Betrayal, insanity, and tyranny are all aspects of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. Macbeth, a humble man from the beginning, is Thane of Glamis and Cawdor. He is content with his life until he meets three witches that tell him multiple prophecies. The witches exclaim that he will be king and no one can take his throne. This saying fills him with power and creates many issues in his life. Ultimately, Macbeth becomes overconfident making him a power-hungry leader that faces protest from his people. The witches influence the play by pushing Macbeth to become king, and by giving Macbeth false apparitions.
The witches influence the play by telling Macbeth that he will become king of Scotland. After witnessing Macbeth's greatness in battle, the
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Hecate, the witches owner, becomes furious at the witches for telling Macbeth his future without telling him. Hecate comes up with a plan to tell Macbeth apparitions that give Macbeth a false sense of confidence. The witches tell Macbeth,” Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn/ The power of man, for none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth”(4.1.54). This apparition creates a view of invincibility in Macbeth's mind because he does not know of any man that is not born of a woman. This point of view made Macbeth a fearless warrior who would fight anyone in his path. This overconfidence later causes Macbeth to fight Macduff with arrogance. Macbeth does not realize that Macduff was born from Cesarean section which leads to Macduff killing Macbeth in a bloody battle. After the witches tell Macbeth his second apparition, the witches then tell Macbeth,” Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until/ Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill/ Shall come against him”(4.1.54). Macbeth views the thought of a forest moving to his kingdom as absurd and believes that it will never happen. The thought of this apparition gives Macbeth the feeling that his whole kingdom cannot be taken down. While Macduff, Malcolm, and the king of England are planning to overthrow Macbeth's tyrannical rule, they decide to cut down the woods of the Great Birnam forest and use the branches as a blockade during battle. This battle causes the fall
Macbeth’s people have turned against him, Angus points out, and Macbeth now knows the consequences of the murders he committed. Scene 3: Macbeth: “Bring me no more reports. Let them fly all./ Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane/ I cannot taint with fear.
First they gain his confidence by making predictions that come true, then the underlying true is seen through. In Act I, Scene 3 they refer to Macbeth as "Thane of Glamis," which he is, and as "Thane of Cawdor," which as far as he knows, he is not. When he is later given the news that the king has made him Thane of Cawdor, he naturally believes that the witches know the future and that he can trust them. His thoughts then move to the other prediction the witches made: that he will be king. Macbeth seeks out the witches for more information and assurance. Then, once coming across the Three Witches, Macbeth then asks them to give him some clarification on his future to hold. The Witches then show Macbeth three apparitions. The second apparition that Macbeth is shown, the bloody child, tells Macbeth that "...none of woman born shall harm Macbeth"(Shakespeare 4.1.81-82).This apparition brings confidence into Macbeth by giving him this security that he basically should have no fear about men because he cannot be killed. Unfortunately, where the false part comes into play from the false security, is the man not born of woman turns out to be Macduff, whose mother delivered by him by what we now call a C-section he was born out of a body. Thus, he was not born of woman. The third apparition appears and tells Macbeth to take courage, as well giving Macbeth
Macbeth is told that Banquo is dead, but Fleance has escaped and Macbeth says that Fleance is like a serpent and will not be a problem just yet but will eventually become one. Macbeth then see Banquo’s ghost at the table and stops dead in his tracks, with horror on his face he begins talking to the ghost. Lady Macbeth covers the scene with saying that Macbeth has delusions. The ghost leaves and then the table makes a toast to Banquo and the ghost reenters causing Macbeth to scream at the ghost to leave, his wife, once again covers his outbursts with saying that he has delusions and they bid the lord farewell. Macbeth says that he will go see the weird sisters and says that he is not in his right senses. The three witches meet with Hecate,
...two apparitions make Macbeth feel like his title as king is safe. He thinks this because Macbeth takes all of what the apparitions say literally and straightforward. Macbeth feels that it is impossible for Birnam wood to move towards the castle, this is ironic because the audience knows that the bark and branches from trees from Birnam wood have been used to camouflage the number of soldiers heading towards Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth does not think of it in this point of view, therefore making him feel very safe and confident about the war. The apparitions told warned Macbeth that Macduff is a threat to his title as king, and Macbeth took action by hiring murderers to kill Macduff’s whole family. Macbeth lies to the murderers and makes them believe that Macduff has been unfaithful to them just so that the murderers would go through with his plan.
When the witches told Macbeth that no man born of a woman could harm him, he would not be defeated until the forest came to his castle, and that his only threat was Macduff, Macbeth felt very secure about his kingship. Little did Macbeth know, that all of these foretellings would bring about his demise. Macduff was born out of a dead woman, so he was the only one who could hurt Macbeth. When Malcolm's army attacked Macbeth's castle, they camouflaged themselves with trees, thus giving the appearance of the forest coming to the castle. Finally, Macduff was the only thing that Macbeth had to worry about, because he was not born of a woman, and could kill Macbeth.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play centred around opposing forces trying to gain power in the succession for the throne of Scotland. Macbeth, in the beginning, is known to be a noble and strong willed man, who is ready to fight for his country. However, one may see that Macbeth has a darker side to him, he is power hungry and blood thirsty, and will not stop until he has secured his spot as King of Scotland. Though Macbeth may be a tyrant, he is very nave, gullible, and vulnerable.
