Shakespeare's Portrayal of Macbeth

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Shakespeare's Portrayal of Macbeth In Act 1 Scene 2, Shakespeare's Macbeth is described as a valiant and brave man whom "disdaines Fortune" with his sword that smokes with "bloody execution". These words describe Macbeth as a fierce and courageous man who will kill anyone in his way to get the solution he wants. In the battlefield, Macbeth has "unseamed" a man "from the nave to th' chaps" meaning cutting a man from the naval to the jaws. This shows him as a ferocious, maybe uncontrollable character and may hint at what acts he is capable of later in the play. Earlier in the play, in Act 1 Scene 1, the witches use antithesis to create a mood of good and evil, such as "battle's lost and won", and words such as thunder and lightening create an image of chaos and disorder. Act 1 Scene 3 contains dramatic irony; Macbeth echoes the witches' chant upon his entrance, "So fair and foul a day I have not seen". The audience knows more than Macbeth who has no idea of the deep significance of his words. An evil atmosphere is created by the witches' words that are full of spite and malice, "the rump-fed ronyon cries" and "I'll drain him dry as hay". The witches predict Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. Banquo seems worried by this, "Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear things which do sound so fair?" He also says Macbeth "seems rapt withal" which means spellbound and might be another hint at the supernatural forces acting within him. Banquo does not fear or want to know more of the witches, "Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate". As opposed to Macbeth who is not curious, "Would they ... ... middle of paper ... ...ncan's son, showing that he will become king and that he must beware the trees of Birnam Wood. The witches then present Banquo's descendants as kings and vanish, to Macbeth's anger. Then Lennox enters and has a quick exchange with Macbeth. The quick questions show Macbeth to be an obsessive, paranoid dictator. It also creates a feeling of suspicion between the characters and the idea that there is no going back. Lady Macbeth's evil is shown in her soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 5, "Come to my woman's breasts and take my milk for gall", "and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell". I have sympathy with Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 2, after the murder, and I think Macbeth would not have ever committed such an act if Lady Macbeth were not influencing his actions. His ambition is his flaw and Lady Macbeth exploits that weakness.

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