Conflict and Tragedy Within Macbeth
Conflict is an important element to any story. It enhances and creates tension that makes a story more interesting as well as the interaction between characters. In Macbeth the conflict is constantly ongoing within people as well as between people. The conflicts that enhance the tragedy in Macbeth are the Thane of Cawdor’s betrayal to his country, Lady Macbeth’s struggle with her desire for power and her guilt, Macbeth’s fight with his over vaulting ambition, and Macduff’s suspicion of Macbeth.
The Thane of Cawdor’s betrayal to his country at the beginning of the play sets the tone for the rest of it. The Thane of Cawdor’s betrayal foreshadows how Macbeth will betray his noble King Duncan. Shortly after the
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Lady Macbeth is the root for the beginning of the tragedies in the play due to her very power hungry mind. When Lady Macbeth finds out about the prophecies she is so focused on the fact that Macbeth can be King and that she can be Queen and is willing to do anything to get it even if it takes wrong actions and deeds to do so. Lady Macbeth says “thou’dst have, great Glamis,/ That which cries, Thus must thou do, if thou have it,/ And that which rather thou dost fear to do/ Than wishest should be undone”(1.5.21-24). Macbeth has just been named Thane of Cawdor which is a great honour. Lady Macbeth wants more and is willing to do whatever it takes to get to that next level of being King and Queen no matter of what honours has just been given. Lady Macbeth had too much ambition and too many evil thoughts and overall it is too much for her to handle. After all murders Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and reciting word she said on the night of King Duncan's murder. The doctor hears and sees Lady Macbeth and even says “Foul whisperings are abroad: unnatural deeds/ Do breed unnatural troubles: infected minds/ To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets”(5.1.66-68). After thinking she was so strong, after commiting and helping with the murder, she has caused so much tragedy and truly enhanced it and ultimately changed Macbeth and it is all too much for her to handle which overall leads …show more content…
reality leads to his automatic and constant suspicion of Macbeth. In the first scene of the play the witches say” Fair is foul, and foul is fair,”(1.1.11). Macbeth at the beginning of Macbeth seems fair but turns out foul, Macduff seemed to know this from the start. When Macbeth was to be crowned King in Scone everyone was going but Macduff did not and when asked if he were to go he said “No, cousin, I’ll to Fife”(2.4.47). Macduff not wanting to go to Macbeth’s coronation makes it seem as if he does not think Macbeth is a worthy king and did something bad to King Duncan to get there. In addition Macduff going to England to help Malcolm create an army enhances the conflict between him and Macbeth. Macbeth hears the news that Macduff is in England he then says “The castle of Macduff i will surprise;/ Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o’ the sword/ His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls/ That trace him in his line.”(4.1.164-67). Macbeth is angry and is now not even going to think before he acts and kill Macduff’s family. Macduff going to England to help Malcolm upsets Macbeth as he had Macduff’s family murdered because of it. Macduff fleeing to England as well as the reaction from Macbeth enhances the tragedy in the inevitable battle between these two characters which all ties back to the suspicion and knowledge of Macduff. Macduff’s progressional suspicion of Macbeth and his ability to overcome appearance vs.
Before Macbeth meets with Macduff, he thinks of ways to handle Macduff so he would no longer be a problem. Macduff was considered to be a problem because he left the kingdom in order to assist an opposing force. Macbeth states “Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate.” (Act IV scn i, ln 82-84) He wants to make sure Macduff will not be a problem; he wants to keep Macduff out of his way. In this scene Macbeth is attempting to discover ways to inforce his superiority through the phrase “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls.” (Act IV scn i, ln 150-152) He hired men to kill Macduff’s family, so he will be depressed and will grieve; he wants to keep Macduff out of the way of him still being King. The main reason he did this, however, was to exert his leadership over Macduff and send a message. This paragraph explains how Macbeth was disloyal to Macduff and how he did anything to keep Macduff out of his way, but things did not turn out as he
While Macduff is in England, Macbeth learns of the abandonment of Macduff's family and resolves to have them murdered. When Macduff learns of the murder of his family, he is motivated by Malcolm to get revenge. It is this that pushes Macduff to the edge and forces him to go after Macbeth himself. The power of Malcolm's taunting that he must take it like a man and his own love for his family makes him hate Macbeth to the fullest extent, and eventually he succeeds in killing him.
Macduff is also a character that deals with guilt. He is guilty of leaving his entire family behind in Scotland which is eventually why they are killed. He uses this guilt to drive him to bring Macbeth down. If Macduff would have thought to bring his wife and children they wouldn't have died. This shows that every action has consequences and those consequences must be taken into consideration.
