William Shakespeare's Macbeth Essay

3. 157-159) Macbeth’s arrogance is made apparent with the immediacy of his thoughts of becoming king and it is clear that the supernatural has given him arrogant ambition as Macbeth is already beginning to think of how he will be crowned king. Macbeth eventually decides he will show his “Black and deep desires” (1. 4. 58) and murder Duncan, the current king of Scotland. This is a shift from Macbeth showing loyalty to Scotland and the king as he now has arrogantly, for the benefit of himself becoming king, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland. Duncan was greatly admired and respected by the population of Scotland. Macbeth himself describes Duncan as “meek” (1. 7. 17) and being “so clear in his great office” (1. 7. 18). When Macduff first realizes the death of Duncan, he describes the scene as: “O horror, horror, horror!” (2. 3. 73) Macbeth acknowledges that the reaction to Duncan’s death would be mournful before murdering him: “Pity… / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, / That tears shall drown the wind” (1.7. 21-25). However, Macbeth’s only goal is to become king, not to please the population of Scotland who admires their king greatly and sees him as a righteous person. After tempting Macbeth with the idea of becoming king, the supernatural gives Macbeth arrogant ambition, forcing him to contrast his loyal and courageous personality, which motivates him to kill Duncan.

Firstly, Macbeth begins the play demonstrating his noble character, his goodness, and the fact that he is well loved. At the start of the play Macbeth is established as a hero to king Duncan. The Captain described him as a brave and a strong fighter in battle. Macbeth is also described as valour’s minion which is to be heroic so King Duncan states: “No more than Thane of Cawdor shall deceive/Our bosom interest: go, pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth” (Mac.1.2.73-75). In this statement, Duncan has pronounced Macbeth with the Thane of Cawdor, which shows that he is a noble person. Macbeth is a valiant warrior and he is turning to temptation, but he knows his limits and retains his noble characteristics. As Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth’s letter, she knows that he is not strong enough and he is too kind to kill the king. When Macbeth makes a soliloquy in Scene 7, he hesitates to kill Duncan because it would upset everyone since he is a good king. Macbeth says: “He’s here in double trust: First, I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed” (1.7.12-14). Macbeth shows here that he is the one who is supposed to protect Duncan, not try and kill him. Macbeth believes in karma in the lines ‘Bloody instructions, which being taught return/To plague the inventor’ which shows that Macbeth knows if he kills Duncan, soon somebody will kill him. At the end of his soliloquy, Macbeth decides it would be the wrong thing to kill the king because his deep desires do not justify enough and he does not want to undergo the consequences.

Macbeth was an honorable warrior, content to be fighting to protect King Duncan and Scotland, Duncan though of Macbeth as one of the finest soldiers in the land fearing no man nor enemy that came his way. Macbeth being unsure of himself made him morally ambiguous he knew what he was doing was wrong but at the same time he wanted more power,respect,to please his wife that at the same time the murder of duncan didn't seem wrong. The murders that were planned by macbeth shows an evil persona taking upon him he wanted power,to be a great king macbeth didn't let anyone get in his way of achieving that goal even if it meant killing friends,families nothing mattered but the crown. We can’t blame Sir Macbeth for his behavior besides if you were promised,fame fortune, and everything that came with it what how far would you go to get

“Et tu, Brute,” Just like Caesar, King Duncan met their demise from the blade of a trusted “friend's” sword (Julius Caesar, 3.1.77). Macbeth’s role in the murder of King Duncan is among the most menacing of crimes. Although Macbeth commits the murder, his wife instigates the entire plan. Lady Macbeth forced Macbeth into murdering the King which puts Macbeth in a delusional state where he questions his actions. The premeditated murder of King Duncan in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth can be blamed on one person only, Lady Macbeth. Even though the blood is on Macbeth’s hands, literally, the plan was not set in motion until Lady Macbeth organized the slaughter. Macbeth fully shows his belief in the concept of Happy Wife, Happy Life.

