“So long as the opposing forces are at the outset approximately equal in numbers and moral and there are no flanks to turn, a long struggle for supremacy is inevitable.” This quote demonstrates that in roles of power hardships form because there is imbalance in the situation, which provides a contrast to the nature of the position. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth desires to become King of Scotland therefore he commits horrendous crimes to obtain the position. However, flawed with an ambitious personality, Macbeth has a moral decay thus causing him to act irrationally which eventually leads to his death. Shakespeare’s main character demonstrates the problems of living an imbalanced life and obtaining …show more content…
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth appears to be loyal to King Duncan; however, he truly harbors feelings about being King. When the three witches told Macbeth his prophecies, he decided upon killing Duncan with a dagger in order to proclaim the throne. After, Macbeth had decided to kill Duncan he was hesitant at first, which showed a divided mind set, and his fear of possible consequences. However, when his contemplating his decision, he envisions a dagger “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee”(1.2.). The dagger signifies how hypnotized Macbeth has become about killing Duncan and how his ambition plagues his decision-making. By murdering Duncan, Macbeth is able to fulfill his prophecies; nevertheless, with this power guilt consumes Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Which causes Lady Macbeth to envision bloodstains on her hand, which she constantly tries to remove when sleep walking. This action shows that guilt is consuming Lady Macbeth and by trying to remove the bloodstains, she is trying to dissolve her part in the crime. Macbeth wanted to appear as worthy royalty nonetheless the crimes he had committed shattered his vision and forced them to
I,Malcolm, let Macbeth do anything to be king. While I watch him ruin his legacy.Macbeth proves his loyalty to Duncan by serving him. Macbeth states, " the service and the loyalty I owe in doing it pays itself(I.iv.25) To avoid being taken advantage of, Macbeth must demonstrate that he is not weak. He fulfills this by taking the cowardly way out and murdering Duncan King of Scotland. He acts out because he is jealous and feels as if he deserves to be king. At this point once Macbeth displays that he is no longer loyal to his once King of Scotland, who said " for brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name"(I.ii.95). A disloyal Macbeth cannot accept the promotion to thane of Cawdor, so he get greedy and does the unthinkable. Macbeth says, "Let not light see my black and deep desires: the eye wink at the hand yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done to see"(I.ii.50-53). These words reveal Macbeth's deep desire to be king, after King Duncan announces that his son Malcolm will be the one to take the throne after him.
This dagger symbolizes how he is trying to convince himself and Lady Macbeth that he is not weak and that he can do the dirty work and kill the king to obtain the throne. The moment that we finally see Macbeth persuades himself to kill the King is at the end of his soliloquy when he says, “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me.” (II. I. 45). In this very moment he has finally realized that he wants to kill King Duncan now. He has finally persuaded himself to do so and although it seems like before he didn't not want to he now sees that it will be beneficial. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seems as though it will only strength from here because of the act that he is going to commit by killing the king but they do end up fighting briefly after the death of the King. Lady Macbeth is extremely frustrated that Macbeth is freaking out about the blood on his hands after doing the deed of killing King Duncan. She feels that is not a very big deal and that he is overreacting about the situation. The two of them although very deeply in love have differing opinions on
“The power-hungry individual follows a path to his own destruction”- Adler. Macbeth a play written by Shakespeare shows how individuals make decisions based on their hunger for power. Individuals go from being the loyal and devoted person; to the traitor and the killer of the king tend to lose their sense of what's right and wrong, and also lose stability in the mind and mental health. Macbeth was one of those persons who changed drastically for the worse because he was power hungry after he killed many people, and he got to deep into a hole where he couldn't get out of so he lost is sense of sanity. Throughout the play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses internal conflict to show how people gain power and collapse due to their lose of some individuals mental health and sense of wrong from right.
The undoing of Macbeth’s psychological stability can be seen early on in the play. Macbeth is originally described to the audience as noble, loyal and valiant so even the idea of murdering his beloved king defies his entire moral code. This in turn causes him to hallucinate stating “Is this a dagger which I see before me… I have thee not yet I see thee still… art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation… and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood...It is the bloody business that informs thus to mine eyes.” (2.1.40-56). The dagger Macbeth sees is the first sign of mental anguish and breakdown. The dagger is a metaphor for the guilt and ambition Macbeth has built up inside of him. The blood he sees on the dagger shows there is still loyalty and nobility within him. It shows that he knows the consequences of the action he is about to commit. To the surprisal of the audience Macbeth recognizes this insanity and when stating it is ”the
Macbeth is persuaded by his wife to kill Duncan because she calls him a coward, detests his manhood and manipulates him. Lady Macbeth is mainly responsible for the plan to kill Duncan because she drugged his servants, smeared Duncan's blood on them, and laid the dagger near them in order to frame them. Before killing Duncan, Macbeth sees an imaginary “bloody dagger” pointing at Duncan's chamber. This symbolizes the guilt and apprehensiveness of Macbeth before killing Duncan because of his hallucinations. Shakespeare uses “blood” and the “bloody dagger” to show the horror of the crime Macbeth has committed.
When Macbeth imagines that there is a bloody dagger before him even before he is about to kill Duncan, it represents his guilt even before he has committed any crimes. Macbeth has planned the entire act of killing Duncan and as he walks to Duncan's room, he hallucinates that there is a bloody dagger sitting before him, inviting him to kill Duncan. This bloody dagger is a window to Macbeth's future of guilt after killing the king. Even before Macbeth has done a deed he feels guilty for what he is about to do. This dagger is there as a warning for what is to come in his future if he does kill the king.
