Although humans are influenced by the close people around us, we are ultimately judged by our individual actions. In other words, it was Macbeth’s own actions that are responsible for his downfall. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare exemplifies that Macbeth’s mental condition is to blame for his downfall. Shakespeare explores this theme and conflict through various examples such as Macbeth’s relationships with the three witches, Duncan, and Banquo. By employing different characters to emphasize Macbeth’s mental vulnerability, Shakespeare begins with an interaction of three witches and their prophecies, which begin to stir up the inner thoughts of the noble war hero, Macbeth. Despite his first instinct of finding it blasphemous to become the …show more content…
The night that Duncan is killed, a magnificent change in his mentality was evoked, making it easier for him to conduct ill acts. Macbeth grasps the sudden ulterior power to become the king, and his emotions overwhelms his conscience. In Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 2, he begins to hallucinate, groping and asking, “is this dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” (14). Despite Duncan not being dead, he gets ahead of himself and begins to panic, elucidating the focal point of the play. Macbeth’s reaction alone depicts the insecure fear that Macbeth has inside him; however, due to his lust for power, he strives to pursue his goal in killing Duncan. In contrast, after killing Duncan, Macbeth is filled with guilt and remorse, and soon after he begins to lose his mind. In the second scene, he says, “methought I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’” (16). This quote illustrates the image of Macbeth losing both his sanity and sleep, as he is now unable to find peace while sleeping. He realizes that it is his own problem because it only addresses himself, which reinforces the theme of Macbeth being the cause of his own downfall. His own mental weakness continues to break him apart, causing him to become
Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.
Macbeth has now turned into this man who is self-centered, evil and people turn against him. Macbeth is now disturbed from his own mind. Because of this guilt and corruption of killing Macbeth, he is completely destroyed and his life starts to turn for the worst. The technique sleep imagery is being used when Macbeth says “Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly”. This imagery here represents that Macbeth's sleep is troubled due to the guilt he feels due to the heinous crimes he has committed and the fear that disturbs his inner peace. The lack of sleep that Macbeth has had represents again his guilty conscience that still worsens during the time after murdering Duncan. Macbeth’s sleep is disturbed by his “terrible dreams” and nightmares that convey his mind is tortured and disturbed, causing this insomnia that he has. Also when Lady Macbeth says “This is the very painting of your fear; This is the air-drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan” shows that she realises Macbeth’s visions are caused by fear and guilt, “a painting of your fear” and links his behaviour and hallucination here to his earlier version of the dagger before he killed King Duncan. Macbeth has turned into this person who is suffering from severe guilt
Macbeth’s conscience is further tormented after he kills Duncan. He begins to get paranoid and hallucinates, hearing voices saying, “Sleep, Sleep no more! For Macbeth has murdered sleep”.
The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, follows the rise and fall of a loyal Scottish warrior. Macbeth is portrayed as a man of multiple sides, presenting three main traits – bravery, ambition, and self-doubt – throughout the play. The character is an example of how ambition and guilt can have terrible effects on an individual lacking in strength of character. Although some people may perceive Macbeth as malicious, his weak character shows that he is incapable of conquering guilt and self-doubt. The prime themes of the play are: ambition, loyalty and betrayal, good and evil, appearance versus reality, supernatural and fate. Shakespeare presents these themes through the actions of Macbeth and their results: the corrupting effects
After Duncan’s death you are able to see how the characters involved in the murder almost instantly experience feelings of regret. There is a scene where Macbeth is in shock so greatly after murdering Duncan, that he forgets to leave the murder weapon behind. When confronted by Lady Macbeth(who says he needs to go return the weapons) he says, "I'll go no more: / I am afraid to think what I have done; / Look on't again I dare not"( 2.2 53-55). This allows us to see how Macbeth is pained by what he has done. Macbeth also says he heard a voice say “"Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more."( 2.2 46-48). When Macbeth says this he is saying that he has not only murdered Duncan, but he has murdered sleep. He is saying he won’t be able to sleep after what he has just done because he will regret it forever and it will haunt him. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are interrupted by knocking on the door and as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth walk away he says, “Wake Duncan with thy knocking; I would though couldst."( 2.2 78-79).
