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How is macbeth conveyed as evil
Macbeth's character as drawn towards evil
The features of Shakespeare’s language
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A thought is an idea or opinion produced by thinking or occurring suddenly in the mind. When this word is used in the play The Tragedy of Macbeth, it gives us an insight as to what is going on in the heads of the characters. The word thought can be used to exemplify the imagining of fantasies or the act of mulling over something. Evil thoughts often lead Macbeth and other figures into doing evil phenomenons. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, evil is a destructive force. It causes harm to those who embrace it and their victims. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth fall into the hands of evil due to a greed for power, they lose all sense of rationality. For example, Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth into murdering Duncan, a benevolent king who praised Macbeth, who then continues the same crime in a chain of murder. Their actions, however, have consequences; guilt will haunt them for the Duncan's murder also turns his lords against him, and when the time of the battle comes, they desert him. His people, obviously not content with his rule, also desert him, and when the opposing army arrives at Dunsinane hill, Macbeth’s army leaves. "Where they not forced with those that should be ours,"(5.5.5). Macbeth has lost "honor, love, obedience, troops of friends" (5.3.29), because of his evil deeds, and this is what physically ends Macbeth. Feeling anger towards Macduff for having fled, Macbeth murders his whole family, and makes Macduff a powerful enemy. When Malcolm returns from England with an army, Macduff is there, as are most of the Lords of Scotland. But Macduff searches for Macbeth with the sole purpose of avenging his family. They fight and Macduff is victorious, he slays Macbeth, and proclaims Malcolm the rightful king of Scotland. As a result of his abuse on his people and his evil actions Macbeth's reign is brought to an end. For having followed evil, Macbeth is
Conflict of forces is reflected in the character of Macduff. Duncan’s murder is discovered by his loyal supporter Macduff. It is the intensity of his devotion to the king that brings him to the castle just at the time of the murder and makes him the first to see the dead body, "The Lord’s anointed temple" (Act II, Scene3, 67) as he calls it. Had Macduff’s loyalty been supported by corresponding strength he could have come in time to save Duncan. But as Duncan displays goodness and virtue without sufficient power to maintain his rule, Macduff’s capacity for pure loyalty is not combined with the strength required to express it. When soon afterwards he goes to England in support of Duncan’s son Malcolm, his wife and children are left to be murdered by Macbeth. His personality lacks the energy to sustain both the commitments of his loyal heart. In expressing his loyalty to the dead king he ignores his equally great commitment to protect his family.
As the war for the justified king began, Macbeth faces his deep-rooted friend, Macduff. The fact Macbeth has murdered Macduff’s family exceeds their past friendship; Macduff seeks revenge against Macbeth and begins to draw his sword. Macbeth, however, refuses to fight: “Of all men else I have avoided thee. But get thee back. My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already” (V. iix. 5-7). Shakespeare shows that the blood Macbeth has charged with came from his ambition to become king and to stay king. Macbeth willingly and consciously kills his friend’s family in order to keep the crown. Individuals, overcome by greed, will kill entire families for power. Nevertheless, with greedy ambition comes retaliation. Macduff decapitates Macbeth and Death from past vengeance proclaims the final step of
Macduff and Malcolm turn against Macbeth because they recognize his evil behavior and believe they can bring Scotland to a peaceful state. Actions driven by the thoughts and feelings lead to the deaths of Duncan, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth. In Macbeth, characters’ downfalls are caused by actions they take based on the security, hope, and overconfidence their perceptions of the world give
Evil. It is a word that has been used for hundreds of years, yet the
Biography: William Shakespeare's Macbeth tells the story of a man who would be king. And he is the king, because he murders. Him and his wife murder to get their way. This works greatly for them, until they are questioned, and their guilt sets in. The task for this paper was to compare the Macbeth's to two people who did great evil to accomplish good. IE: Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden, whom were used in this essay.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a recognized classic tragedy portraying the victory of good over evil. This paper will explore the various expressions of evil within the play.
