Soliloquy in Macbeth's Act I, Scene VII

Through the soliloquy, the audience gains insight into Macbeth’s innermost thoughts. He names multiple reasons as to why he should not kill King Duncan, noting that Duncan is his guest, kinsman and a good king. He also admits that the only motive he has is the “Vaulting ambition” residing inside of him. Here he names his own hamartia, his fatal flaw, and acknowledges that to give in and commit such a deed, would result in his “deep damnation”. While still undecided on the matter, Lady Macbeth enters, and, seeing his indecision she decides to manipulate him into the decision that suits her; for after all, she is almost if not as ambitious as her husband. By questioning his manhood, his bravery, even their marriage, she successfully leads him to make the choice to kill the king. We now must realise that although the witches’ prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s taunts were a catalyst for Macbeth’s treachery, they never force him to make these errors in judgement; it must have been something that was already inside of him that caused him to decide this. There must have been some inherent evil already a part of his character.

Macbeth’s inability to make his own decisions, or function independently have a tremendous affect on his weaknesses. It seems that he depends on Lady Macbeth not only in his times of distress, but any time he is forced to make a serious decision or even to present himself in front of his peers. “Lady Macbeth: You do unbend your noble strength to think so brainsickly of things. Macbeth: I’ll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done; look on ’t again I dare not.” Macbeth is so cowardly that he can’t even own up to what he has done. Lady Macbeth calls him a coward, as she has done before, but this time, she goes and does the job for Macbeth.

To begin the final scene of act one, Macbeth’s soliloquy shows his confusion and indecisiveness. He starts off by saying “If it were done when ‘tis done” (I.7.1). Shakespeare uses various literary techniques to express the ideas rushing through Macbeth’s mind prior to the murder of Duncan in his home. Macbeth has been told prophecies of his future predicting him as king of Scotland and take Duncan’s place. Macbeth, with the help of his wife, sees this task only accomplishable by murdering the king. This soliloquy is a crucial turning point in Macbeth’s decision to totally change the dynamic of the play.

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.

Secondly, Lady Macbeth’s blind ambition and false appearance take part in further altering Macbeth’s decisions. Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth’s letter and she immediately starts to plot King Duncan’s murder so the witches’ prophecies can her husbands desires can become true. She knows Macbeth is, “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/… That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false/ And yet wouldst wrongly win” (1.V.17-23). Lady is aware her husband Macbeth is too noble and innocent to hurt an individual for his own personal gain. She knows she will have to persuade Macbeth to murder Duncan in order for him to become king. Later, during the congratulatory dinner, Lady Macbeth convinces a hesitant Macbeth to execute Duncan. At first, Macbeth is hesitant because he thinks he is double crossing trust with the king, he is his kinsman, and tonight Duncan is his guest. Moreover, Duncan has done no wrong to deserve death. Macbeth confesses to Lady Macbeth he can not murder Duncan however, Lady Macbeth says, “Art thou afeard/…Wouldst thou have that/ Which thou esteem’st the ornament

In Act I Macbeth is very uneasy in his and Lady Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan. He says, “We shall proceed no further in

In the drama Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores guilt through the various tragedies that befall his characters. Particularly, he proposes that an excess of guilt will lead to one’s demise. In an exchange between Macbeth and his wife after they murder King Duncan, they disclose: “Why did you bring these daggers from

Paragraph One I consider Macbeth’s dagger soliloquy from Act Two, Scene One to be one of the most revealing speeches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is because it demonstrates the effect that a character’s actions have on the way they think about moral issues. The speech takes place while Macbeth is on his way to kill King Duncan. At the beginning of the speech, Macbeth is feeling guilty about what he is about to do. This is shown by the fact that he is seeing a dagger that is not there. His use of rhetoric in the statement “Is this a dagger I see before me, / the handle towards my hand?” shows the reader that Macbeth is uncertain about the substantiality of the dagger. Macbeth has clearly been thinking about the effects of the murder so much his conscience has presented him with an image of that which he is dreading. His statement “heat-oppressed brain” also tells the reader he has been so wrought up about the murder, he is hallucinating