The play begins with the characters King Duncan and Malcolm talking about a “good and hardy soldier” (Act I: ii: 4). This man they are talking about is the stories protagonist, Macbeth. Macbeth is a good soldier who is devoted to his king. Then, Macbeth and his friend come across three witches who prophecy
In Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’, Macbeth is seen to be the grounds of his own downfall. Macbeth’s actions bring upon his downfall, because it is he who eventually chose to kill Banquo and MacDuff’s family. These actions were due to his ambitious nature. Lady Macbeth is also to blame for her husband’s demise because she is the one who originally pushed Macbeth into killing Duncan; her actions cause Macbeth to eventually meet his own death. Lady Macbeth is not the only factor that cause Macbeth’s downfall. The three witches are also responsible because they heighten Macbeth’s confidence and put the idea that he cannot be killed by anything. Macbeth’s ambitious nature
Macbeth’s desire to become king and take the crown from King Duncan ends up hurting him more than helping him. Initially, Macbeth was against murdering King Duncan and didn't think he could do that to his very own king. Lady Macbeth believes that her husband will not go through with his plan however he does end up killing him. She states “Yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full of of the milk of human kindness. As he kills the King he starts to see things like the floating dagger and that seems to make him extremely
With anger, illusions, stress and so much more I will analyze Macbeth and lady Macbeth for their problems and disorders. In my research I will decipher between certain diseases such as bipolar disease, anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive, panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, sleeping disorder, and paranoia to see exactly which one of these stress/hurtful symptoms in which they both share. I’ve got my observation information from many resources such as doctor, psychiatrist, prison guards, and the dictionary. And overall I would find them very resourceful.
Macbeth’s desire leads him to murder Duncan in his sleep. Macbeth has committed violence, with desire as its cause, which has put him in a situation where there is no turning back because he has already committed one act of violence. The one act will lead to more.
Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth the first push to kill Duncan, and she wants to be ruthless, feel no remorse so that she and her husband will successfully kill Duncan. She desires to “stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” (Shakespeare 1.5.51) so that she will not feel bad about the murder. She persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan, but he struggles afterward when he does not follow the plan and forgets to put back the daggers he cannot face the evil act he has committed. Lady Macbeth is satisfied after Macbeth is king, but that is not enough for him any longer. Eventually the killings take a toll on Macbeth’s mental state, and the guilt he begins to feel is unbearable. Macbeth kills Duncan and then says “this is a sorry sight”
Individuals continually deal with general events that affect their personalities. This can either strengthen an individual’s character or lead to one’s demise. William Shakespeare acknowledges these human experiences in The Tragedy of Macbeth with his focus on the protagonist, Macbeth. Fixating his focus on Macbeth, Shakespeare thoroughly portrays the protagonist as a frail human, easily influenced by his environment and personal relationships. Although Macbeth’s decisions determine his plight, he finds himself transgressing when he believes his prophesized throne is in danger. By eliminating what he perceives as threats, he sacrifices his honor, his friendship with Banquo, his wife, and his sanity, resulting in a personality change.
A character’s tragic downfall is often influenced by other characters, but this is not the case in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth conforms to the conditions of a tragic hero because in the beginning of the play, Macbeth is an honourable and trustworthy nobleman to King Duncan and all of Scotland. However, throughout the play, Macbeth commits evil deeds such betrayal, treason, and murder solely because of his ambitions to remain in power. Macbeth murders others upon hearing the witches’ prophecies and even proceeds to return to them to remain in power. Macbeth is influenced and manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth and The Witches, but he is ultimately responsible for his own tragic downfall. Macbeth’s tragic downfall is caused by his ‘vaulting ambition’ to become king. Thus, Macbeth has no one but his ruthless, cruel, and greedy self to blame for his own tragic downfall.
That night Macbeth ends up killing Duncan. Just before the murder Macbeth is walking down the hall when he has a vision of a dagger with a bloody tip, which is pointed for Duncan’s room. He thinks to himself, “Art tho not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation” (II.1.36-38). During the murder Macbeth makes a mistake that angers Lady Macbeth. He has forgotten to leave the daggers with Duncan’s guards, and she must now go and return them. Initially Macbeth is upset over the murder, but Lady Macbeth tells him it is as easy to forget about as washing the blood away with water. This first murder shows the strong character of Lady Macbeth and the influence she has over her husband.
Macbeth’s mental and moral deterioration throughout the play engages the audience illustrating how guilt overwhelms his conscience He believes he hears voices crying “Macbeth has murdered sleep” this demonstrates how he is battling against his morals and his ambition. His good qualities are battling his bad thoughts and this is the main reason for his mental downfall which makes for a deeply engaging plot. Macbeth goes from being a man of bravery, strength, honour yet he slowly loses these qualities. He once believed that killing a good man was an evil, un-worthy thing to do yet by the end of the play he is killing the people he once had close relationships with to get himself out of the mess that was dragging him deeper into despair and tragedy. This process is enthralling for the audience who cannot resist watching him go to any length to save himself as his morals go into deep decline. Ambition has completely taken over him in the soliloquy in which he states; “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleap itself and falls on the other.” In this instance Macbeth is interesting because he realises that the only thing that is making him want to kill Duncan is