Theme Of Relationships In Macbeth

“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare shows the effect of greed/power on a relationship. Is gaining power more important than a relationship? When Macbeth usurps the throne as King of Scotland, he puts aside his relationships to carry out his work as king, and his relationship with Lady Macbeth is, as a result, impacted. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship shifts somewhat and yet partly remains the same when Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland. Macbeth’s relationship remains the same in that he shows Lady Macbeth respect and continues to use words of love to call her by, but it shifts in that Macbeth becomes more independent and does not confide his plans to Lady Macbeth as he had previously.

The notorious Shakespearean play Macbeth illustrates a natural evil and greed for power present in the human race. Even in modern times, society relates to Macbeth as people are consistently striving for a higher rank and power. Sometimes, people are even prepared to get into difficult situations to achieve their goals, and this gives rise to conflicts. There are three main types of conflict present in the Macbeth play: man vs man, man vs nature, and man vs self.

He realizes that if he want to start his own dynasty, then he will have to have control of all the variables. Then Macbeth began to think, “For Banquo’s issues have I filed my mind;/ For them the gracious Duncan I have murdered” (Shakespeare 85). He realizes that he has set himself up to fail. He is cleared a path to the crown for Banquo’s kin. Macbeth goes on to state, “He chid the sisters/ When first they put the name of king upon me” (Shakespeare 85). This give the readers the thought that Banquo is jealous of the king. Macbeth, not wanting to risk his crown, calls for some outside murderers. As I stated earlier, Macbeth knew he must get rid of Banquo and his sons. He succeeds in having Banquo killed, but Banquo’s son, Fleance (the one person Macbeth needed to kill), escapes.

But, later on in the play we learn by the witched that Banquo's descendants will become King and that they will prosper. It says “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”, when Macbeth learns about this and hears about it he is scared and then eventually considers Banquo as a threat to him to become King. So Macbeth has to come up with a solution to this and eventually comes up with the solution that he must murder Banquo and his son Fleance. He gets two murders to go out and murder Banquo and his son while they are walking so that his promise of becoming king will not be in jeopardy. This is an ironic act of betrayal because Macbeth and Banquo have been friends for a long time and have done everything together. Banquo was not just his friend he was also the co-commander of the army and had some power in Scotland.

The witches prophecies and Lady Macbeth’s influence intensifies his ambition and drives Macbeth to obtain and maintain his title of Scotland by whatever means, even murdering his best friend, Banquo. “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, ...no son of mine succeeding. If’t be so, for Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan I have murder’d; ...To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! (Act III. sc.I) At this point Macbeth’s passion becomes more and more extreme to the point where no one stands in his way. His greed, violence, and hunger for power drastically declines his

How the Relationship Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Changes and Develops During the Course of the Play

After the King’s demise, Banquo travels to Macbeth’s banquet but never arrives. Shortly after toasting to the memory of Banquo, Macbeth says to an imaginary figure, “Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold” (3.4.113-114). I have reason to believe that he was communicating with the spirit of Banquo because of the personal remarks and rants he dictated. Because he seemingly lacked common sense when he talked to empty space, he may have seen apparitions related to his guilt. Since Banquo was with Macbeth when they heard their destinies from the weird women, Macbeth may have massacred him to cover up his true intentions. Furthermore, Banquo may have suspected that his friend did whatever was necessary to achieve kingship. This resulted in Macbeth assassinating his best friend because it was the only manner necessary for him to prosper freely. Macbeth was faced with the task to achieve his destiny through any means possible and that is exactly what he did. His uncontrollable delusions establish Macbeth as a king that is incapable of ruling Scotland and a criminal to the people of

