Macbeth Descent into Madness in Shakespeare's Macbeth Essay

His desire to stay in power overcomes him as he realizes that Banquo’s son may take his place. Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s feelings about his best friend after becoming king in another soliloquy: “To be thus is nothing; but to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be fear’d…” (3.1.48-51). Macbeth’s fears of Banquo are expressed, and it all started because he heard that prophecy about Banquo. Macbeth does not see much point in becoming king if he in not “safely thus”. In order to preserve his power, he feels the need to sacrifice other people’s lives. The murderous path he has chosen will only lead him to death, as people will find out and kill him for it, contributing to the theme that death is inevitable. In conclusion, Macbeth’s desire to stay in power is what made him choose to take another life; however, if it was not for the witches, he would not have felt a need to carry out any of the deeds he has done.

Macbeth's feels that his destiny is to become King and rule with all the power that goes with kingship. The three witches on his way back to the kingdom, prophesied that he would rise to kingship. They said "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis" (I, 3, 48), and then as the thane of Cawdor "All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" (I, 3, 49). At this point in the play Macbeth had just become thane of Glamis, and the thane of Cawdor is still alive. Then, the witches greeted Macbeth as the King of Scotland saying "All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter" (I, 3, 50). This is the point in the tragedy where Macbeth starts to think as a villain. If the witches had never greeted him as King on Scotland, then he would probably never have contemplated killing Duncan in the first place. At first, he believes that he will need to kill King Duncan. Though at the end of Act 1, Scene 3, he thinks that perhaps he doesn't need to do anything to become the king saying "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir.", showing he is a man of honor and morals. Then, Lady Macbeth hears of the prophecy in his letters and decides immediately for him that King Duncan must die, showing Macbeth's doubt. An

After the murder of Banquo, MacBeth hallucinates Banquo’s ghost at the table, And states that he cannot sit down because the table is full (3.4). I personally believe that Lady MacBeth was the ultimate reason for MacBeth’s mental deterioration, she played a key part in his decision-making when it came to his run in of power. This all leads up to the incompatibility of living a normal life, which led to the downfall of him being king.

     The character Macbeth in the story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth faces decisions that affect his morals. He begins as an innocent soul, dedicated to serve his kingdom and its king, Duncan. As time passes and opportunities present themselves combined with the deception of the evil witches, Macbeth begins his descent into madness. Macbeth’s innocence and loyalty are completely corrupted due to his over confidence, guilty conscience, and the inevitability of human nature. Macbeth looses sight of what is morally right to do in life because his logical choices are changed by these factors.

But, later on in the play we learn by the witched that Banquo's descendants will become King and that they will prosper. It says “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”, when Macbeth learns about this and hears about it he is scared and then eventually considers Banquo as a threat to him to become King. So Macbeth has to come up with a solution to this and eventually comes up with the solution that he must murder Banquo and his son Fleance. He gets two murders to go out and murder Banquo and his son while they are walking so that his promise of becoming king will not be in jeopardy. This is an ironic act of betrayal because Macbeth and Banquo have been friends for a long time and have done everything together. Banquo was not just his friend he was also the co-commander of the army and had some power in Scotland.

3. 157-159) Macbeth’s arrogance is made apparent with the immediacy of his thoughts of becoming king and it is clear that the supernatural has given him arrogant ambition as Macbeth is already beginning to think of how he will be crowned king. Macbeth eventually decides he will show his “Black and deep desires” (1. 4. 58) and murder Duncan, the current king of Scotland. This is a shift from Macbeth showing loyalty to Scotland and the king as he now has arrogantly, for the benefit of himself becoming king, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland. Duncan was greatly admired and respected by the population of Scotland. Macbeth himself describes Duncan as “meek” (1. 7. 17) and being “so clear in his great office” (1. 7. 18). When Macduff first realizes the death of Duncan, he describes the scene as: “O horror, horror, horror!” (2. 3. 73) Macbeth acknowledges that the reaction to Duncan’s death would be mournful before murdering him: “Pity… / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, / That tears shall drown the wind” (1.7. 21-25). However, Macbeth’s only goal is to become king, not to please the population of Scotland who admires their king greatly and sees him as a righteous person. After tempting Macbeth with the idea of becoming king, the supernatural gives Macbeth arrogant ambition, forcing him to contrast his loyal and courageous personality, which motivates him to kill Duncan.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play.

