Macbeth : Who Made Choices? Essay

Lady Macbeth played a large role as Macbeth’s seductress and brainwasher. Lady Macbeth persuaded her husband to kill the King not so that he would himself be King but so that she could be Queen.Although because of her involvement in this web of lies she felt guilty and drove herself insane worrying about what had happened and what would happen to her and her husband for being so dishonest. She was not responsible for the tragedy, she was only a manipulative factor in the scheme of things. Even though it does take two to tango, Macbeth tangoed on his own.

   Destiny "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." (William Jennings Bryan) Are we in control of our own destiny, our own fate, or are our lives really already planned and mapped out for us? Does Macbeth willfully choose evil in order to achieve his "destiny"? Or, is his "destiny" doomed by the witches' prophecies? Macbeth may not have made any of his same choices, if the three Weird sisters hadn't come to him. In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Macbeth is no pawn of fate. Although Macbeth was destined to become king, the path he chose to take to achieve his aspiration of obtaining the throne was of his own free

"Macbeth" is a tragic play that was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. It revolved around the character Macbeth and his urge to become king of Scotland. Macbeth had to do anything possible to become the king including murder, lying, and deception. However, Macbeth committed these evil deeds due to some influential people in his life. Between Macbeth’s wife persuading him to do anything to become king and the witches prophesying over him causes Macbeth to try and bury the past and control the future.

During several soliloquies and asides Macbeth expresses his "black and deep desires" (1.5.51) to become King and gradually overcomes his moral reluctance and foreboding long enough to kill Duncan. The independence of Macbeth in this decision is best described when he states:

Prior to deciding whether or not conflict is central to the dramatic development of MACBETH, one must consider all the dramatic factors that contribute to the Shakespearean play. The gradual decline of the protagonist , the role portrayed by characters and the order in which the events occur, greatly influence the direction in which the development of the play takes place. After reading the text MACBETH, by Shakespeare and viewing the film version, directed by Roman Polanski, it is logical to see that ambition and the deceptive appearances of what really is, is central to the dramatic development of

Throughout the story of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth acts in a much despised manner: he becomes a murderer and later, when king of Scotland, a tyrant. Many who have read or seen the play are left wondering how a man’s whole approach to life can change; how Macbeth turned from the hero whom all adored, to the tyrant who was hated and ended up a lone man, fighting for his life.

Throughout reading the play, Macbeth changes a lot from being a man of loyalty and honesty, to a man of whom is power hungry and greedy. This shows how the more power you receive the more power you want; which in many cases, such as this one leads to destruction. Many of the choices that Macbeth made were influenced by the power that he had, and this power began to take over him. This then lead to greed and destruction of not only others, but himself as well.

     Lady Macbeth progresses throughout the play from a seemingly savage and heartless creature to a very delicate and fragile woman. In the beginning of the play, she is very ambitious and hungry for power. She pushes Macbeth to kill Duncan in order to fulfill the witches’ prophecy. In Act I, Scene 6, she asks the gods to make her emotionally strong like a man in order to help her husband go through with the murder plot. She says, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty!” Also, she does everything in her power to convince Macbeth that he would be wrong not to kill Duncan. In Act I,

Lady Macbeth is more power hungry and ambitious then Macbeth is. She, through ambition she gives the finial push to Macbeth to kill Duncan the king of Scotland. Her power however, is not driven by the sisters, hers is greed. She wants to be Queen, she wants the power of being Queen. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeths ambition is tragic flaw. Her ambition drives her to her to go crazy which ultimately drives her to her death. There is an instance where she is sleep walking, eyes open. She goes to her vanity and sits down, she looks at her hands a sees blood. Then she sticks her hand in the water bowl and attempts to wash them. When she pulls them back out the blood did not wash away. Only she can see the blood her maid and doctor see this happening and they just think that she is going crazy. This is only the beginning of her insaneness. Just before her death she vilely reads a letter that Macbeth sent to her, telling her that he was to be King some how. It is her guilt that kills her.

In the Elizabethan Era, society was highly suspicious of the power of supernatural forces and it was commonly accepted that one’s life was governed by fate and was predetermined. Shakespeare’s Macbeth challenges the Elizabethan ideology of fate by privileging that although Macbeth was a victim of his “vaulting ambition” (1:VII 27), he was ultimately responsible for his villainous actions. Shakespeare has foregounded certain events to privilege that a person has free will and a concience and the cosequences of going against one's conscience, thus challenging the assumption of the Elizabethan Era. The audience is invited to sympathise with the protagonist, Macbeth, and see him as a tragic hero. Before his descent into evil, Macbeth

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

Human beings are unique in the world because humans have the power to tell between right and wrong. Some believe that this is simply a special instinct while others believe that it is divine creator that gave to man what is known as conscience. In the tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare develops the idea that when an individual makes a choice that is against his conscience, he and the larger community will suffer the consequences of his choice. Shakespeare uses three main characters: Lady Macbeth, Macduff and Macbeth to illustrate the importance of following the human conscience.

Lady Macbeth can be said to be one of Shakespeare's most famous and frightening female characters. She fulfills her role among the nobility and is well respected, like Macbeth. She is loving, yet very determined that her husband will be king. At the beginning of the play, when she is first seen, she is already plotting the murder of Duncan, showing more strength, ruthlessness, and ambition than Macbeth. She lusts after power and position and then pressures her husband into killing Duncan. Upon receiving the letter with the witches' prophecies from her husband, she begins to think and knowing that Macbeth lacks the courage for something like this, she calls upon the forces of evil to help her do what must be

A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction.

Today was the day I so patiently had been waiting for, coronation day! As a commoner it was almost unheard of to be able to visit the castle amongst the royals. I walked up to the tall door and entered the grand dining hall. The dining hall was dark and cold sending a shiver up my spine. The sound of laughter and conversation bounced off the walls overpowering the room. That was when I saw him, Macbeth, our future King, accompanied by his wife. Macbeth looked even taller and wiser in person, he was the type of man anyone would want as their king. At least that was what I had thought.