Macbeth, By William Shakespeare

On the other end of the spectrum, Macbeth must deal with the moral uncertainty of the actions he does commit. When he goes to kill Duncan, the dagger appears, which he judges to be “A dagger of the mind, a false creation /Proceeding from the heat oppressèd brain” (II.i.38-39). It is something that has materialized because he has a humoral imbalance. This is the “psychic distress” Roychoudhury says, “threatens often to undo the protagonists” (218). Because his mind is not right, Macbeth goes down a path of self-destruction. Macbeth does not murder all of his possible enemies at once, it takes four separate murders until he is finished. This goes against Machiavelli’s prescription in The Prince: “Violence must be inflicts once and for all; people will then forget what it tastes like and so be less resentful” (32). Though the audience does not get a chance to see whether the people are resentful, Macbeth is resentful of himself. He has “terrible dreams / that shake us nightly” (III.ii.18-19), violent nightmares, because of his guilt from murdering Duncan. His own rumination contains the same idea: “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly” (I.vii.1-2). The repetition of the “w” sound evokes the madness behind Macbeth’s thoughts. This is not easy to get out when spoken. His words are more than his tongue can handle, he cannot manage to get everything done all at once. The state Macbeth usurped to obtain is in trouble by Machiavelli’s standards

Good leader is only as good as the people who follow them. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Scotland is thrown into turmoil when king Duncan dies. Throughout the play Malcolm, the king’s eldest son, exhibits the noble traits of a just leader, whereas Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, is the epitome of poor leadership skills. Both men are motived to do good and bad things. As well as being intelligent, Macbeth uses his brains contrary to those of Malcolm. Lastly, Malcolm and Macbeth exhibit opposite mentalities when it comes to achieving their goals. Even with opposite mindsets, Macbeth and Malcolm are motivated to do what they believe is true.

We believe that to obtain a position of power we must acquire, or presently have traits of deception, force, and manipulation, although the people who think this are dead wrong. People with the greatest amount of power get authority through ambition, responsibility, and motivation. In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, it shows a story about a fictional tragedy in which a strong scottish general named Macbeth receives news from witches that he will one day become king. The new king of Scotland would be him one day. He created a large amount of confidence and ambition out of this tale, that he comes to his goal by killing the king to take the throne of the now deceased, king Duncan. The power Macbeth obtains corrupts Macbeth and leads to him being a manipulative, overpowered leader. Macbeth has absolute power and goes against all laws of nature to get to that point of obtaining the position he eventually has through cheating god.

In order for a person to want to succeed in life, that person must possess certain traits that will allow them to traverse any bumps that try and slow down their path. Traits such as pride and confidence will allow a person to succeed in life, but too much of either trait can be detrimental to a person. If a person becomes too proud or too confident, their ego will lead them to believe that they are untouchable, causing them to become comfortable with their situation and letting their guard down. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, becomes too powerful for his own good, causing a significant change in his character from the beginning to the end of the play. As Macbeth’s character grows throughout the play, his lust for power, his fears, and his confidence lead him to act in a destructive way, leading Macbeth to his demise.

In human society there are different rank and class systems that distinguish groups of people. Ambition -- the quest for power – is an internal drive that is embedded in every one of us. It motivates us to improve ourselves. Ambition can lead to corruption as in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, where the main character Macbeth is driven by his ambition and eventually becomes corrupt. Macbeth chooses to let ambition override his humanity in order to achieve and maintain the throne which ultimately leads to his and Scotland’s down fall.

Hubris is a Greek word that means overwhelming pride, as stated by the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Thus, a person that is hubristic is one that is arrogant and has lot of pride and self-confidence. Holy teachings from the Christian church condemn hubris and emphasize that hubristic behaviors lead to eminent and disastrous downfalls. Various examples of teachings of anti-hubristic behavior can be found on the bible such as “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34) and “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished” (Proverbs 16:5). Consequently, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare’s Macbeth are two stories that clearly depict the hubristic behavior that is condemned by the Christian church since both focus on human pride and thirst for power. Macbeth portrays more hubristic behavior than Doctor Faustus, although Doctor Faustus initially seems to be more hubristic than Macbeth.

We first start seeing power affecting Macbeth’s morals in the ending of Act I when the promise of power makes Macbeth think about killing the king. Macbeth has just finished having a nice dinner with the King and he is rethinking his plan of killing the king. We see him try to pull away from the idea of killing the king and wanting to stay an honest man. He is arguing with Lady Macbeth to not kill the king because “the king has just honored me”, “We can’t go on with this plan.” Macbeth wants to stay respectful and honest, he feels guilty to think about killing the king because the king thinks so highly of him. It is an honor to have respect from the king and Macbeth does not want to kill a good man like him. No matter what he says lady Macbeth still argues to kill the king and promises unlimited power. Macbeth finally makes the decision to kill him and begin to change from an honest and humble man to a liar and cheater. As Macbeth and lady Macbeth go forth with killing the king in Act 2 Scene 3 Macbeth freezes and Lady Macbeth tells him to dispose of the evidence but he can’t move. “I can’t go back. I’m afraid even to think about what I’ve done. I can’t stand to look at it again.” Macbeth regrets the decision and wants to go back to the honest and humble man he once was, but after killing the king he can’t turn back. He uses word choice like afraid, can’t stand to look at it again because he realizes how power has made irrational and power hungry. This new personality

I have been given the task and privilege of directing the film Macbeth, (Macbeth) and the essay will examine many aspects of the play including the main characters, personalities, themes as well as the important incidents in the film and the historical background. I have chosen Lady Macbeth as the main character for discussion.

