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The Evil Actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Play

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Macbeth is a tragedy written by Shakespeare roughly between the years 1603 and 1606. It was a play written following the death of Queen Elizabeth. The king at the time - James I of England/King James VI of Scotland was known to be a big supporter of theatre, witchcraft and demonology. Shakespeare and his associates soon into their career became known as the King’s men. The Kings ancestry was traced back to Banquo, a character from the play.
At the beginning, Macbeth is spoken about by the three witches and we can tell that Macbeth must have had a reputation for being popular. He is called ‘brave Macbeth’; and is involved in bloody conflicts. Described as the hero, we learn that Macbeth himself killed Macdonwald in a battle that could have …show more content…

She convinces Macbeth on the night of Duncan’s arrival to their castle that murdering him is the only thing to do to make sure he does get the crown. She tells him to look innocent and follow her lead. ‘Only look up clear; To alter favour ever is to fear: Leave all the rest to me.’
When the time comes for Macbeth to do the deed, he nearly talks himself out of it, as if he knows that what he is about to do is wrong. ‘We will proceed no further in this business’. This is the last bit of innocence we see from Macbeth in the play. Lady Macbeth speaks to him and she makes him feel guilty about not murdering King Duncan. ‘Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,' Like the poor cat i' the adage?’ After Lady Macbeth has persuaded Macbeth to do it again, she leaves, and there is a scene in which Macbeth performs a long soliloquy. He hallucinates and sees a bloody dagger leading him towards the bedroom where King Duncan is. This would have encouraged Macbeth even more to do the murder, but it probably would have puzzled him too at the same time. The way I would have staged this in a play today would be by using a projector to project an image of a dagger onto a black back-screen. You could then move the image along the screen, as if giving the effect that the dagger

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