MacBeth’s ambition and vulnerability was his road to destruction. The prophecy never said how MacBeth would become king, only that he would become king. After receiving the title, Thane of Cawdor, he decided to take receiving the final title, King of Scotland, into his own hands. He hallucinated a dagger leading him to murder King Duncan. He murdered King Duncan in his chambers at his castle, Inverness. MacBeth brings back the bloody daggers, which shows his inexperience in the beginning of the play. His wife, Lady MacBeth, had to return to plant the daggers on the drunken, sleeping guards in a way to frame them. “After we have marked with blood those two sleeping guards, and used their own daggers for the crime, everyone will think they did it. (18)” MacBeth failing to plant the bloody daggers before returning to his wife, displays MacBeth’s inexperience and shows how MacBeth’s character transforms over the duration of the play. He is inexperienced, but calculating, though it is less so in the scene before committing the murder. In the beginning he is a valiant captain turned inexperienced murderer. Then, he becomes more sadistic. After he is crowned king, he hires murderers to kill his “best friend” Banquo. The fact that he is willing to have his friend and friend’s son murdered shows his true character. MacBeth’s ambitions lead him down the road to his

The witches tempt Macbeth with their words of wisdom and fate. He never thought about being Thane of Cawdor or king of Scotland, until he heard it from the witches. In the play, Lady Macbeth states “ What beast was ‘ t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me? when you durst do it, then you were a man;”( 1.7, lines 49-51). Lady Macbeth tries to hurt his ego so that he can go through with the plan and kill the ruling king, Duncan. After he kills Duncan he becomes more violent and decides to kill anybody in his way of getting in the throne. In Act 3, Scene 4 Macbeth states, “thou art the best o’ th’ cutthroats: yet he’s good that did the like for Fleance. If thou didst it, thou art the nonpareil.” He says this to the murderers as he thanks them for killing Banquo for him. Throughout the play, Macbeth validates his violent claims all because he wants ultimate power. Showing Macbeth action he said “ I go, and it is done/ the bell invites me/ hear it not, Duncan, for it a knell/ that summons thee to heaven or to hell” Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 62-64 page 52. This demonstrates that violence has an influence on Macbeth’s life.He chose to stab the king in order to take the throne and that shows he is very inclined toward violent behavior.However, even though violence plays a major role, it was fate that motivated

In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, a mighty commander during the 11th century is pictured as a loyal warlord for King Duncan. Macbeth seemingly values loyalty so much that he would never consider betraying his king, unlike the previous Thane of Cawdor. However, this changes when three witches confront Macbeth and Banquo and foretell their future fates. After their conversation finishes, Macbeth’s loyalty is constantly seen chipped away as more of his thought are revealed. Eventually, as he loses complete control of himself, he resorts to murder to achieve what he thinks as “utopia,” which leads to the deaths of King Duncan, and Banquo; two of his dear companions. In the end, Macbeth is beheaded by Macduff, who seeks revenge after Macbeth instigates the murder of his entire family. The humanly traits that cause the transformation of Macbeth from a loyal Scottish Lord to a murderous king includes his attentiveness and willingness to listen, his inability to control his ambitions, and the fear of the loss of his manhood.

His morals lead him to do the things he feels is right. His ambition leads him to do whatever it takes to get to where he wants to be the quickest way possible. This is shown right after he meets the witches and starts contemplating killing Duncan. He says, “My thoughts whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is, but that is not” (I, iii, 138-141). Macbeth is thinking if he should or should not kill Duncan to become king.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the tragic hero Macbeth, descends into evil after a prophecy from three witches sparks his ambition and tempts Macbeth into committing horrible deeds out of paranoia, arrogance, and spite. Macbeth begins his chain of murders due to the fact that he wishes to become the King of Scotland. In Act One, Scene three of Macbeth, three witches arrive and prophesize that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and the King. Soon after the witches disappear, Macbeth is delivered the news that he was named Thane of Cawdor. This occurrence causes Macbeth to believe each part of the prophecy and he allows his ambition to take control of his thoughts, which leads him to deciding to kill King Duncan. Macbeth acknowledges the fact that he has no other reason for killing Duncan, besides ambition, when he states, “I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself/ And

Duncan is Macbeth’s friend, yet he schemes to kill him in order to obtain the title of king and fulfill the witches predictions. At first, Macbeth is reluctant, but his wife convinces him to commit the crime. He eventually feels compelled to kill him. “Is this a dagger I see in front of me, with its handle pointing toward my hand?” (II, i, line 33).

