How far is one man willing to go to fulfill his desires? William Shakespeare wrote the drama titled “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, which took place in Scotland1606. The main character, Macbeth receives a fateful prophecy that causes a conflict in the various interactions of the main characters. One of the main themes of Macbeth is honor vs. disloyalty, and it affects mostly everyone in the story. Throughout this drama, it tends to focus on the disloyalty from Macbeth towards the King, Banquo and Macduff.
Therefore, at the beginning of the play, Macbeth is dishonoring Duncan by having treasonous thoughts. Macbeth claims to have a great deal of respect, and a close bond with the King. The problem is Macbeth’s mindset and actions do not show much
…show more content…
Before Macbeth meets with Macduff, he thinks of ways to handle Macduff so he would no longer be a problem. Macduff was considered to be a problem because he left the kingdom in order to assist an opposing force. Macbeth states “Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate.” (Act IV scn i, ln 82-84) He wants to make sure Macduff will not be a problem; he wants to keep Macduff out of his way. In this scene Macbeth is attempting to discover ways to inforce his superiority through the phrase “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls.” (Act IV scn i, ln 150-152) He hired men to kill Macduff’s family, so he will be depressed and will grieve; he wants to keep Macduff out of the way of him still being King. The main reason he did this, however, was to exert his leadership over Macduff and send a message. This paragraph explains how Macbeth was disloyal to Macduff and how he did anything to keep Macduff out of his way, but things did not turn out as he …show more content…
disloyalty by showing the fated sequence of events that each character underwent in order for the story to unfold. Throughout the drama, many things happen showing how Macbeth was disloyal to all the people you would expect him to be loyal to. For example, he hears of a prophesies of himself becoming king which drives him to the murder of king Duncan. Another example is where he betrays his friend to fulfill the need of being king. Macbeth even is disloyal to himself, but does not want to let the guilt take over, so he does whatever it takes to still remain King which includes being disloyal to one of his closest friends. Finally, an example of disloyalty is when Macduff and Macbeth have their final interactions. In sum, this play showed many examples of the theme of honor vs
Macduff is motivated by his patriotism, and his love for his country. He is a flat main character, whereas he has no major changes throughout the play. He fights for what he believes and his actions have effects on the other characters. Though he did not suspect Macbeth as to being a traitor and killing Duncan, he did not think that he was fit to rule the state. His actual anger to Macbeth came with the slaughter of his family. It serves as more motivation for him, and without it Macbeth may have lived through the final battle. Throughout the play you see that Macduff has always been the foil to Macbeth, causing the worry in him that overthrew his rule, and that Macduff is the hero that Scotland
Macduff's ambition in this play was to be loyal to his country by taking out Macbeth. Too much of his time is spent plotting against Macbeth, which throws off Macduff’s values. He abandons his family and left for England to find Malcolm so he could wage war against Macbeth. Later, Macbeth hears that the recent absence of Macduff at the banquet and at Duncan’s funeral was because he had fled to England, to find Malcolm. So Macbeth reacts to this by sending murderers to kill Macduff's family. Once Macduff finds out that his family is dead, he starts to exhibit some emotion. At this time he is about to wage war on Macbeth with Malcolm; Malcolm say's to Macduff "Dispute it like a man"(4.3.259). Macduff then replies,
Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! / Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; / Thou hast no speculation in those eyes / Which thou dost glare with! (III.iv.109-103). Macbeth’s deranged actions at the banquet show that any actions he takes past that point, including ordering the death of Macduff’s family, should not be held personally against Macbeth as his mental health has deteriorated to the point that he is no longer sane. Moreover, it is arguable that Macbeth is under the impression that Macduff and his family are dangerous to him. The witches, in the First Apparition shown to Macbeth, tells him to “Beware Macduff! / Beware the Thane of Fife” (IV.i.78-79). This is a direct mention of the danger posed by Macduff against Macbeth, and as Macduff has escaped, Macbeth can only attempt to punish Macduff’s family in order to dissuade him from acting against Macbeth’s regime. Finally, Macduff betrayed and committed high treason against King Macbeth for fleeing to a foreign power to assist an enemy of the state, Malcolm. Macduff’s goal to dethrone Macbeth is clearly shown when he requests that he and Malcolm must “Macduff.
Many people who have read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth know that Macbeth is the tragic hero in the play, but there another character stands out as a much greater protagonist. Macbeth is the type of character who turned from a loyal warrior to the king into a violent, tyrannical, and conflicted person as he progressively commits crimes inside the kingdom without anyone’s notice, except for one person, who is Macduff. Macduff doesn’t have any flaws and remains sinless and heroic throughout the play. As Macbeth progressively gains power and prestige in exchange for the lives of his king, his friends, and his countrymen, Macduff meanwhile goes through great personal loss in his attempts to stop Macbeth’s tyrannical ruling and to restore justice and freedom to Scotland. It is ironic how Macduff acts so much more nobly than his king. Throughout the tragic events that have occurred in the play, Macduff serves as a heroic figure through his demonstrations of intelligence, loyalty, and righteousness.