The brain constantly processes an abundance of information, which can transform into an emotional response that affects the decisions made. One example is guilt, an emotion expressed after feeling remorseful of a wrong doing. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth displays several accounts where guilt or the lack of guilt impacts the outcome of a situation. Macbeth experiences a level of guilt that would prevent him from heinous acts in the beginning of the play, however Lady Macbeth heavily influences Macbeth to commit these acts. As the play progresses, the guilt of Macbeth dramatically downfalls, whereas Macbeth feels less empathy for the crimes he previously performs and ambition takes over.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said,“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong”. However, how could it be, that the longings represented in Macbeth demonstrate the longings of human nature itself? The author of the play, William Shakespeare, is perhaps best known for the thorough understanding of human nature represented within his plays, therefore, the constant struggle between the good and evil is evident throughout the play Macbeth as characters such as Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo struggle between the importance of their morals and their strong longings towards power. In real life, individuals can find themselves relating to the characters of the play as their beliefs might transition from putting their longings before their morals or vice versa. Macbeth is a play in which the psychology of human nature is analyzed repeatedly as it encounters temptations and allows the characters to choose a path of light or darkness.

After he is named king, Macbeth's misery and eventual downfall is caused by his own insecurities and misguided determination to take control of his future. Firstly, the witches' prophecy concerning Banquo's descendants and Macbeth's feeling of inferiority to Banquo lead Macbeth to arrange for the murder of Banquo and his son, Fleance. Having Banquo around him is a constant reminder to Macbeth of the evil deed he himself has committed and the knowledge that Banquo's, not Macbeth's children, will be

In William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, he develops a strong friendship between two very different characters, Macbeth and Banquo. He uses their thought process' to further convey a theme of fate and free-will and the amount of control one has over their own destiny. Although both are friends who fight alongside one another in battle their decisions, lifestyles, morals and values are quite different. The major difference between the two men is that Macbeth is ambitious while Banquo is more reflective.

By projecting a heavy focus upon the manipulation of gender and ambition, Macbeth manages to extract a seemingly alien abstraction of the 1600s into a significant narrative element. The tension that coexists between the relations of gender allow for the complete rupture of all social norms. Macbeth’s world becomes disjointed as his masculinity is questioned, his psyche manipulated, and his future incarcerated. Reaves is of the opinion that “the spiritual well being of Scotland in Macbeth suffers from an infection that festers as the play continues. Where “fair is foul and foul is fair” (1.1.12), the basic binary relationships become blurred” (21). Macbeth certainly possesses little power over his choices, submitting to the machinations his

After killing King Duncan , Macbeth is starting to realize what it is that he has done, and becomes suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him by puting spy's in every castle and killing those who are any treat to him what so ever. Banquo is the only other person who knows of the meeting with the witches and he would assume that it was Macbeth who killed the King. The witches also said that Banquo would beget kings but he himself would never be king after Macbeth, and so Macbeth decides that Banquo is a threat to him. To get rid of the treat with banquo he decides to kill him and his son Fleance.

After Macbeth and Banquo receive prophecies, the foil characters start to diverge as Banquo’s takes the moral path of goodness while Macbeth takes the immoral path towards his ultimate decline. Banquo and Macbeth have the opportunity to pursue the same path, but because of his unchecked ambition, Macbeth deviates from Banquo's path of good morals. Immediately after the witches tell their prophecies, Banquo’s mindset is wary and rational. He warns Macbeth that, “oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / the instruments of darkness tell us truths...” (1.3.125-126). Banquo is not obsessed with the prophecies and the idea that one day his ancestors will be kings. On the other hand, Macbeth speculates, “Two truths are told, / as happy prologues to the swelling act / of the imperial theme.” (1.3.130-132) Because two of the three prophecies have come true, Macbeth is blinded by his ambition and seems to fantasize about the idea of being king. These contrasting reactions show that Macbeth takes a

When Macbeth meets with the three witches to hear prophecies about his future there is one prophecy that isn't what it seems. The third apparition that speaks to Macbeth says; "Macbeth shall never be vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him (IV. i. 92-94)." Macbeth immediately thinks of it literally. Believes that he will only be defeated if the actual woods come up against him. Which we know by the end that people use the sticks and twigs to disguise themselves against Macbeth to make it seem that the woods are moving. When Banquo and Macbeth first leave the battle, they met the three witches. There Banquo says; "You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so (I. iii. 45-47)." Banquo doesn't quite know what the witches are and eventually finds out that they're witches.