MacBeth

Shakespeare's shortest play, Macbeth, is also, consequently, his most shocking and intense. We see the essence of tragedy: in this case, the protagonist transforms himself from a noble warrior who is loyal to his king and fights for his county to a reduced tyrant by the play's end. Macbeth's divided soul which is in turmoil is the cause of his deterioration from a respected warrior to a despised tyrant.

Initially, Macbeth is viewed as a brave and loyal soldier, with Duncan praising him by expressing that “More is thy due than more than all can pay” (1.4.21). At this point, he has not been influenced by the three witches. Yet, by Duncan implying his importance, Macbeth gains a sense of self-worth and this arouses power within. His clear desire to be titled Thane of Cawdor while then having a growing temptation to commit regicide clearly demonstrate the early stages of his corruption and forms a basis for utilizing illegitimate power.

Gone Girl is a bestseller and loved by millions, it compliments english literature and course themes. Grade 11 courses would benefit from replacing boring, old Macbeth with the thriller, Gone Girl. Not only is Gone Girl an overall better, more intriguing book, it also has more of an educational value when compared with Macbeth. It has many ties into the established curriculum and creates better learning opportunities. Both students and the school system would greatly benefit from swapping Shakespeare's Macbeth with Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth the main theme of loyalty is explored throughout the play by main characters. Loyalty can be defined as faithfulness or unwavering devotion to a person or cause. Duncan, Banquo, Macduff and Macbeth are all essential characters who are given opportunities to express their loyalty, however it is the different ways in which these characters choose to be loyal or disloyal that shape the play as a whole. It is the character’s loyalty and/or disloyalty that construct the course of the play. The theme of loyalty interrelates the over arching themes of guilt and masculinity throughout the play.

In the story of Macbeth the character Macbeth is portrayed as an honest and trustworthy man. In the beginning of the story Macbeth meets three witches that tell him that he will be the Thane of Cowdar and eventually become King. Essentially Macbeth does not believe this and ignores it. Macbeth tells his wife about the series of events with the witches and his wife begins Macbeth’s quest for all power. In the story Lady Macbeth is the force that provokes Macbeth to commit all of these evil deeds. In the story it is easily noticeable that Macbeth can be convinced to do just about anything, but after he is no longer being convinced to do these acts it is realized that Macbeth has a lust for power, a quest for blood, and a weak mindset.

Lady Macbeth- the malicious mastermind, and the second driving force behind the murders done by Macbeth, had believed that by portraying a man’s ways, she would attain power-for her and her husband, and gain whatever they needed without remorse or sorrow. Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to frame two guards by getting them intoxicated and even prepares the murder scene for Macbeth to take King Duncan's life. Macbeth even questions his loyalty and righteousness in this moment by saying, “But in these cases, we still have judgment here…bloody instructions…return to plague the inventor” and . . .” He is here in double trust; first as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then as his host” (I.VII.7-14). This just

Firstly, the three witches are responsible for planting seeds of intrigue in Macbeth. When the witches reveal that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland, Macbeth demands, “Tell me more… say from whence you owe this strange intelligence” (1.3.68-74). Macbeth is evidently interested in the witches and the source of their prophesies. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have requested for them to elaborate. However, despite his relative curiosity, Macbeth’s ambition is not apparent even after he finds out that King Duncan has appointed him the new Thane of Cawdor. Instead, he concedes nonchalantly that “if chance will have [him] king, why chance may crown [him] without [his] stir” (1.3.142-143). Through his acceptance of fate, Macbeth ostensibly conveys that he won’t actively pursue the throne. Hence, Macbeth demonstrates that without Lady Macbeth’s ambition and manipulation, he wouldn’t have killed Duncan and would have preserved his conscience as a result. Likewise, Macbeth would have preserved his morality if he had neglected Lady Macbeth’s reproach and witches’ prophecy and opted not to kill Duncan. Thus, Macbeth is certainly responsible for Duncan’s death and his own downfall. Nevertheless, he didn’t exhibit enough ambition initially to even suggest that he could commit murder. Therefore, his lack of ambition substantiates that Lady Macbeth’s