Macduff is motivated by his patriotism, and his love for his country. He is a flat main character, whereas he has no major changes throughout the play. He fights for what he believes and his actions have effects on the other characters. Though he did not suspect Macbeth as to being a traitor and killing Duncan, he did not think that he was fit to rule the state. His actual anger to Macbeth came with the slaughter of his family. It serves as more motivation for him, and without it Macbeth may have lived through the final battle. Throughout the play you see that Macduff has always been the foil to Macbeth, causing the worry in him that overthrew his rule, and that Macduff is the hero that Scotland
Macduff’s burning desire for revenge towards Macbeth was encouraged by many forces. As it is known, Macbeth murders Duncan which causes Malcolm to flee to England because he fears for his life. Following Duncan’s death, Macduff was the first to discover Duncan dead, and it can be inferred that he was so angry and mortified that it sparks apprehensiveness towards Macbeth’s acquiring the throne. As he realizes that he does not agree with Macbeth’s reign, he decides to leave his family behind in Fife to go to England to find Malcolm, the true heir to the throne. His plan is to conspire with Malcolm to build an army against Macbeth. Macduff was so loyal to Scotland and the true ruler that he was willing to abandon his family in the process of freeing Scotland from tyranny. As he meets with Malcolm, Ross delivers the news that
Macduff's ambition in this play was to be loyal to his country by taking out Macbeth. Too much of his time is spent plotting against Macbeth, which throws off Macduff’s values. He abandons his family and left for England to find Malcolm so he could wage war against Macbeth. Later, Macbeth hears that the recent absence of Macduff at the banquet and at Duncan’s funeral was because he had fled to England, to find Malcolm. So Macbeth reacts to this by sending murderers to kill Macduff's family. Once Macduff finds out that his family is dead, he starts to exhibit some emotion. At this time he is about to wage war on Macbeth with Malcolm; Malcolm say's to Macduff "Dispute it like a man"(4.3.259). Macduff then replies,
Many people who have read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth know that Macbeth is the tragic hero in the play, but there another character stands out as a much greater protagonist. Macbeth is the type of character who turned from a loyal warrior to the king into a violent, tyrannical, and conflicted person as he progressively commits crimes inside the kingdom without anyone’s notice, except for one person, who is Macduff. Macduff doesn’t have any flaws and remains sinless and heroic throughout the play. As Macbeth progressively gains power and prestige in exchange for the lives of his king, his friends, and his countrymen, Macduff meanwhile goes through great personal loss in his attempts to stop Macbeth’s tyrannical ruling and to restore justice and freedom to Scotland. It is ironic how Macduff acts so much more nobly than his king. Throughout the tragic events that have occurred in the play, Macduff serves as a heroic figure through his demonstrations of intelligence, loyalty, and righteousness.
The final and most dramatic conflict takes place at the end of the play, when Macbeth, who has become a corrupt dictator is slain by Macduff, who has amassed an English army and completed the prophecy about Macbeth’s
By the end of the play Macbeth had become to cocky about his skills and what the apparitions told him. When he meets Macduff at the end of the play, instead of running away like he should have he taunts Macduff about the fact that he can not kill him. That is until Macduff says this:
After this Macbeth kills Macduff whole family and servants to send Macduff a message for being disloyal and he thinks that Macduff suspects him of something as well. This is shown when Macbeth says “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his
Macduff's only ambition is to kill Macbeth, the man who has murdered his wife and children. He has no interest in personal gain and is the first character in the play to understand that Fortune rules you, you don't rule Fortune. This is a certain indicator that he'll be the one to take down the tyrant, who is always challenging
This refusal to go celebrate his new Kings coronation is a very big deal considering the time period of the play. Kings were viewed as second to only god in the great chain of being and to not show up to a coronation shows complete disrespect from Macduff. Macduff is the only nobleman not to go, showing how he is different from the rest and the only one suspecting Macbeth may be the culprit. This unique ability Macduff carries foreshadows his tenacious opposing force against Macbeth later in the play.
Macduff heard about the death of his entire castle and became committed to revenge. “But gentle heavens, cut short al intermission: front to front bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; within my sword’s length set him; if he ‘scape, heaven forgive him too!” (Shakespeare IV.iii.66) Macbeth received a second set of prophecies that gave him a very large and false confidence. “What’s the boy Malcolm? Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know all mortal consequences have pronounced me thus: `fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman shall e’er have upon thee.’ Then fly, false thanes, and mingle with the
That caused Macbeth to react in a rather quick manner to decide on killing Macduff’s family. He did not want to waste anytime on waiting around, because he knew Macduff was a threat for him in the future now. In this problem he is face with, he has to deal with it face on, because there is no way to go around
Macduff's intelligence leans towards irresponsibility when he abandons his family without realising the danger his actions will cause them. When Macduff goes to England for help in freeing Scotland from the tyrant Macbeth, and informs Malcolm of the terrible things that have been happening in Scotland, he says; "Let us rather / Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men / Bestride our down-fall'n birthdom" (4, 3, 2-4). There is a great sense of urgency in Macduff's words because his thoughts become obsessive with eliminating Scotland of its evil tyrant rather than focusing on his family. His suspicion grows after Macbeth’s killing of the guards and so he refuses to attend Macbeth’s coronation which leads to the murder of his family.