William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Who or what are the forces or influences that shape who we are and how we think about ourselves.

determines your fate because they have an impact on the decisions you make. We are all

As the play goes, Macbeth shows a character of free will. Although his destiny was pre-determined for him by the witches, he took action to believe and to make sure that his prophecies will come true. Macbeth is a strong character with many deep desires that include gaining power, and so throughout the play with the many crimes he had committed, there was no turning back for him. In all, his decisions help shape the future ahead of him.

‘Macbeth’ a Scottish play known as one of Shakespeare’s best plays was written in 1611 by William Shakespeare, during that time King James the 1st was the king of Scotland, the Jacobean times was a time where people had a fascination with witches and witchcraft, ‘Daemonolgie’ was a book written by King James the 1st himself, this was about ways to spot a witch, which intrigued people. Since ‘Macbeth’ has a Scottish theme Shakespeare may have written this play to please King James since there is references to Banquo which is a direct descendant of King James, also it is said that Banquo wasn’t a very nice man but Shakespeare presents him as very loyal and kind person

The play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, presents many societal issues, such as the influence of superstition and the supernatural, as well as the continuous desire of the human race for progress and ambitious fulfilment. What a person chooses to do in order to fulfil those desires depends on the individuals themselves, and in the case of Macbeth, he turns to murder in order to advance his social and political standing. The audience’s perception of Macbeth changes throughout the play, beginning with feelings of admiration and approval of his deeds and character, and ending, with the play and as well as his life, as feelings of contempt and disgust at his treachery. This is achieved mainly through the progression of Macbeth’s character development, as well as through the dialogue of himself and other characters.

Macbeth is made king for a while and is able to believe that fate is with him, but it is very brief and he never seemed to be happy or at ease. In the end, all of the witches prophesies, which were at first beneficial towards Macbeth start to go sour and turn into nightmare of which Macbeth was not expecting. Instead of success and respect, Macbeth has to face a “way of life [that] is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf,” which means it is beginning to fall apart and die (V.3.24-25). Macbeth also expresses excessive pride, also know as hubris. In the quote “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see,” Macbeth himself admits his

Molded by the choices we make, our lives can change drastically at any point in time. These decisions will either direct to the right or wrong path. Each path has a different destiny that could possibly take place. The natural surrounding influences one’s path. Curiosity, a common humane feeling, makes people wonder why something happens in a certain way. How people make their decisions and choices - a common question which passes through many people's minds. Every thought or action taken by an individual or a group, in one way or the other, influenced by the environment and the people around them.

On the other end of the spectrum, Macbeth must deal with the moral uncertainty of the actions he does commit. When he goes to kill Duncan, the dagger appears, which he judges to be “A dagger of the mind, a false creation /Proceeding from the heat oppressèd brain” (II.i.38-39). It is something that has materialized because he has a humoral imbalance. This is the “psychic distress” Roychoudhury says, “threatens often to undo the protagonists” (218). Because his mind is not right, Macbeth goes down a path of self-destruction. Macbeth does not murder all of his possible enemies at once, it takes four separate murders until he is finished. This goes against Machiavelli’s prescription in The Prince: “Violence must be inflicts once and for all; people will then forget what it tastes like and so be less resentful” (32). Though the audience does not get a chance to see whether the people are resentful, Macbeth is resentful of himself. He has “terrible dreams / that shake us nightly” (III.ii.18-19), violent nightmares, because of his guilt from murdering Duncan. His own rumination contains the same idea: “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly” (I.vii.1-2). The repetition of the “w” sound evokes the madness behind Macbeth’s thoughts. This is not easy to get out when spoken. His words are more than his tongue can handle, he cannot manage to get everything done all at once. The state Macbeth usurped to obtain is in trouble by Machiavelli’s standards

The crafty serpent appears next to Eve. The evil creature encourages her to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, which God had specifically warned her not to do. The woman, unaware of the serpent’s true intentions, eats from the tree and gives some to Adam. Eventually, the pair realizes that they have been deceived by the snake, and they are consequently exiled from paradise. Sometimes acts which appear honest and good are really meant to mask the hidden desires of wicked people. These desires often have irreversible repercussions, which only accelerate the degeneration of morals and character. Throughout William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the idea of murderous actions and their dire consequences establishes the

Good leader is only as good as the people who follow them. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Scotland is thrown into turmoil when king Duncan dies. Throughout the play Malcolm, the king’s eldest son, exhibits the noble traits of a just leader, whereas Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, is the epitome of poor leadership skills. Both men are motived to do good and bad things. As well as being intelligent, Macbeth uses his brains contrary to those of Malcolm. Lastly, Malcolm and Macbeth exhibit opposite mentalities when it comes to achieving their goals. Even with opposite mindsets, Macbeth and Malcolm are motivated to do what they believe is true.

Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare where the main character Macbeth makes his way from battle and comes across three witches that call him upon his future before it actually takes place. Later in the play Macbeth notices certain changes that start to come true just like the witches told him and tries to take advantage of what he was told and chases his ambition to be the new king. He achieves his goal to be crowned the new king by tragic events that will take place in the play and with the help of Lady Macbeth. Macbeth seizes power and will do his best to fulfil his goals by doing what he can to maintain his position by the help of supernatural elements in the play. The three supernatural elements used in the play Macbeth that

This quote means that the one who has complete authority is extremely likely to abuse his position. 'Absolute power' refers to complete, unchallengeable power where the holder has no external compulsions and is answerable to none about his actions. It builds on the idea that every human being has the potential to become a 'benevolent dictator' given the right situation. Power, or simply the desire for power, can cause people to act in unintelligible ways. Many examples can be seen throughout history of leaders who have been perverted with power. For example, leaders like Hitler and Napoleon have all committed disgraceful actions during their rule in the hopes of attaining the 'Absolute power'. All through the play Macbeth, the desire for 'Absolute power' is the central compelling force for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They are dominated with a great yearning for gaining the ultimate power by becoming the King and Queen, and are willing to achieve it by whatever means necessary. Power corrupts their thoughts, behaviours and actions. They become greedy and selfish. As a result of this, they suffer the tragic fate of their own doings. Example of this corruption is first seen when Lady Macbeth decides that she will murder Duncan after reading her husband's letter about the witches prophecies. She refuses to see the difference between right and wrong as she is blinded by the desire

Macbeth, his journey begins as a noble soldier. Whose sole purpose is to protect king and country. However we will see him go from this noble hero to a very power crazed, prideful murder.

What would the world be like if no one felt guilt? If no one ever caught caught for their crimes? In Shakespeare's novel, Macbeth, the main characters commit crimes driven by their ambition. After committing the first crime Macbeth, the main antagonist is overwhelmed with guilt. His wife, Lady Macbeth plotted the first crime and was the main force pushing Macbeth to kill. In the end Macbeth is charged with the truth and Lady Macbeth kills herself both brought down equally from guilt. Guilt and fear of being found out causes anxiety and slow disintegration of the subconscious which leads to psychosis and therefore, because of insanity causes confession of crimes or suicidal thoughts.

In other words, who I am determines, to a large extent, what I want to study.’