Lady Macbeth is the one who instigates most of the mischief in the play. Near the start of the play, we know that Lady Macbeth wants to be queen, and it is evident that her ambition for her husband to become queen is the reason she persuaded her husband to commit all of the terrible crimes. It is obvious that Lady Macbeth is going to manipulate Macbeth when she says, “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear”. (1.5.26) Lady Macbeth baits Macbeth to kill the king. She questions his manhood, and calls him a coward. Lady Macbeth tries to make Macbeth feel guilty by saying,

Macbeth is a character in a play by Shakespeare with a tragic flaw. He had a quick rise to power and shortly after that a fall. Macbeth’s tragic downfall is a consequence of his vaulting ambition which is fueled by greed, fear and arrogance. Lady Macbeth and the three witches also have a major key in influencing his emotions. They manipulated the emotions he felt so he acted more rashly on them. Macbeth was a guy that could have been destined for greatness, but he made some bad decisions and that is what started his downfall. Macbeth possessed his ambition long before he was driven into tyranny. Before killing Duncan Macbeth was a great soldier and leader on the battlefield earning the title Thane of Cawdor honestly. He even saved Duncan’s son, Malcolm, from being captured by the enemy army.

“When Lady MacBeth receives the letter from MacBeth telling her that he wants to kill Duncan, she fears that he would not have the courage to go through with it” (Shakespeare 31). She brings out the worst in him and encourages him to kill King Duncan. She persuades him by constantly telling him negative things to get MacBeth to believe that he is doing the right thing. “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ’t” (Shakespeare 35). Lady MacBeth is the one who tells MacBeth to be this vicious creature and makes him think that killing King Duncan is okay. Because of Lady Macbeth’s behavior, MacBeth was led to become a murderer. Macbeth should not be held accountable for his actions since Lady MacBeth is the one who convinced him to commit the crime that started his madness and turn him into a monster.

This resource is designed as a reference guide for teachers. We have listed the major themes and motifs within Macbeth and provided examples of scenes where you can study them.

‘Macbeth’ a Scottish play known as one of Shakespeare’s best plays was written in 1611 by William Shakespeare, during that time King James the 1st was the king of Scotland, the Jacobean times was a time where people had a fascination with witches and witchcraft, ‘Daemonolgie’ was a book written by King James the 1st himself, this was about ways to spot a witch, which intrigued people. Since ‘Macbeth’ has a Scottish theme Shakespeare may have written this play to please King James since there is references to Banquo which is a direct descendant of King James, also it is said that Banquo wasn’t a very nice man but Shakespeare presents him as very loyal and kind person

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the antagonist Macbeth is influenced and motivated by his wife Lady Macbeth to plan and execute vicious acts. Lady Macbeth is presented as a villainous character as she instigates her husband into committing horrendous acts starting with the murder of Duncan. She implant’s the idea of violence into Macbeth’s mind. And constantly manages to feed Macbeth’s thoughts with heartless and unfavorable comments. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would..be so much more than the man” (1.7.47-51). Lady Macbeth cleverly uses these quotes to mock Macbeth’s ability to behave like a man. She questions Macbeth’s identity and uses him as a pawn to complete her plan. Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth that he would be more than a man if he committed the murder and that this would benefit him.

Lady Macbeth played a large role as Macbeth’s seductress and brainwasher. Lady Macbeth persuaded her husband to kill the King not so that he would himself be King but so that she could be Queen.Although because of her involvement in this web of lies she felt guilty and drove herself insane worrying about what had happened and what would happen to her and her husband for being so dishonest. She was not responsible for the tragedy, she was only a manipulative factor in the scheme of things. Even though it does take two to tango, Macbeth tangoed on his own.

In William Shakespeare's drama, Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, made many bad decisions because of his ambition to become king. He had many different encounters, including one with the Witches which made him question everything he ever knew. But, somewhere along the way he messed up and tried to toy with fate. Yet, it wasn’t all his fault. One may try to blame Macbeth or the weïrd sisters, though, Lady Macbeth is the most responsible for his downfall because she fills his head with ideas, she had bad intentions not only for herself, she took advantage of his nobleness, and she was prepared to risk everything they had.