This scene is one of the most anticipated moments, where the witches prediction is in the process of prophesication. His greed wins over his better judgement and goes off to seal the deal. He says”Is this a dagger which I see before me/The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee/…….” (2.1.35-66). Explaining Macbeth envisioning a dagger, guiding him toward Duncan’s chamber where he is to be put to eternal rest. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem so into it and with no care or intentions of forgiveness or thoughts about the after consequences. Lady Macbeth claiming she just couldn’t murder Duncan, therefore, forcing Macbeth , only since Duncan resembles her father. This shows she is all talk, meaning she exaggerates what she is planning but, doesn’t want the murdering guilt on her soul eternally. There is confusion in the dialogue between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, which shows fear, communication breaking down:’relationship’. In Act 2.2.38-43 and Act 2.2.63-66, both showing sleep and blood imagery characterizing Macbeth’s concerns after the murder happens and for his future. Macbeth’s concerns are centered around the spiritual reality whereas Lady Macbeth’s concerns are centered around the physical reality. Now all that is left to see is how Macbeth will clean the evil deed off of his hands and snatch the
British politician William Pitt once said that “[u]nlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know … that where law ends, tyranny begins”. Pitt’s assertion is substantiated by William Shakespeare’s 17th century tragedy entitled Macbeth, where the protagonist Macbeth commits unspeakable crimes in his pursuit of power, including the murders of many innocent people such as King Duncan I of Scotland, Macduff’s entire family, and his friend Banquo. Consequently, Macbeth becomes paranoid and is ultimately slain by Macduff at the end of play. Macbeth’s lust for power leads him to his downfall as it causes him to slowly metamorphose from a courageous, loyal, and noble general to a brutal, cruel and inhumane tyrant.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play about a tragic hero who is initially honorable and trustworthy, but evolves to a paranoid, power-driven murder who associates with the supernatural. Written by Colin McGinn in 2006, his non-fiction work, Shakespeare’s Philosophy, analyzes Macbeth by recognizing its literary elements and the effects of them. Throughout the section about Macenth, McGinn illustrates numerous themes that are presented in the acts and scenes with “hot diction” and imagery: connection between act and character, dominance of imagination, appearance versus reality, and projection of time. “Character causes action…or action express character,” McGinn clarifies that one of the philosophical themes within Macbeth is the effect
Authors often use different literary elements to create the tragic hero in their writings in a way to appeal to readers. In “Macbeth”, William Shakespeare introduces Macbeth, who conflicts with himself and other characters to gain more power. He introduces Macbeth as a man with high hopes who’s willing to sacrifice everything and kill due to his high ambition of control. Once told by wicked witches of his fate, he puts it into action and begins to murder victims to make it come true. In his play, Shakespeare uses the different literary element to develop the subject of Macbeth being a tragic hero.
vvvvvvMacbeth aspired to be king which served as a tragic flaw that ultimately leads to his demise. After hearing he will become king, he became overwhelmed by ambition and greed. Macbeth is portrayed as a brave and noble man for winning the battle; however, he becomes the victim of an irrepressible ambition which has no boundaries. Macbeth's obsession for power takes control of his actions and desperate needs. Macbeth recognized his intentions were completely immoral, however, his ambition betrayed him, forcing him to murder the king and anyone who posed a threat to his throne. Soon after, Macbeth became fearful and felt guilty and began committing more murders. This boosted his confidence in the prophecies eventually lead to his
As Macbeth is getting ready for the deed to be performed, we read: “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/ the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee” (Macbeth. 2.1. 40-41). When reading this, we realize that Macbeth has a vision of a dagger floating in the air before him, its handle pointing toward his hand and its tip aiming him toward king Duncan indicating that he will go through the killing of Duncan. With all of this happening, the plot begins to advance.
Sigmund Freud displayed heavy interest in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (Holland 66). Just like Freud, multiple psychoanalysts explore Macbeth’s mental state. William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, develops a character who begins as a soldier and becomes a corrupted leader. Readers of Macbeth begin to notice the psychological deterioration of Macbeth as he gains more power. Rollo May, a writer and existential psychologist, distinguishes the five levels of intrapsychic power levels. May argues that the first level, “survival and sustenance,” is simply the power to exist. Further, May involves the recognition of others and interpersonal esteem as the second power level. On the other hand, the third level requires true self affirmation used amidst
The Tomorrow soliloquy in Macbeth is quite an interesting passage, filled with grief and what if’s. Macbeth is getting ready to go into a fight with Macduff and Malcolm but Macbeth only knows of the three prophecies that the witches had given him, no other really big details. In the soliloquy, Macbeth speaks on how tomorrow might not even come because he knows nothing about what will happen in this fight. He is worrying a bit about if something goes wrong than he is official down and his life will be taken. With that, Macbeth is no longer able to speak to Lady Macbeth ever again since he had killed herself and he wishes she was here for longer. The soliloquy has quite a few messages behind it but the main ones have to be Macbeth realizing that he won’t ever speak to Lady Macbeth ever again, how he has small hope he won’t be killed, and lastly, how he is actually realizing that there might not even be a tomorrow for him.
One of the things that linger within Macbeth’s guilty conscious is the murder of his own king. Witches showed him a promising future, and he decides to act on that promising future by rushing his own fate, but that leads to his own downfall. Originally, he is torn between killing King Duncan, because the King was kind and free of corruption, but eventually his wife, Lady Macbeth, manages to convince him. However, once the warning bell rings for the murder to proceed, Macbeth begins to see imaginary things. Macbeth questions what he sees himself by asking, "Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle towards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee" (Shakespeare II, i, 33-34). He wonders why he was able to