Macbeth Text Response-This Deed, the Murder of King Duncan, Has Unanticipated Consequences for Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Discussed

In Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the theme of moral decay produced by the temptation of power. When Macbeth hears the witches’ prophecy (1.3.45) he does not understand how he can become King of Scotland; the only way to attain the crown would be through committing the grave and unjustifiable sin of regicide. Despite this, Macbeth ignores his conscience (1.7.80) and when presented with the opportunity, aided by Lady Macbeth, he murders Duncan (2.1.62). Although he immediately regrets his actions and is filled with compunction (2.2.55, 2.2.63-65), Macbeth decides that there is no going back and “things bad begun make themselves strong by ill.” (3.2.55) Macbeth’s allows his inherent lust for power to completely outweigh his moral conscience.

During the famous sleepwalking scene in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s true feelings towards Duncan’s murder are revealed: “Out out damned spot I say! One: two why/ then tis time to do’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie,/ a soldier and afeard. What we deed we fear who knows it when/ none can call our power to accompt” (174. 31-35). An established author, Thomas Thrasher, analyzes Lady Macbeth’s sinful actions. He evaluates, “Whatever the case of Lady Macbeth’s ambition, she ultimately succumbs to the guilt that he feels over Duncan’s death” (Thrasher 77). In the result to King Duncan’s death, Lady Macbeth’s failure to resist being violent led to a guilty conscious and unstable feeling. The corruption that Lady Macbeth has experienced and brought onto herself has led to her

With attention to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth struggles with the morality of his actions. Before the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to believe that the murder will “be the be-all and the end-all” to his clear conscious and would risk him to eternal damnation (Act I, line 5). Yet, the murder would bring him power over Scotland and he “shalt be kind” as told by the Weird Sisters(Act 1, line 50). Macbeth goes off of his ambition to murder King Duncan. The internal struggle of choosing mortality over motives brought forth an intense shift of loyalty to betrayal. The murder caused for Macbeth to turn on Scotland and only care for his own selfish motives. The betrayal causes for the play to become horrific and have a double meaning. Macbeth must put on a face to hide his murder to become the king. The double meaning is how Macbeth looks like a hero to all of Scotland, but only the people on the inside know of his horrific actions. He had to murder to to get the position of King, but the

As ambition starts to take over Macbeth, Lady Macbeth begins to lose power and is not included in the plans to kill Banquo. “Be innocent of knowledge dearest chuck” (III. ii. 47). Lady Macbeth begins to lose her control of Macbeth; she has no more power nor say in what should be done. This lack of power opens a spot for vulnerability by taking away the one thing that makes her feel useful. Macbeth then begins to share a little of his plan of Banquo’s murder without telling her exactly what he’s doing.“Thou marvel’st at my words: but hold thee still./ Things bad begun make strong themselves ill” (III.ii. 56-57). Lady Macbeth is shocked at the words of her husband, as he elusively shows her a glimpse of his plan.

Later on the novel another crime occurs in order to keep Macbeth’s throne safe. Banquo and Fleance are two of the next victims in Macbeth’s hit list. He had murderers to execute his job. The three murderers come back with the news that only Banquo was dead and that Fleance had escaped. Macbeth receives the news during a dinner that was held on the castle, where all members of the royalty were present except Macduff, Banquo, and Fleance. But Banquo was only absent for those who couldn’t see, Macbeth was having illusions with Banquo

While the doctor and Gentlewoman are observing Lady Macbeth she says,” Wash your hands; put on your nightgown;/ look not so pale! I tell you yet again, Banquo’s/ buried. He cannot come out on’s grave.” (Shakespeare 5.1 60-62). In this quote, Lady Macbeth is talking in her sleep again and she is basically saying not to look suspicious because she has helped kill Duncan and now her husband has killed Banquo. The guilt is haunting her even in her sleep. We see lady Macbeth become scared and frantic and has now just confessed in front of the doctor and Gentlewoman. Lady Macbeth says her hands are stained which we know symbolizing all the bad she has done. She says she wants to clean her hands, but it is too late she has already committed the crime. Lady Macbeth even goes on to say,” To bed, to bed! There’s knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand! What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed!” (Shakespeare 5.1 64-66). This is the last time we see hand used in Act V and Lady Macbeth is paranoid that people are knocking on the castle doors and they know what she and her husband have done. Lady Macbeth is haunted by the idea of her hands being stained with the blood of her

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.

