, 143-144). This declaration by Macbeth shows his initial stand, which is reliant on fate and sin free. Yet as Macbeth’s character develops throughout the play, he moves farther from his dependence on chance and closer to his darker desires. Eventually his blind ambition to become king overp...
They share a common ambition and a common conscience, sensitive enough to feel the effects of their ambition. But the story, Bradley contends, is built upon the traits that set them apart. He focuses mainly on Macbeth. Macbeth is a character of two battling halves: his reason, or ambition, and his “imagination.” Bradley attributes the hysterical nature of Macbeth’s visions, the dagger, the specter of Banquo, and other ghosts, to his wild imagination.
Remember the last time you had a dream that seemed so vivid, you revisited it to ponder over what it means? In both real life and fiction, dreams are often a cause of people learning something new or even a change of mind. By digging deeper and analyzing dreams, one will gain more knowledge about him or herself and the world. Shakespeare utilizes this concept of dreams and visions in his famous plays, especially Macbeth, the story of the downfall of a man named Macbeth, and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Summarizing their bad decisions and the devaluation of their mental states only scratches the surface when describing this noble, yet heartless and unfortunate, classic work of literature. The story teaches the reader about the effects of competitive
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s visions and hallucinations play a significant role and contribute to the development of his character. In the play Macbeth, a man is driven to murder his king and his companions after receiving a fairly ambiguous prophecy told by three witches. Although the witches triggered the series of events that later aid Macbeth’s descent into complete insanity, Macbeth is portrayed from the very beginning as a fierce and violent soldier. As the play goes on, several internal conflicts inside of Macbeth become clear. After he performs several bloody tasks, the madness inside of Macbeth is unmistakably visible to everyone around him. As a result of this insanity, he sees visions and hallucinations. Each time Macbeth hallucinates, he plunges further into insanity that is essentially caused by misguided ambition, dread and guilt. Macbeth has three key hallucinations that play a considerably important role in the development of his character: a dagger, the ghost of Banquo, and four apparitions while visiting the prophesying witches.
This strong will to ensure his dominance over Scotland is a continuation of his past ambition to attain the crown. Just as before, the urge to kill is a form of the survival instinct and originates from within the id. However, now the stakes for complying with this motivation are much higher; if anyone discovers that Macbeth killed Duncan, then Macbeth will lose all control over the people, and they will execute him for treason. Thus, in Macbeth’s mind, he must eliminate all possible threats that may find out the truth of Duncan’s
In Macbeth, Shakespeare confronts audiences with universal and powerful themes of ambition and evil along with its consequences. Shakespeare explores the powerful theme of the human mind’s decent into madness, audiences find this theme most confronting because of its universal relevance. His use of dramatic devices includes soliloquies, animal imagery, clear characterisation and dramatic language. Themes of ambition and mental instability are evident in Lady Macbeth’s reaction to Macbeth’s letter detailing the prophecies, Macbeth’s hallucinations of Banquo’s ghost and finally in the scene where Lady Macbeth is found sleep walking, tortured by her involvement.