In the Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare utilizes a series of themes through the behaviors of many different characters. Some themes seen more clearly throughout the play are those of monarchy, tyranny, and gender. Perhaps the most prominent theme in the whole play is that of the “unsexing” of Lacy Macbeth’s character. Lady Macbeth wants to act in such a way that is not connected to her gender; we see this and how it relates to the plot and her part in both the rising action and climax in the book. Lady Macbeth tries very hard to unsex herself and yet in the end, she becomes the epitome of what women were seen as, weak and at fault. Shakespeare writes Lady Macbeth’s character so that she is to blame for many things that happen and never once does the reader feel remorse for her fate because of what she has done in the past.

William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is one of the most dark and powerful of all his tragedies. With Macbeth’s downfall due to his ambition and madness, it is a timeless piece. In this play the Weird Sisters, more commonly referred to as the three witches, are the source of the play’s problems. But there is a common debate about them, being whether the witches cause men, namely Macbeth, to commit crimes or do they only present possibilities to them. The witches most definitely cause men to commit crimes through their use of apparitions, prophecies, and their promises to Macbeth of power, thus awakening his own ambitions and evil.

What makes a once “brave friend” (1.2.6) “something wicked”? (4.1.45) In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth, the answer to this question is played out. At the beginning of the play, the main character, Macbeth, is deemed “valiant” (1.2.24) and “noble” (1.2.68); however, after his encounter with the witches, his dark side starts to bubble up. As such, the Weird Sisters symbolize the ubiquitous evil that is in the world and present the theme man’s susceptibility to temptation. While the witches do play an essential role in Macbeth’s demise; ultimately, it is his choice to act upon the sinful ways.

The play of Macbeth is a tragedy which led to his demise. Macbeth was an honorable solider whose life became one of a traitor and a coward. The conflict of light and darkness within Macbeth began after he receives a prophecy from three witches that one day he will become King. This prediction without a doubt consumes him with ambition and greed. In order to fulfill the three witches prophecy Macbeth is led down his treacherous path by his wife, Lady Macbeth who urges him to murder King Duncan and seize the throne without hesitation. Macbeth struggle with his conscience and it was often difficult for him to differentiate between the illusion of ghost and what is real. Shakespeare uses the contrast of light and dark to provide readers a better understanding of good and evil within the play.

Macbeth, a play written by one of the most influential English writers of all time William Shakespeare. It was created to be a Shakespearean tragedy. A tragedy as Aristotle defines it as: “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude …. through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions” (Aristotle: Poetics). What this is saying for a tragedy is that it should have the audience feel pity towards the main character and fearful of what is to happen to the character, which Macbeth does not create throughout the whole play. Then Macbeth himself is supposed to fit the definition of a tragic hero. A tragic hero should have morals, superiority to others, a flaw that leads to the character 's demise, and should realize that what is happening to him is his fault. Macbeth is not a tragic hero because he loses his morals, gains his final leap of superiority by regicide, and he never realizes that it is because of his own doings that leads to his end, and Macbeth the play is not a tragedy because it does not create pity and fear throughout the entire play.

William Shakespeare is one the greatest writer of all time. Writing hundreds of books and scripts, Shakespeare founded his most success in his plays in the 1589-1613. One of his most popular plays is the Tragedy of Macbeth. The Tragedy of Macbeth was a turn from glory to tragedy. A story of a true tragic hero. Macbeth is a brave soldier in a war for Scotland. A tale of a great soilder that was highly praise in his kingdom turn to a tragic murderous sinful king. Macbeth kill his friends and his king to take the throne and power to fulfill a witches prophet .The focus of Macbeth’s tragic story is self ambition,his unrelentless guilt, greediness , and poor judgement. All serve a purpose to macbeth destruction to his future,family,and himself. The self ambition of macbeth to have everything he ever want and more. Macbeth unrelentless guilt turn him led to a mental death. Greediness of macbeth led to unreturning action. Poor judgement to kill his friends and king. Macbeth 's fatal fate and dishonor corrupted his future and his mind.

In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare depicts Lady Macbeth as a negative portrait of femininity. Lady Macbeth's lack of femininity and new found masculinity allowed uncontrolled power to possess her and prevented her from reaching her potential greatness. She has strayed from her naturally assigned gender role which has upset the Great Chain of Being. Victims of an inverted chain of being, are doomed for self destruction. Lady Macbeth asked to be more masculine because she believed that femininity was useless for power. But when she achieved power, it was too much and she became possessed, which resulted in her ultimate downfall. Lady Macbeth upset the Great Chain of Being, but it restored itself by destroying Lady Macbeth.