to the earthly at the base of the chain; everyone had a place, and a
Macbeth turns evil because he is so consumed with the idea of power. Dunn explains “People do not choose evil itself but choose a lesser good over a greater one by choosing selfish satisfactions over moral duty” (Dunn 3). Often times a person does not choose evil, but they choose to do something bad over what is morally right because it will benefit him in some way. The person is so overly consumed with himself that he does not care that he is hurting people around him because in the end he will have gained something from it. However, choosing selfish needs over what is morally right, influences a person to continue to do bad things and will eventually turn him evil. Macbeth acknowledges that killing King Duncan is immoral, but his selfish desires overpower the good when he says, “That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur/To prick the sides of my intent, but only/Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself/And falls on th’ other” (Shakespeare 1.7.25-28). Macbeth contemplates whether he should kill King Duncan. Macbeth says that he feels an overbearing sense of loyalty to
And Banquo’s son Fleance manages to escape from the attack. Next, Macduff refuses to accept Macbeth as king and flees to England to join Malcom. The witches tell him to beware of Macduff, which angers Macbeth and drives him to kill Macduff's family. The fear of losing the impending battle with England makes Macbeth begin doing anything that will give him an edge in the final battle.
Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, And damn 'd be him that first cries, "Hold, enough!”” They are Macbeth’s last words. He never saw what he did was wrong. He said he going to fight until the end and he is going to win. He just kept making everything worse for himself. Good vs evil, the power of evil, temptation and guilt were themes that where seen through out the play. Macbeth thinking it is not the right choice to kill Duncan was him trying to be true to himself and not letting evil take over. Those thought ended overcoming him and evil took over. That what the power of evil can do to someone. Those thoughts eat at you. In Macbeth’s case he just saw one thing and that was becoming king. Which lead into him temptation of wanting to be on top started to control him. He knew if he did also those murders that he would be secure and he will stay being the king. Macbeth never really felt much guilt. He did in the beginning but at the end he turned more evil. Lady Macbeth felt a lot of guilt to the point where she slept walked and let all of her guilt out. The real Macbeth is coming out through all these themes. The greed, evil Macbeth that does not care about anyone but himself and how he going
Murder. Evil. Prophecies. Persuasion. These concepts aid Macbeth to transform into the “dead butcher” Malcolm describes him as. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as being heroic and noble since he proudly fought for his country in the war. However, he is soon described as a “tyrant” and as “wicked” after learning of the witches’ prophecy and pursuing their misleading vision. The witches and Lady Macbeth push Macbeth in order to cross the line between good and evil: the witches implant the idea of murdering King Duncan and usurping his throne, while Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill the King. Although Lady Macbeth and the witches push Macbeth to commit these acts of murder in exchange for power, Macbeth possesses evil, an ambitious desire to carry out these atrocities.
Evil is a destructive force; it causes harm to those who embrace it and their victims. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth and Lady Macbeth fall into the hands of evil. Evil is what drives people to commit unnatural actions of destruction. Macbeth succumbs to evil through his fatal flaw, greed, and it causes him to disrupt the chain of being. When Macbeth willingly murders, massacres, lies and deceives, he loses his heath and sanity. Evil corrupts everything it touches, and Macbeth decides to be evil's servant. But, when Macbeth embraces evil, it corrupts him, and it ultimately destroys him as well. Lady Macbeth is a victim of Macbeth's fatal flaw, since she is drawn in, and becomes greedy for power herself. She pushes Macbeth into destruction when she adds the small touch that plunges Macbeth into a chain of murder, destruction, and lying followed by the loss of their sanity and health. After Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are well into the depths of corruption and greed, it is clearly seen that their guilt will haunt them for the rest of their lives. The harm they have caused others will be returned to them as revenge and they have lost their sanity in order to gain power. The fate of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth clearly illustrates that to embrace evil is to negate our own need for order and well being.
or stand up to good when faced with a battle between the two. The play
him from a hero to the traitor he is at the end of the play. They
you do and every decision you make is based on your views of Good and