Analysis of Macbeth Essay

Macbeth’s simple ambition for power and status quickly turns into greed and obsession as his desires become more controlling. When he learns of his fate, Macbeth patiently states“If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, without my stir” (315). However, he grows restless after swiftly becoming Thane of Cawdor. Furthermore, Macbeth’s impatience grows as he takes matters into his own hands. “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. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight, or art thou but a dagger of the mind, and false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (328). Macbeth’s imagination becomes troubled as he finds his thoughts consumed with murdering Duncan, the current king of Scotland. Specifically, these thoughts influence his actions by prompting him to acquire the strength to ultimately kill the King, although he feels guilty about his crime. “I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not” (330). Macbeth’s guilt is further reflected through this quote and his refusal to associate with the consequences of the crime he commits. Additionally, Macbeth’s actions and thoughts portray paranoia as he becomes closer to obtaining his predicted future. “ Oh full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives” (348). Out of his ill mind’s motivations, Macbeth kills Banquo, but his digression as a character shields the guilt he felt after Duncan’s death. Through this, Macbeth begins to recognize the evil consuming his thoughts and

The Witches or Weird Sisters play a major role in the brilliant tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare. The role of the Weird Sisters represents that equivocal evil in the nature of things which helps to deceive the human will. They are not mere witches although they have some of the powers of witches. Even though they were produced by nature, they share with angels a freedom from limitation of space and time, a power to perceive the causes of things, and to see some distance into human minds (Kermode 1309). The Witches have malicious intentions and prophetic powers that entice Macbeth and captivate his mind. Although they have no power to compel Macbeth, the Witches appeal to Macbeth’s desires, eventually leading him to his tragic end.

Subsequently, not only is there a sense of illness demonstrated through Macbeth’s hallucinations, but this dagger is the representation that Macbeth’s rationality has abandoned him. The dagger is represented as a simple illusion because Macbeth has gained understanding that the envisioning of the dagger may as well just be a result of all the exhaustion of his brain. However, in spite of that realization, the dagger has an enormous impact on him, thus making Macbeth feel greatly disturbed. When imagining the dagger, all he can think of is the throne he may be bound to inherit, but he knows there is no absolute rationality to the crime he is about to commit. It is apparent he refuses to think about the lasting effect on others he has lost all the human like qualities of compassion. This dagger scene allows readers to envision more than just a murder, on the contrary, it is noted that his brain is oppressed with literal overwhelming fear. His rational thought has been to overwhelmed it has just left him. It even goes as far as he not even wanting to think of his crime, opposingly instead of taking full responsibility and “know[ing] [his] deed”(2.2.74) he would much rather let the

After the witches tell him and Banquo the prophecy Macbeth begins to wonder what the reliability of their predictions are after one part of them had already come true. Macbeth talking to himself says, “‘My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not’” (Shakespeare I.III.142-145). This is the first time the Macbeth mentions murder even though no one has said anything about it. Macbeth does not realize it but at this moment is when he awakens his ambition for the first time. When Macbeth is on his way to kill king Duncan he has a hallucination. He sees a bloody dagger before him and goes on to describe his thoughts on the dagger, “‘Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going, And such an instrument I was to use’” (Shakespeare.II.I.38-44) When Macbeth sees the bloody dagger it signifies that his ambition to become king is stronger than his love for his king. He Then kills the king while he is sleeping tying the knot on his first

When Macbeth imagines that there is a bloody dagger before him even before he is about to kill Duncan, it represents his guilt even before he has committed any crimes. Macbeth has planned the entire act of killing Duncan and as he walks to Duncan's room, he hallucinates that there is a bloody dagger sitting before him, inviting him to kill Duncan. This bloody dagger is a window to Macbeth's future of guilt after killing the king. Even before Macbeth has done a deed he feels guilty for what he is about to do. This dagger is there as a warning for what is to come in his future if he does kill the king.

This shows how Macbeth’s moral values are being tested, and whether Macbeth will be able to handle the consequences that his actions have. In addition, guilt can be symbolized through the invisible dagger Macbeth sees. Right before executing the plan to kill King Duncan, Macbeth gives a soliloquy in his bedroom. Another sign of guilt is seen right when Macbeth sees a imaginary dagger floating right in front of him “The handle toward [his] hand” and realizes it is “a false creation” (Crowther 2.1.33-39). Macbeth starts to become delusional when he sees the dagger that he is unable to pick up. This dagger makes him question whether killing the king is the right thing to do if he wants to become king himself. The guilt is starting to settle even before he is about to do anything. Macbeth was already unsure about listening to Lady Macbeth’s plan, but this vision of the dagger confirms that Macbeth should not kill King Duncan. Another key point is how the witches can be seen as a symbol for human’s most evil and dark side, which can see through Macbeth’s actions. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is perceived as a good fighter and loyal. But, through the prophecies that witches predicted of how Macbeth would become the king along with it would be the things that would destroy and

The story of Macbeth takes mental illness, rhetoric and death to the next level. William Shakespeare perfectly captures some of these grammatical and characteristic techniques. Starting off his story by presenting the witches much like narrators giving them a small part. Gradually the next time we meet them is when Macbeth and Banquo are introduced. Macbeth as just thane of Glamis and his best friend Banquo thane of Lochaber. Both generals in the king’s army. Macbeth always hoping for something more visits the witches to gain insight. What they tell Macbeth when he firsts visits them that he will become Thane of Cawdor. “Second Witch: ‘All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor. And as well that after so he will become King of Scotland.