However, as the play progresses, Macbeth’s character changes drastically, for the noble and admirable Scottish general becomes a representation of pure evil. A sergeant reporting to the king tells of the battle and describes Macbeth’s conduct, “Brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name” (Act. Sc.2 Line 16), establishing the character of Macbeth as a man who is respected and trusted by the people of Scotland. Through the pressures placed upon him and his character, as well as the thought of his desires forcing him into a conflicted state when King Duncan was in his own home, “To our own lips. He's here in double trust; first, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” (Act. 1 Sc. 7 Line 12-16 ) in this soliloquy, Shakespeare shows the doubt in Macbeth’s mind about committing the murder, though also explores his lust for power. (not sure how else to say dontknow what to do about the
With attention to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth struggles with the morality of his actions. Before the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to believe that the murder will “be the be-all and the end-all” to his clear conscious and would risk him to eternal damnation (Act I, line 5). Yet, the murder would bring him power over Scotland and he “shalt be kind” as told by the Weird Sisters(Act 1, line 50). Macbeth goes off of his ambition to murder King Duncan. The internal struggle of choosing mortality over motives brought forth an intense shift of loyalty to betrayal. The murder caused for Macbeth to turn on Scotland and only care for his own selfish motives. The betrayal causes for the play to become horrific and have a double meaning. Macbeth must put on a face to hide his murder to become the king. The double meaning is how Macbeth looks like a hero to all of Scotland, but only the people on the inside know of his horrific actions. He had to murder to to get the position of King, but the
In Act I of The Tragedy of Macbeth, the main character faces a moral dilemma. Feeling the pull factors from both sides of the moral compass, Macbeth struggles with the conflicting interests of ambition and loyalty. Witches predict that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor, and eventually, the King of Scotland. Because the old Thane was a traitor, Macbeth is promoted, and the first part of the prophecy becomes true. However, he must agree to killing King Duncan to fulfill the second half of the prophecy. King Duncan likes and trusts Macbeth, making the matters worse when it comes to his decision to murder him.
Society perceives loyalty as a strong feeling of support and allegiance. This is compromised when loyalties end up in deception. For the most part, everyone has good intentions in our relationships and life goals; however, sometimes our self-desires and devotions can contradict our true values of loyalty. In William Shakespeare's play “Macbeth," loyalty was demonstrated by the following characters, which ultimately ends in betrayal to either to themselves or others. Macbeth expresses great loyalty to Duncan, but ironically, decides to murder him for sovereignty. Banquo is loyal to Macbeth by staying quiet about his suspicions; however, it unintentionally betrayals Duncan and Scotland. Macduff is a hard worker in his family by serving Scotland, but ironically he leaves his family unprotected leading to their deaths. In Macbeth, the paradox between loyalty and betrayal is ironic. Ironically, their initial loyalties bring about betrayal, ultimately causing the death of characters. Thus, those who value loyalty must understand the consequences of their actions.
Just as the character spectrum flows from hero to villain, Macbeth also gradually makes his way down the line. In the very beginning of the play (before making his appearance), Macbeth’s fellow Scots and lords praise him for his loyalty and noble deeds. Here, it is made clear that the public initially views him as a heroic figure who is loyal to Scotland; “for brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that name)”(9) Admittedly, Macbeth does unseam a man “from the nave to th’ chops”(9), however this is considered an act of valor in the service of his country and his king. However, Macbeth’s loyalties soon become questionable, as he plots to and then commits the murder of his honored king, Duncan. At this point, the audience
By the end of the play Macbeth had become to cocky about his skills and what the apparitions told him. When he meets Macduff at the end of the play, instead of running away like he should have he taunts Macduff about the fact that he can not kill him. That is until Macduff says this:
After this Macbeth kills Macduff whole family and servants to send Macduff a message for being disloyal and he thinks that Macduff suspects him of something as well. This is shown when Macbeth says “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his
After hearing the prophecy that he will become king, Macbeth resolves to leave his future up to fate proving his pride and prestige are very important to him. Once he is told of Malcolm being named successor to the throne, Macbeth decides that if he is going to reach his goal he cannot leave it up to luck. Again Macbeth’s resolve to murder Duncan wavers when he leaves the grand banquet to assess his situation and decide whether he wants to proceed. His arguments include wishing to keep his honor and not kill Duncan for Duncan is there ‘in double trust’. Thus, Macbeth is shown to be clinging to his honor. Finally, Macbeth must stand his ground one last time against his wife who uses tact to emasculate Macbeth. In his final attempt to stop the whole ordeal before it can start Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he does not want to ‘cast aside’ the honor he has just recently received. Unfortunately, Lady Macbeth will have none of what her husband is saying and so convinces Macbeth to follow through with his plan of murdering King Duncan. Hence, the audience is given the first example of how powerful selfish motives are and how quickly they can spread to others along with cause them to perform unthinkable
Shakespeare is one of the most influential and famous playwrights of modern times. A major reason his work is loved by so many is because of his insightfulness into the human mind, and one of Shakespeare’s greatest works demonstrating this is Macbeth. This famous play is about nobleman and military man Macbeth and how his tragic choices lead to his inevitable demise. The first and most trying choice that Macbeth has to make is whether or not to kill Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth has to make this decision while being pulled in different directions by two conflicting forces. The force pulling him away from murder is his loyalty and humanity towards Duncan. The other force pulling him towards murder is his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth
After Macbeth becomes king he became worried that his position would be compromised by a traitor. He is increasingly worried about Banquos prophecy and has Banquo murdered to protect his power. “My lord his throat is cut, that I did for him” (Shakespeare III.iv.41) Macduff one of the nobles leaves the county to organize a revolt against Macbeth. Macbeth has Macduff’s family and castle staff killed to protect against further betray. “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon fife; give to the edge o’ the swords his wife, his babes and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line. (Shakespeare IV.ii.56). This choice to kill Macduff’s family led to Macbeth’s fall.
The first acts of evil that entangle Macbeth occur around the death of King Duncan. Macbeth is deciding whether or not kill Duncan when he says, “But in these cases / We still have judgment here; that we but teach / Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return / To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice / Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice / To our own lips” (Shakespeare 28). In this quotation he is judging the pros