Macbeth

Macbeth, although manipulated by the witches and persuaded by his wife, is ultimately responsible for his own actions. At the beginning of the play, he is portrayed as the noble and courageous hero; by the end, however, the audience sees his brutal and power-hungry character drives him to fulfil his ambition. The three witches manipulate Macbeth through prophecies foretelling his fate. Lady Macbeth is also partly to blame for her taunting and eventual encouragement of her husband, leading him to his immoral choices. In the end, it is Macbeth’s many character flaws that drive him to his poor decisions and fateful end.

This angers Macbeth and enables him to follow Lady Macbeth's scheme to kill the King easier. Macbeth's first murder is definitely a trying experience for him. However, as the play progresses, killing seems easy and the only solution to maintain his reign of the people of Scotland. Macbeth becomes increasingly ambitious as the play goes on. The witches prophecies and Lady Macbeth's influence intensifies his ambition and drives Macbeth to obtain and maintain his title of Scotland by whatever means, even murdering his best friend, Banquo. "Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, ...no son of mine succeeding. If't be so, for Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan I have murder'd; ...To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (Act III. sc.I) At this point Macbeth's passion becomes more and more extreme to the point where no one stands in his way. His greed, violence, and hunger for power drastically declines his character. The witches prophecy, Lady Macbeth's influence, and Macbeth's own ambition all contribute greatly to his deterioration of character which results in his downfall, which was death. All the causes link to one another. If it wasn't for Macbeth's strong will and passion, Macbeth would still be his ordinary self. Because of this, Macbeth's curiosity of possibly becoming king was brought out which led to Lady Macbeth's controlling influence. Macbeth's ambition then builds and causes him to commit a

Themes in Macbeth 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.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the supernatural and the role they play in motivating characters is apparent throughout the duration of the play. The supernatural is what causes conflict in the play and the prophecies from the witches in act one scene three is the inciting action in the piece. The

The not so “Ideal” wife “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised. Yet for I fear thy nature; It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” (Shakespeare 1.5.12-15). Lady Macbeth is the bad influence Macbeth has in his life that persuades him into killing King Duncan and rushes into being King. Before Macbeth became paranoid after the brutal death of King Duncan, he was a worthy captain of the kings army. “The service and the loyalty I owe in doing it pays itself. Your Highness’ part is to receive our duties, and our duties are to your throne and state children and servants, which do but what they should by doing everything safe toward your honor and love” (Shakespeare

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

Macbeth abuses his power as king by becoming so ruthless that he kills whoever might get in his way or threaten his position as king. Macbeth fears that Banquo is beginning to doubt him and believes that Banquo is his enemy. When he is speaking to the two men he has hired to murder Banquo, he tells them,” Every minute of his being thrusts / Against my near’st of life” (Shakespeare 3.1.128-129). Macbeth is jumping to conclusions about Banquo because he fears Banquo’s sons will become king, as the witches predicted. This turning point in the play shows that Macbeth is not suited to be king and continues to act out against people in Scotland. Macbeth feels the same threat towards Macduff as he did towards Banquo, but since Macduff fled to England, Macbeth had to take a different action. Macbeth chose to attack Macduff’s family, he said, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife; give me the edge o’ the sword” (Shakespeare 4.2.166-167). Macbeth chose to kill everyone in Macduff’s family so that he would scare Macduff away from Scotland while Macbeth is king. This downfall did not come from no where, but from his sins and the choices he made as king, he did everything for himself instead of for others.

Macbeth begins to want more power when Lady Macbeth tells him he could be king if he killed Duncan. Lady Macbeth told Macbeth to “look like th’innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t”. Since Duncan is so trusting of Macbeth, she tells him to pretend to be kind and welcoming but attack and murder him when he is not expecting it. When Macbeth became king he did not want to lose his position of power which he got by murdering a friend, King Duncan so he begins to murder anyone who he seems is a threat. Even his beloved friend Banquo when he became suspicious of Macbeth saying “Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promis’d, and I fear Thou played’st most foully for’t”. Once, Macbeth had any hint of suspicion from Banquo Macbeth hires people to murder Banquo. If it were not for Macbeth’s craving for power which caused him to make irrational decisions Macbeth would have never killed his friends, allies and many more. Macbeth would have been content when he became the Thane of Cawdor if it were not for the witches who told him about becoming the Thane of Cawdor before he knew about it. That caused him to consider whether or not it would be possible for him to be king of

The role of ambition in Macbeth The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare recounts Macbeth's meteoric rise as a soldier and promising future leader whose megalomaniacal ambition led to his tragic downfall. In addition to Macbeth's ambitions, which initially enable him to be strong leader and soldier, he is influenced heavily by his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the three witches that prophesize his ascent to the throne, as well as warn him of his eventual demise. It can be argued that it is Macbeth's ambition that allows him to succeed in his endeavors, however the goals to which he is working toward influence the results of his hard work. Macbeth's ambitions help him to become a war hero, and as his goals change, his ambitions drive him to become a tyrannical villain.

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character’s goal is to become the king. Macbeth seeks to gain as much power as he possibly can and this ultimately leads to his demise. He hears the prophecy of the witches and becomes so obsessed with fulfilling the prophecy because it states that he will eventually become king. Having this information, Macbeth goes out of his way to force the prophecy to come true. He becomes so power hungry that he tries to force fate leaving him with an undeniable guilt for his actions, the loss of love from the people who once loved him, and a harsh death in the end.

In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth in the beginning of the play is a well-respected, honorable soldier on battles, and off battles. With his highly praised reputation, Macbeth also has high ambitions, ambitions to become a king by replacing Duncan. However, his ambitions negatively influences him throughout the play

Imagery: The Work of the Imagination A picture may tell a thousand words, but an image is the product of imagination. In any piece of literature, imagery plays a significant role in illustrating the characters. In the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are

A continuous desire for power is a common idea in literature, but the immoral ways of obtaining that power can destroy the goodness in people. For instance, in the tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare introduces Macbeth, and how his desire for power corrupted him. Initially Macbeth was a loyal warrior who

Macbeth is displayed, as the villain throughout most of the play due to his evil will. The murders, lies and problems for the kingdom are just some of the events. However, before all this there was a good side to Macbeth. The good traits such as bravery, honour, ambitious and loving were just a few of these traits. Macbeth is a brave solider for his king in times of need especially in the beginning of the play. “For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name” (1.2.16). The Captain stating this shows that his fellow soldiers see him as a brave and loyal solider to the kingdom because of his great efforts on the battlefield. His ambition is one of the great factors that starts off with good intent and doesn’t have enough to do anything with a will of evil. Lady Macbeth questions the will in him to obtain the crown. She says, “it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way” (1.5.16-17). She tells him that she doesn’t think he has what it to obtain the crown because he

Macbeth murders many to gain power. He causes the suffering of families and murders former friends. The violence starts with the murder of the king, Duncan, who’d trusted and honored Macbeth; Macbeth kills him to gain the position of king. Duncan’s death is the catalyst; Macbeth subsequently begins to use violence as a regular way to attain power. He murders his former friend, Banquo, refusing to accept that Banquo’s sons will be kings as prophesized by the witches. He says in regard to the prophecy, “Rather than so, come fate into the list, / And champion me to th' utterance.” Instead of accepting fate, he challenges the prophecy and orders Banquo’s death. His final homicide is the massacre of Lord Macduff’s family. When Macduff hears of the brutal slaughter, he cries, “That were most precious to me. Did heaven look on, / And would not take their