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Critical analysis of macbeth
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Focusing on Act 1 Scene 7 and its significance with Macbeth, explore the ways in which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are presented in the text. Macbeth is introduced as a hero who then turns his determination to his downfall and ends up losing everything he wanted to be. A man. Expressions such as "Valour's minion" (the servant of Courage) and "Bellona's bridegroom" (the husband of War) show us that Macbeth is an audacious man who is willing to fight for his country. Macbeth and Banquo are equalled to "eagles" and "lions". From this we know that Macbeth is a very valiant and strong character. We then see his fatal flaw, ambition. Macbeth is shown to be very ambitious, some examples are when he meets the witches who say he will become king i.e. he …show more content…
Then in Act 1 Scene 7 we see him alone, Macbeth ponders the deed that he is about to perform. He is aware of the influential reasons for murdering the king, but is nagged by self-doubt arising from his fear by his likely loss of reputation both in heaven and on earth. In the end he ends up being killed and the rightful king takes the throne, and his doubt is cleared as he ends up losing everything, his reputation on earth and these were all unnatural acts i.e. his reputation in heaven is gone as well. I like Polanski’s end where Macbeth’s head which has been decapitated is being carried on a stick and we can see what we would see through the eyes of Macbeth, everyone was mocking and laughing at him, the "Valour's minion" and "Bellona's bridegroom" …show more content…
At the first time we meet her in Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth reads a letter sent by Macbeth alone. Significantly, in his letter, Macbeth says nothing of their prophecy to Banquo; perhaps he is already afraid of its outcomes. I think it is interesting that he calls his wife “my dearest partner of greatness” which to me makes her look like his partner of crime he is about/ wants to do and we know that she does become his partner in crime but more than that. She immediately says He is "too full of the milk of human kindness" to commit murder; he would be great, he would have a high position, he would wrongly win that position, but in each case, some other aspect of his character would not permit him to do it. She is very manipulative and we can see that the way she says she will help him to get it. The next time she speaks, her second soliloquy her intentions are described in the most grotesque and frightening terms. She wants her sexuality to be changed she wants to be become someone else but a woman. It is no coincidence that these last words reflect those of Macbeth in the previous scene: Shakespeare is creating a strong verbal bond between husband and wife that will continue throughout the play. In Polanski’s version they are like innocent couples and very love like towards each other. Whereas in the play she is made to be an evil woman. Then in Act 1 Scene 7 she finds out his self-doubt and
Macbeth is the story of a man who falls from his noble state. In the beginning, Macbeth was a courageous fighter for Scotland's King Duncan. Macbeth is soon overcome with greed for power, so he kills the king and crowns himself. He becomes worried of losing his newly gained power causing him to kill more people. In the end the lords and nobles join forces with the king's son, Malcolm, to destroy Macbeth. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the character Macbeth was persuaded by the three witches to commit evil, leading to his tragic downfall.
As Macbeth becomes less dependent on his wife, she loses more control. She loses control of her husband, but mostly, of herself, proving her vacillating truth. Lady Macbeth’s character gradually disintegrates through a false portrayal of unyielding strength, an unsteady control of her husband and shifting involvement with supernatural powers.Throughout the duration of play Lady Macbeth’s truly decrepit and vulnerable nature is revealed. Lady Macbeth has been the iron fist and authority icon for Macbeth, yet deep down, she never carried such traits to begin with. This duality in Lady Macbeth’s character plays a huge role in planting the seed for Macbeth’s downfall and eventual demise.
Macbeth is a very gothic, persistent tale of a great general in the Scottish army who causes his own downfall by listening to the dark prophecies of the three witches and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s self-consciousness fails to play an important part in the murder of multiple kinsmen causing the death of his wife and his mental health. Macbeth is not necessarily a horrible leader; the problem with him is that his ambitions exceed his expectancies. Macbeth’s character has constantly evolved from the point he was introduced into the play. Initially he seems as an extremely humble person, but as he learns more about the prophecies, his hindsight fails to overlook the complications of his ambitions. Macbeth’s faith in the apparitions and the witches ultimately cause Macbeth’s downfall and the unnecessary death of his beloved kinsmen such as King Duncan and Banquo.
After a long and hard battle, the Sergeant says to King Duncan, “For brave Macbeth,-well he deserves that name,- disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smok’d with bloody execution , like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage till he fac’d the slave;” (1.2.16) . This quote shows that Macbeth is viewed as a valiant soldier and a capable leader. However, it does not take long for the real Macbeth to be revealed- a blindly ambitious man, easily manipulated by the prospect of a higher status. His quest for power is what drives his insanity, and after having been deemed the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth’s ambition can immediately be seen. In a soliloquy, Macbeth says, “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings; my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastica, shakes so my single state of man that function is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.140). Macbeth has just gained more power, and his immediate thought is of how to gain an even higher status as king. He imagines how to kill Duncan, and then is troubled by his thoughts, telling himself it is wrong. This inner struggle between Macbeth’s ambition and his hesitation to kill Duncan is the first sure sign of his mental deterioration. Although Macbeth does kill Duncan, he questions whether or not he should to do so, which is far different from how Macbeth feels about murder later in the play. Macbeth becomes king, and this power leads
In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a courageous and well-respected soldier who is loyal to his King and country. He is described by one of King Duncan's men as “brave Macbeth.” As a result of his bravery on the battlefield, Duncan decides to reward Macbeth with a new title – the Thane of Cawdor – as the last Thane was proven to be disloyal; however, Macbeth is unaware of this, and this creates tension in the audience. The opening scenes show that Macbeth is a powerful and courageous man who is not naturally inclined to do wrong, but is capable of being brutal when he needs to be. The meeting with the witches also reveal that Macbeth is a very ambitious man who craves an even greater power. There is contrast between Macbeth’s and Banquo’s attitudes towards the witches’ prophecies. Whilst Banquo dismissed the witches’ prophecies, Macbeth was “rapt withal.” This shows that Macbeth has thought about being “king hereafter.” Macbeth's first soliloquy reveals his deep desire to be king. His soliloquy also reveals that he would do anything to achieve it.