Throughout the play we see the character of Macbeth change, not only from the way he thinks and speaks, but from his actions as well. Killing Banquo and having Lady Macduff and her children murdered show the insecurity that is present in Macbeth’s character.  After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth becomes paranoid.  This paranoia leads to his killing the guards to help secure the place that he has found for himself.  Macbeth is also very superstitious, which becomes evident when he allows the witches’ prophecy to convince him that Banquo’s offspring would become Kings.

Macbeth shows several symptoms of schizophrenia. These symptoms are techniques that Shakespeare uses to create the idea that Macbeth has a mental illness. Macbeth's main symptom is detachment from reality. While contemplating killing Banquo to secure his fate, Macbeth begins to see an imaginary dagger in front of him. He asks, "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?" (II.2.35-39) Then after Banquo is dead, Macbeth believes he sees his ghost during a dinner with the country's nobility. Macbeth says, "The table's full." (III.4.46) Lennox points to the seat where Macbeth sees Banqo's ghost sitting and tells him that it is empty. Puzzled, Macbeth asks, "Where?" (III.4.48) He

In the long run, that proves to be false. Macbeth starts to kill off everyone and anyone who does not agree with him ways. He visits the witch sisters and they tell him about Banquo’s heirs ruling in the future. He hires people to rid of Fleance and they accidently let him go and kill Banquo. His whole plan to kill the heirs is ruined.

Mental illnesses affect one in five adults per year. Many of those who are affected may be aware of their illness or illnesses and have sought treatment for them. However, others may not be aware of their altered mental state which means that they are left untreated. This is evident in Macbeth’s case. He presented signs of a mental illness, such as avoidance, being easily startled, hallucinating, and having aggressive outbursts, but was not diagnosed which led to no treatment of the problem. Although he presented numerous symptoms of various mental illnesses, his case is best identified with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I get up and pace the room, as if I can leave my guilt behind me. It tracks me as I walk, an ugly shadow made by myself.”(Rosamund, Lupton). A dangerous amount of guilt will consume a person’s sanity to such an extent that they will slowly journey into madness. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is gradually swallowed by guilt which leads to madness and is demonstrated through visions, severe paranoia, and the inability to complete everyday tasks.

Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.

Macbeth fears that there will be consequences for his actions but he had chose to kill the king anyways for his own benefit after taking what the witched told him in consideration. Another example of the three witches motivating Macbeth’s actions is when they tell Banquo that his kids will be future kings but Banquo would not be king. For example, the third witch says, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: so, all hail Macbeth and Banquo!” (1.3.67). Banquo had a son named Fleance and Macbeth remembers that the witches had told Banquo that his children will be kings so, to stay in power to fulfil his own ambition, Macbeth decides to send three murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance, doing anything he can to maintain his position as the king. Macbeth believes that so far whatever the witches have told him has started to come true and therefore what may happen in the future will also come true so, by taking matters in his own hands Macbeth kills Banquo. The last example of the witches motivating Macbeth’s actions is when Macbeth realizes that what he has been told by the witches has impacted his future in an honorable way because he was able to snatch the crown from Duncan and was made the Thane of Cawdor. As these actions became legitimate Macbeth become more motivated to see the witches again to find out his future. For example, Macbeth says, “I hear it by the way, but I

Macbeth on the other hand does and becomes obsessed with gaining the throne and he will not let anyone interfere with his chances to get it. People often want something only for themselves and can become very competitive if they think someone else has the chance of getting it. For Macbeth to get the throne he kills and hires people to murder Duncan, Banquo, and Fleance. Macbeth told the murderers, “Whose absence is no less material to me than is his father’s, must embrace the fate of that dark hour.” He is telling the murderers that Fleance is just as important as Banquo and they both need to be taken out. The big moment in the play is when the murderers kill Banquo and try to get Fleance but he escapes. People will bring other people into their evil acts so they will not feel as guilty as they should. Also they bring other people in so they do not have all of the blame put on them. Macbeth wants the throne but does not want to take the blame for the things that he is causing to