The Betrayal Of Thane Of Cawdor In William Shakespeare's Macbeth

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth there were many cause and effects situations. All the events that occurred had a negative impact on the characters that were associated with the crimes. There was the betrayal of Thane of Cawdor, the murderer of King Duncan , and also the murderer of Banquo. Macbeth is a play about crime and punishment because the choices people made lead to their discipline physically or emotionally.

Thane of Cawdor betrays Scotland, so he gets death as his punishment for not being loyal. In the text King Duncan says, “Assisted by the most disloyal traitor/ our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death” (1.2). Thane of Cawdor commits treason, so it leads him to his death after Scotland finds out of his wrong doings. To punish the Thane of Cawdor more harshly, his titles and possessions are taken away from him. After knowing what the Thane of Cawdor committed, King Duncan says, “And with his

After the murder of King Duncan, Lady Macbeth starts to slowly be affected by the death. In the book, Lady Macbeth says, “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia/ will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!” (5.1). Lady Macbeth is referring to the blood that will not come off her hands from the killing of King Duncan. She is imagining the blood that is not there, which is making her mental health worsen. Kevin Curran explains, “The sense of this line is not, as one editor of the play has proposed, the murder of a thought, but instead a thought that will itself murder, a thought that is equivalent to the physical act of murder and that cannot, therefore, be fully contained within the category of mens rea” (392). This means that the thought of the murder alone, can murder the individual who is repeating the scenario in their mind over and over again. Lady Macbeth murdered herself from being traumatized of the horrible crime her and Macbeth