In the tragedy Macbeth; the reader witnesses the inevitable downfall of the tragic hero Macbeth as he attempts to do the impractical. While Macbeth turns from an admirable nobleman into the traitor fiend that is the result of his wife’s relentless coaxing, the reader distinguishes more and more of the “appearance versus reality” or the “things are not what they seem” theme that intertwines with Macbeth’s hubris thus leading to his downfall. As Macbeth furthers his plans, which fall in step with the weird sisters’ prophecy, he uses, “False face must hide what the false heart doth know,” (Macbeth, Act1.Scene7.Line82) in order to deceive his fellow noblemen and fulfill the prophecy of his becoming the Thane of Cawdor and the King of Switzerland. Even as Macbeth tries to defy fate, he realizes that what appears to be the truth is in fact unreal, and Shakespeare’s tragic hero does not fully apprehend that his difficulty in discerning between the real and unreal worlds is a chief factor in his demise until the completion of the prophecy/the death of Macbeth and of course, his foreseen downfall.
Throughout Macbeth, Macbeth is a little bit on edge, and gets to such a point, that the reader can’t determine if what Macbeth is seeing is actually there, or in Macbeth’s own head. At the beginning of the play, when Macbeth is about to kill King Duncan, (Act 2), he says:
Is this a dagger which I see before me, /the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. /I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/ To feelings as to sight, or art thou but / a dagger of the mind, a false creation, / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? / I see thee yet… (Macbeth, Act 2. Scene1. Lines 34-40a)
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...aunt him, and so he starts slipping up and his false face starts to show what his heart knows; he thinks so hard about the prophecy that he thinks he sees the three weird sisters and the apparitions, when in fact he might not have truly seen them since no one else did. Macbeth at first thought that he was immortal; he was on top of the world and no one could even come close to them. But because of the difficulty in discerning the real and the false, he comes to the closing of the prophecy; he is killed from a man not born of a woman (Macduff), and thus is done for which is more or less his downfall.
Works Cited
Beers, Kylene, et al, Elements of Literature Essentials of British and World Literature Sixth Course, Austin, Texas; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009.Date accessed: 8 March 2011
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Date accessed: 8 March 2011
The Weïrd Sisters were thoughtful in their mind-tricking prophecies, compelling Macbeth to take action to make their predictions become true. A little truth in the prophecies convinced him that the rest of the predictions would come true and gives him the ideas of “[his] black and deep desires” to kill his king (Doc A). The Weïrd Sisters’ apparitions tell of important factors that will lead to Macbeth’s defeat. However, Macbeth overlooks many of the details in understanding their importance such as when the Third Apparition tells that he will not be defeated unless “Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill/Shall come against him.” Macbeth believes that he will never face defeat because “That will never be” (Doc D). This deceit is also demonstrated when Macbeth is about to face Macduff in battle and learns from him that “Macduff was from his mother’s womb/Untimely ripp’d…” (Doc E). At this point, Macbeth realizes his misguidedness and accepts his
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
She decides that it is best to frame the murder on Duncan’s servants by smearing Duncan’s blood on them while they are intoxicated with alcohol. The metaphor “the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil” represents people fearing things that cannot hurt them. Lady Macbeth once again ridicules her husband for his current state of paralysis out of fear. Lady Macbeth needs to be strong and definite in order to embed confidence in Macbeth mind in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled. Switching from Lady Macbeth to Macbeth is an immense change in character since Macbeth feels shocked while remorseful for the action he performed. After Macbeth comes back from Duncan’s room, he is stricken with grief to the point of minor paralysis. His speech retains his weak and feminine tone of voice, but conveys a more conscience driven response, which he states, “What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes./ Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand?” (2.2.76-79). Shakespeare employs the rhetorical device of an allusion to the play of Oedipus the King. Oedipus, the main character of the alluding play, plucks out his eyes, in guilt, because a terrible prophecy came through. Macbeth alludes to Oedipus, the main character, by stating that his hands pluck out his own eyes. This represents Macbeth taking responsibility for committing the murder of the king through his ambition and scheming wife. He feels
In the soliloquy in act II scene I with the dagger, Macbeth’s lines are foreshadowing the ending of the play as well as revealing Macbeth’s innermost thoughts. This soliloquy in particular is the most revealing because his other soliloquies are thoughts that Lady Macbeth already suspects he has. During the dream, Macbeth questions these visions saying, “Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still, And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There's no such thing” (2.1.44-7). This line shows that Macbeth is consumed by these thoughts of killing King Duncan to the point of not being able to see clearly. His inner self shows that he is consumed by the power of the crown, but he is hesitant to commit such a risky crime. Macbeth is hesitant toward killing, and he cannot even reveal this to Lady Macbeth because she is so insistent that he kills Duncan regardless of his fears. Macbeth’s situation differs from Hamlet and Jacques because Macbeth was able to turn to Lady Macbeth whereas Hamlet and Jacques were completely alone. This is significant because even though Macbeth could talk to someone, he still had his inner thoughts that not even his wife could
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.