Shakespeare's Presentation of Macbeth Through the Use of Soliloquy in Act 1 scene 7 and Act 2 Scene 1 of Macbeth
The relation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth takes a few turns throughout the play. It starts with Lady Macbeth being in control and dominating Macbeth. Then suddenly Macbeth turns into an unhesitant man, who gets accustomed to killing and getting his own way. The dire changes in the characters affect the couple’s relation extremely.
Macbeth’s provocative or violent actions on the challenges placed before him cause him to build an effect of downfall and dismay throughout the play. Originally, Macbeth handles his challenges in different ways and manners and is constantly changing his procedure. From handling situations carefully to not caring, Macbeth and his violence resulted in guilt and selfishness which he had to overcome. By the end of the play, Macbeth had become a selfish, greedy king and the challenges as well as experiences he encountered shaped him into who he is. He was shaped by the guilt of killing Banquo and Duncan, just to become powerful and a king. For example, in Act 3 Scene 4, Macbeth faces adversity when his mind creates a ghost of Banquo, who he just found out was killed. In Macbeth, the uprising of adversity was often handled in various manners. By dealing with his own challenges, Macbeth transforms his handling of adversity from being cautious to thoughtless, which reflected his character and the transformation he portrayed throughout the
Initially MACBETH is seen as a great soldier, a fearless fighter who has loyally defended his King against a treacherous rebellion. However, he is corrupted by evil in the form of three witches and their supernatural prophecies, and by ambition, not so much his own at first but by Lady Macbeth's ambition for him to murder Duncan, thus attaining the crown of Scotland.
Macbeth is a very complicated character due to the various role changes throughout the play .Macbeth fought honorably against invading forces that were trying to take over Scotland. His leadership role was short lived, because he did not know his fate and made many mistakes. Macbeth doubted his future and had a few witched to predict his future by giving hints on what misfortune was lurking around the corner. A flashback of Macbeth life revealed his many hardship and accomplishments. He also had to take revenge on his enemies in order to feel safe in his town. Macbeth had many prophecies to reveal danger that was out to assassinate him, but nothing could save him from his destiny; death.
“Plot Summary: Macbeth”. Shakespeare. Online Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center- Gold. Gale. Ozen High School. 12 Jan 2010. http://find.galegroup.com
Macbeth is put together with many character traits. He is a very complex character. In the beginning Macbeth was brave and loyal. He won the battle of Norway and became the Thane of Cawdor. For brave Macbeth disdainding fortune with his brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution( ACT1 SC2 LNS18-20). Macbeth is also a gullible man, when he runs into the witches he believes them when they say, all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter(act1 sn2 line 50) . He is so gullible to what these witches said that he killed his best friend Banquo and nearly kills Banquo's son. Macbeth also was convinced by his wife to kill Duncan. Macbeth conscious becomes guilty after he kills Duncan when he said, will all great neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?(act2 sn2 lines 79-80). He is thinking that nothing can take back the murders he had committed.
The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is a tale of a man and his un-bridled ambition, set in ancient Scotland. Macbeth is a nobleman of the king of Scotland, Duncan, who is in mid-war with Norway. Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo encounter three witches. The witches tell the pair that Macbeth will be king, and Banquo’s children will also be kings. Any person in their right mind would question information given to them by strangers, let alone witches, but for some reason these statements intrigue Macbeth. They temp Macbeth to do evil things such as treason, and worse, to kill. Although un-bridled ambition is his main tragic flaw, there is one more that plays a big role in his decisions and the outcome of the story; Macbeth is far too impressionable.
...To conclude it can be said that Shakespeare has crafted Macbeth into attracting sympathy. If all the sins that Macbeth committed were just told to a person then it leaves the reader no choice but to consider him evil and immoral; yet when the book is fully read the audience understands his mental anguish, a feeling of sympathy is aroused. Macbeth was a victim of his own power and ambition. He breaks down mentally losing power of himself, becoming very paranoid. At the end of the play, Macbeth tries to regain some dignity by dying with courage. Also as Macbeth had a clean conscience, he was very easily pulled to evil by his mentally overpowering wife. Macbeth was constantly driven by power to commit more harmful actions, as when he got more power, the greedier he became for it. Throughout the play the tragic hero is sympathised even though he committed wrong acts.
In conclusion, the witches with their riddle prophecies ignite Macbeth’s vaulting ambition as well as undermining and tempting Macbeth into the regicide of Duncan, upsetting the natural orders of things, on top of that, Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into committing ‘foul act’, belittling on his manhood and thus play an even more significant role in ruining Macbeth. But ultimately, his vaulting ambition itself indeed is to be the most to blame for his own destruction since a true hero would have upheld their sense of righteousness and honor, but Macbeth as a hero has failed. After all, Shakespeare has successfully craft Macbeth as a fallen hero, by first presenting him as an honorable hero, distracted by external forces, ends up destroying himself from the inside.