preview

Mentality In Shakespeare's Macbeth

Decent Essays

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

Get Access