In Macbeth, William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth’s dishonorable political advancement to his downfall, as the acquisition of foreseen titles ends in his execution. While Scotland is fearful of the invading forces, Macbeth’s valor in the battle with traitors secure him the positions of Thane of Cawdor, as well as Thane of Glamis. Macbeth is a character of bravery and courage. In the beginning, one believes that Macbeth is a stable, rational individual, although when Macbeth discovers the weïrd sisters’ forecasts that he will continue to obtain ranks, an insane character emerges from within. Macbeth’s actions are based upon motivation and truly evoke an imbalance in his mind. Despite these factors, the imperative annihilation of Duncan proceeds Macbeth to a further state of insanity. Macbeth’s mental state transforms in the progression of the Shakespearian tragedy, developing a character that originates as sane, but then is driven towards madness through the tragic flaw of ambition; this is the result of (1) Macbeth’s likelihood to commit atrocities, (2) willful construction of figments, and (3) external pressures for pursuance of ill-advised intentions.
Mental illness is a serious societal problem today, and has been for a long time. People who have a mental illness often end up hurting other people mentally and physically. When someone has a mental illness, they might also end up hurting themselves or cause suffering for themselves. Also, it is sometimes difficult for them to understand things clearly, and they might be unsure of things in their life. All of these problems are shown in a person who is mentally ill. Macbeth hears his prophecy from three witches which starts his mental illness, along with Lady Macbeth pressuring him to kill the king. After Macbeth kills the king, things start to get out of hand; Macbeth gets over ambitious and wants to kill more people, whatever it takes. Lady Macbeth asks for her womanhood to be taken so that she will not feel guilty, but ends up feeling more guilty than ever. Subsequently, she kills herself to escape the guilt, and causes her husband great pain. These tragic examples and many others show that mental illness is a societal issue, and it is shown throughout the story of Macbeth.
The witches continue to tell Macbeth what he wants to hear by making him accept in moving trees. The imagery linked with the third apparition (a child crowned, with a tree in his hand) is so vivid it gives the readers a visual of wood up rooting itself and helps us understand just how silly this is. The tone changes from dramatic to almost comical. It connects us with Macbeth and how he interprets this message, saying “that will never be (108)”, leading us to reinforce the idea that “Macbeth shall never Vanquish(105)”. The witches know that once he views all of the apparitions he will conclude that he will continue his reign in Scotland with no interferences and will not look beyond their words. If Macbeth is to continue his reign in Scotland, Scotland will soon
After Macbeth hears that Birnam wood is moving towards him, he wants to go out fighting. He attacks and kills Young Siward in a desperate attempt to save him from the fate the witches predicted (V, vii, 11-12). He also orders all his soldiers to attack the wood (macduff’s soldiers, V, vii, 46-53) and he fights Macduff but Macduff says he was born by a c-section and not by a woman (V, vii, 41-45) Macbeth fights to the death but is beheaded by Macduff as the witches said he would. (V, vii, 82-83)
He acts upon the prophecy and ultimately becomes king; however, he dreads that his position as king will be seized. Macbeth visits the witches once again and
...e murdered. When king Duncan thanks Macbeth for his heroic service in the battle he replies “Your highness a king cares for his people as a father cares for his children and the people represent the loyal children to the father (I, iv, 23-25). Later in the scene, Lady Macbeth shames her husband so he can continue with the plan of killing Duncan. To shame Macbeth, she calls him a coward, questions his manhood, and tells him that he should be as tough as she is, (1.7.54-59). The second apparition is a bloody child which shows Macbeth "The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth" (4.1.81). This shows that no man can harm Macbeth because everyman is born of a women except Macduff. He says that Macduff was born untimely and was ripped out of his womb . This was abnormal because being ripped out of your mothers womb is being born.
Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.
Towards the end of the play, Macbeth becomes ruthless and completely dependent upon the prophesies of the witches. He feels invincible while he is under their influence. People begin to speculate about what really happened concerning the murders. Macbeth becomes a merciless tyrant who will kill anybody who gets in the way of what he wants.
The deliberately ambiguous apparitions play on Macbeth’s hubris and they make him feel so overconfident that he feels invincible and unstoppable. In his castle, Macbeth jokes that he will never fail “till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane” (V.iii.2) thinking that the apparition literally means that the forest will pick itself up and move to Dunsinane which he thinks is impossible despite all the supernatural events he has experienced. However, the forest does not move by itself but it does move to Dunsinane because of Malcolm’s ingenious strategy. As Malcolm approaches Macbeth’s castle with the English forces, he orders each soldier to cut off the branches of the trees of Birnam Wood to use as camouflage. This greatly contributes to Macbeth’s downfall since he was nowhere near ready for an invasion of the English forces. However, because of his hubris, he is still confident that he is unstoppable as he believes no one “borne a woman” (V.iii.6) can harm him. Unbeknown to him, Macduff was born through a caesarean section and thus not “borne” so much as “taken” from a woman. This lack of access to the entire truth sees Macbeth eventually