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth appears to be loyal to King Duncan; however, he truly harbors feelings about being King. When the three witches told Macbeth his prophecies, he decided upon killing Duncan with a dagger in order to proclaim the throne. After, Macbeth had decided to kill Duncan he was hesitant at first, which showed a divided mind set, and his fear of possible consequences. However, when his contemplating his decision, he envisions a dagger “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee”(1.2.). The dagger signifies how hypnotized Macbeth has become about killing Duncan and how his ambition plagues his decision-making. By murdering Duncan, Macbeth is able to fulfill his prophecies; nevertheless, with this power guilt consumes Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Which causes Lady Macbeth to envision bloodstains on her hand, which she constantly tries to remove when sleep walking. This action shows that guilt is consuming Lady Macbeth and by trying to remove the bloodstains, she is trying to dissolve her part in the crime. Macbeth wanted to appear as worthy royalty nonetheless the crimes he had committed shattered his vision and forced them to

MacBeth’s ambition and vulnerability was his road to destruction. The prophecy never said how MacBeth would become king, only that he would become king. After receiving the title, Thane of Cawdor, he decided to take receiving the final title, King of Scotland, into his own hands. He hallucinated a dagger leading him to murder King Duncan. He murdered King Duncan in his chambers at his castle, Inverness. MacBeth brings back the bloody daggers, which shows his inexperience in the beginning of the play. His wife, Lady MacBeth, had to return to plant the daggers on the drunken, sleeping guards in a way to frame them. “After we have marked with blood those two sleeping guards, and used their own daggers for the crime, everyone will think they did it. (18)” MacBeth failing to plant the bloody daggers before returning to his wife, displays MacBeth’s inexperience and shows how MacBeth’s character transforms over the duration of the play. He is inexperienced, but calculating, though it is less so in the scene before committing the murder. In the beginning he is a valiant captain turned inexperienced murderer. Then, he becomes more sadistic. After he is crowned king, he hires murderers to kill his “best friend” Banquo. The fact that he is willing to have his friend and friend’s son murdered shows his true character. MacBeth’s ambitions lead him down the road to his

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is an intense tragedy about a man named Macbeth whose hunger for power not only makes him commit murder, but also pushes him over the brink of insanity. In Act 2, Scene 1, Macbeth begins with the line, “Is this a dagger I see before me, The handle toward my hand” (2.1: 33-34). He is referring to his hallucination of a dagger floating in front of him. This happens after he agrees to go through with the deed, or the “terrible feat”, of killing King Duncan to secure his foretold fate of being King himself. During this soliloquy, readers get their first glimpse of Macbeth’s powerful imagination. Macbeth is redefining violence by making fantasy just as real as reality.

This scene is one of the most anticipated moments, where the witches prediction is in the process of prophesication. His greed wins over his better judgement and goes off to seal the deal. He says”Is this a dagger which I see before me/The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee/…….” (2.1.35-66). Explaining Macbeth envisioning a dagger, guiding him toward Duncan’s chamber where he is to be put to eternal rest. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem so into it and with no care or intentions of forgiveness or thoughts about the after consequences. Lady Macbeth claiming she just couldn’t murder Duncan, therefore, forcing Macbeth , only since Duncan resembles her father. This shows she is all talk, meaning she exaggerates what she is planning but, doesn’t want the murdering guilt on her soul eternally. There is confusion in the dialogue between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, which shows fear, communication breaking down:’relationship’. In Act 2.2.38-43 and Act 2.2.63-66, both showing sleep and blood imagery characterizing Macbeth’s concerns after the murder happens and for his future. Macbeth’s concerns are centered around the spiritual reality whereas Lady Macbeth’s concerns are centered around the physical reality. Now all that is left to see is how Macbeth will clean the evil deed off of his hands and snatch the

Macbeth then comes out taking them by surprise for they felt he should be resting. That night Macbeth saw it to be the night he was going to murder King Duncan while leaving the fault and evidence on the guards but leaving him with the power. The ambition of scene one of act two was the killing of King Duncan knowing in the end Macbeth would be the one with the power. I feel the deception that goes on through the scene is that if he kills the king he will then be the powerful one. The masculinity would be is macbeth going to follow through with his vow or decide it isn't worth it. “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. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going; And such an instrument I was to use.” Macbeth blames the dagger for the works of the killing which seems to work. Which I find crazy because today it’s the person holding the weapon that's the killer not the weapon itself.

The witches hail Macbeth as thane of Cawdor and future king. They tell Banquo he will not be king but his sons will be. When they return to the castle they find out the former thane of Cawdor was ordered by Duncan to be killed. With this being done Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor, and should be the next king. Duncan then orders for the son to be his next king.

The plot of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is pushed forward by supernatural forces. Throughout the play, the characters interact with unusual and often eerie apparitions and images. These forces seem to appear as evil approaches. Each time the characters have experienced, are experiencing, or are about to experience some crime, these supernatural elements appear in the play to warn the audience of approaching wickedness. One of these interactions takes place in Act 2, Scene 1. Macbeth speaks with Banquo about the witches they previously encountered, and after Banquo and his son Fleance leave for bed, Macbeth, alone, sees a dagger floating in front of him. “Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” he says. Shortly after pondering

One of the things that linger within Macbeth’s guilty conscious is the murder of his own king. Witches showed him a promising future, and he decides to act on that promising future by rushing his own fate, but that leads to his own downfall. Originally, he is torn between killing King Duncan, because the King was kind and free of corruption, but eventually his wife, Lady Macbeth, manages to convince him. However, once the warning bell rings for the murder to proceed, Macbeth begins to see imaginary things. Macbeth questions what he sees himself by asking,  "Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle towards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee" (Shakespeare II, i, 33-34). He wonders why he was able to