The obvious reading of this passage would be of Lady Macbeth as domineering and manipulative in pursuit of her own goals. But that reading discounts the loyalty and dedication she has shown to Macbeth and his success. By encouraging violence through questioning his manhood, masculinity and violence become inextricably linked. This connection essentially defines masculinity as violence within the world of Macbeth. The relationship between power, violence, and masculinity alienate women and power and supports the problematic construction of gender. This is problematic in the world of Macbeth and in society today because it glorifies violence and forbids women from having power.

Macbeth had no desire to kill King Duncan. It’s not until Lady Macbeth works her way into the mind of Macbeth which corrupted his innocence. With determination, she uses her skilful knowledge in manipulation and persuasion to get what she desires. When Lady Macbeth was aware of Macbeths prophecies she was full of joy, in fact she was so joyful that she begins to plot the murder of King Duncan. Shakespeare has displayed to the audience that lady Macbeth harnesses evil within herself. When she informed Macbeth of her plan, he was hesitant, refusing to betray his King. However Lady Macbeth was fast to change his mind insulting his masculinity, by calling him a coward. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.” (1.7.49-51). The audience is invited to see Macbeth as a victim rather than a villain because he never intended to kill King Duncan, “We will proceed no further in this business.” (1.7.31). It was Lady Macbeth’s own ambition and she used her lady like qualities to emotionally manipulate and persuade Macbeth. He never wanted to betray his king, but on the other hand he didn’t want to betray his wife, as Macbeth is a noble man and trusts his wife so much. The audience had no choice but to view Macbeth as a victim. Macbeth wasn’t the only cause of King Duncan death, with the

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth longs to be a great powerful king that his wife believes he can be, and is convinced by his wife that killing the current king is the way to do that. Lady Macbeth uses his ambition and desire to be great against him by affiliating greatness with the act of murdering Duncan, when she refers to the scheme as “great business” (18) and “great quell” (23). The suggestion that killing the king will mark him as great coupled with his overwhelming ambition persuaded him to carry out the crime. Macbeth shows his knowledge that murder is wrong when he says “I have no spur to prick the slides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’er leaps itself and falls on th’ other,” (21) and directly blames his immoral actions solely on his ambition. Macbeth expresses his reasons for killing duncan were all of ambition and his need to be great, and none of discontent with Duncan’s rule, revealing how powerful and corrupt ambition can be when a person disregards their morals to follow it. After killing the king as taking the throne, Macbeth is still not satisfied: “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown” (46). Macbeth ambition stops him from truly being happy with his spot in life. He becomes king

First performed in 1606, Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth “has been called his most timely, his darkest, his most poetic [and] most ‘philosophically ambitious’ play (Shakespeare 1). Although Macbeth is not Shakespeare’s most elaborate play, it is certainly one of his most powerful and emotionally intense. Taking place in Scotland, the play tells a story of a brave Scottish general, Macbeth, and all he has done to achieve power. Within the play, the theme of “Scottishness” introduced by Shakespeare has been interpreted differently by critics all over the world. In the time Macbeth was written, the English society was forging their national identity. Concepts such as ‘anti-Scottish discourse’, which is the dislike of Scottish people with the acceptance of Scottish stereotypes, became widespread. ‘Scotland’ as the setting is never clearly stated, so the location’s identity has to be interpreted by other means. The historical Scottish events and places in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth alludes to Scotland as the setting but is merely used as a device to accentuate anti-Scottish discourse from England’s perspective, which is identified subjectively throughout the play.

        Macbeth held such potential for himself. He was honoured Thane of Cawdor,  and who knows what else Duncan had in store for him.  Unfortunately he chose not to find out, by murdering the king.  The scene of Duncan's murder (II, ii) demonstrates the guilt and feeling that the blood diffuses into