On the contrary, Lady Macbeth begins as a ruthless woman. She has a manipulative and controlling character, convincing Macbeth to kill King Duncan; she will do anything to gain power. When she says, “How tender ‘tis to love the babe…I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” (I.vii. 55-58), she shows her ruthlessness and her “bad” ambition. In her “role reversal” with Macbeth, she gains somewhat of a conscience and realizes her guilt. When she tells him, “You must leave this” (III. ii. 35), she wants Macbeth to forget about his plan to murder Banquo’s family. She is very hesitant about committing another murder and does not want Macbeth to follow through with his plan.

If Macbeth truly did not want to commit evil, he could have refused his lady’s arrangements. Instead, Macbeth accepts the plans and goes further by asking Lady Macbeth to “mock the time with fairest show”. Macbeth understood that killing Duncan was an immoral act but still persevered and therefore the one ultimately to blame for his death.

This speech is one that is one of the most revealing in Macbeth - it illustrates Lady Macbeth’s values throughout the beginning of the play. Her anger when Macbeth tells her he does not want to continue with the plan to murder Duncan demonstrates the importance that she places on

The Unsupportive Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a very egocentric woman. She fails to have any concern over Macbeth’s interests, and she does not consider his decisions. This lack of care for her husband is shown many times throughout the play, and it is more predominantly shown in the first two acts. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth has the same viewpoints as her. Because of this, instead of asking if he wants to do something, she tells him what they are going to do. If Macbeth tries to protest against her thoughts or actions, she convinces him to believe in her and do as she says using a variety of tactics. Lady Macbeth does not have Macbeth’s best interest at heart because she manipulated him, she took matters into her own hand,

"Macbeth’s Freewill of Choice” Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. It tells the story of a man who makes bad choices based on the influence of others. Macbeth is an honorable solider until he meets three evil witches that know his deepest desire is to one day be king, so they tell him that he will be king one day. Macbeth immediately begins to have thoughts of murdering King Duncan even though he knows it is wrong. When Lady Macbeth learns that Macbeth will eventually become king, she begins making plans to murder Duncan as well. When Macbeth has doubts about the murder, Lady Macbeth uses the love he has for her to persuade him to make the choices she wants him to make. Therefore, Macbeth does not make the

Macbeth The decisions you make in life can lead you down a good or bad path, your life is in your own hands. Lady Macbeth creates a crazy personality in the first scene. She and Macbeth do all they can for the fame of being queen and king. Lady Macbeth is a huge insticator of Macbeth’s actions. “Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”(Macbeth 1.5.38-39). The quote above shows the Lady Macbeth isn’t happy with her life, She wants to become a man. As reading the first scene, Lady Macbeth shows her true colors. “Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between th’ effect and it! Come to my woman’s breast and take my milk for gall”(Macbeth 1.5.44-46). Lady Macbeth wants a change in Scotland, even if it means no peace. Scotland is about to have a huge change, that

The way that the play has Here I feel a little bit of sympathy for lady macbeth because I don’t think that she knows what is going on, and I think that she sees him very worried and all sweaty and scared. “Sit worthy friends. My lord is often thus” Lady Macbeth tries to act although she knows what’s going on and she has acted as he has before, so the guests do not get suspicious of his actions, as she can’t explain, as she isn’t sure herself. “I would while smiling in my face have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this”. Lady Macbeth is saying to macbeth she would rather kill her baby by bashing its brains out than break a promise like macbeth has done, although I feel that she has said this to make him feel guilty so he will carry out the promise. This is a very persuasive piece and although she might be bluffing Macbeth is a bit vulnerable and this manages to persuade him to carry on and keep the promise. She also questions his manliness to persuade him to kill Duncan so this shows how desperate she is to make him murder Duncan, which suggests to me she is afraid to do it herself. I have absolutely no sympathy for her here as I think she is taking advantage of Macbeth and she turns him against his will.