Macbeth fears Banquo’s descendents will take his kingship. He thinks that Banquo should be murdered to stop it from happening, “And though I could / With barefaced power sweep him from my sight / And bid my will avouch it” (3.1.134-136). In the quote, Macbeth is says that he would kill Banquo and offer his desire for Banquo’s death as sufficient justification for killing him (Shakespeare 88). Macbeth does not murder Banquo but cons murderers into committing the violence. Macbeth is not thinking clearly though because he would know that violence only breeds more violence. The murderers kill Banquo and further continue the

Shakespeare is one of the most influential and famous playwrights of modern times. A major reason his work is loved by so many is because of his insightfulness into the human mind, and one of Shakespeare’s greatest works demonstrating this is Macbeth. This famous play is about nobleman and military man Macbeth and how his tragic choices lead to his inevitable demise. The first and most trying choice that Macbeth has to make is whether or not to kill Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth has to make this decision while being pulled in different directions by two conflicting forces. The force pulling him away from murder is his loyalty and humanity towards Duncan. The other force pulling him towards murder is his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth

Guilt Kills Power and greed can make people do horrific things and Macbeth portrays a story of how a heart’s desire can lead to murder, guilt, and death. In Shakespeare’s, Macbeth, guilt takes over the mind and body of Macbeth leading him to do unrealistic things. As the play opened up, Macbeth seemed to be content and happy with the position he had been given (Thane of Cawdor) until his greedy wife, Lady Macbeth, began to “brainwash” him by placing thoughts into his head (about becoming king), making him feel as though he deserved more than what he was given, which he soon believed. Throughout the play Macbeth, is desperate to become king. Macbeth takes his desires to become king to another level, by killing anyone who stands

The “Tragedy of Macbeth” by William Shakespeare tells a tale of deceit, murder, and ambition, beginning with a cutthroat rise to power, followed by calamitous downfall. At the start of the play, Macbeth is a brave and loyal captain in King Duncan’s army, but after three witches prophesize that he himself will become the king of Scotland, and that those born of a friend, Banquo, will be king after him, Macbeth is overtaken by ambition and gluttony. Instigated by his wife and his own lust for power, he murders Duncan, assumes the throne, and subsequently sends mercenaries to kill Banquo’s sons. While awaiting battle, Macbeth addresses the death of his wife in Act V, scene 5. Throughout the

After Macbeth murders Duncan, he confides in his wife he fears that he will never be rid of his guilt, to which Lady Macbeth replies, “A little water clears us of this deed” (II.ii.65). She calms down her husband by telling him, that no one will know what they have done and they will easily be rid of their guilt. She remains calm and level-headed even though her husband just committed a murder, which could mean the death of both of them if someone discovers their deed. She believes that the blood on their hands can easily wash away, and there will be no evidence of their part in the murder. Later on in the play, the audience sees that she no longer has a sense of equanimity, but appears frigid and paranoid. The Doctor and Gentlewoman see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and she rubs her hands while saying: “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” (V.i.30). Lady Macbeth looks like a mad woman, who hallucinates due to the guilt she bares. Shakespeare implies that the stain Lady Macbeth struggles to get off of her hands comes from the blood spilled from murders she helped commit. If earlier a little bit of water could wash away the blood of the kings murder, then evidently the murders are piling up, and the amount of blood on her hands seems uncontrollable, and she can no longer clean up her husband’s mess. Shakespeare morphs Lady Macbeth from acting calm and level-headed to behaving insecure and paranoid through the use of blood

Macbeth presents a story that influences numerous dishonest deeds and practices. These aspects of dishonesty are associated with greed, hunger and power and the consequence of these numerous actions is death. Lady Macbeth encourages and persuades Macbeth towards killing King Duncan. Macbeth finally accepts the proposition and kills Duncan, which makes Lady Macbeth happy. However, her mood continually changes because of the aspect of guilt that builds inside her.

First off, Macbeth’s ambition leads him to fall into paranoia. It drives him mad, and makes him hallucinate. Macbeth kills so many men seamlessly but after the murder of Banquo he begins to go crazy. “Macbeth does murder sleep…Macbeth shall sleep no more.”(II.II). When he sleeps he sees Banquo and he cannot deal with the guilt. He even began to have visions of Banquo’s ghost “If thou canst nod, speak too. /if charnel-houses and our graves must send/those that we bury back, our monuments/shall be the maws of kites.”(III.IV) Not only does he ask the murderers twice if Banquo is dead but he also becomes paranoid because Fleance got away. In Act 3 scene 4, Macbeth as king holds a feast with all his friends. During this feast he begins to hallucinate, he sees Banquo’s ghost. Lady

Once Macbeth has finished his first assassination, he is tortured by the reality that he murdered Duncan in order to become king, but once he has been crowned, Macbeth is able to order the murder of his friend easily. Before the assassination, he is innocent, naive, and does not realize how much damage he could do to both himself and to Duncan. With persuasion from Lady Macbeth, he stabs the king to death and leaves with blood