1.) At first Macbeth sees a dagger floating, leading him to Duncan’s room, which existence he questions. After having murdered Duncan, Macbeth is jumpy and nervous, he imagines he hears things when they are owls. He also is afraid that he is damned to go to hell when he cannot say ‘amen’. He is afraid he will not be able to sleep in peace.
In fear of losing this power to his friend Banquo or his son Fleance, whom of which the witches said would be king after Macbeth and would yield a long line of kings, Macbeth had them murdered in the woods while they were out horseback riding. This proves that he truly believes in what the witches have to say about him and his future, which leads him to back to seek out more of the witches half truths to see what else would come of his future. The next set of prophecies that the witches had to offer were shown in a set of three apparitions. The first said “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife,” the second apperition then spoke “none of woman born can harm Macbeth,” the third aperition then said “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him”(Shakespeare,168-170). Some say it was the witches fault for Macbeth’s actions next, but in reality it was Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s alone. Due to these three prophecies Macbeth’s level of arrogance went up along with his hunger for power as well, his level of common sense was decreasing faster and faster. Macbeth’s lack of common sense caused him to make rash decisions without thinking them through. Such as when he says “From this moment the very firstlings of my
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 play of “Macbeth”, Shakespeare gradually and effectively deepens our understanding of the themes and most importantly the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The main theme of Macbeth is ambition, and how it compels the main characters to pursue it. The antagonists of the play are the three witches, who symbolise the theme appearance and reality. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relation is an irony throughout the play, as most of their relation is based on greed and power. This is different from most of Shakespeare’s other plays, which are mostly based on romance and trust. There is also guilt that leads Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to the final consequences of the play. As the progresses, the constant changes in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are exposed.
Macbeth shows signs of serious mental deterioration when he sees a dagger appear before him, but doesn’t understand if it’s real or not (II, i, 35-40), later on in his speech he says his other senses made his eyes look foolish or they are the only trustworthy senses (II, I, 44-46)
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a selfish Scottish thane becomes over-ambitious and commits several murders in order to gain and stay in power. After the murders, Macbeth evades suspicion by hiding his guilt and intentions, therefore deceiving others into thinking that he is innocent. Other characters including Lady Macbeth, the witches and the Scottish thanes also use their appearances to hide the truth and deceive others. With these examples, Shakespeare shows that appearances can be deceiving.
This is a play about the bad ending that happens to those who are greedy for power. Macbeth may be good at war, but his knowledge of violence would not make him a good king. But how did a courageous man become so greedy for power over the people? His one big mistake was to believe in lies, a prophecy told by very weird-looking ladies. His second mistake was to begin lying to everyone and to keep faithful to a silly prophecy. His third mistake was to think that there was no way that to make his way to the top. But Shakespeare, like all famous authors, make things very complicated in the story. He shows there is a perfect place for lying without punishment, for those who still would like to use deception and duplicity after the scary consequences of this play. It is dramatic irony when Shakespeare shows Macbeth got the bad ending he deserved after believing in lies and becoming a liar himself, but the whole story of Macbeth is a lie! Like in Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 5, this is a “tale full of sound and fury”, but definitely...
The theme of appearance versus reality is very important in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The characters of Duncan, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth are unable to differentiate between appearance and reality, resulting in tragic consequences. Poor judgment is evidenced by Duncan, who trusts Macbeth too much; Lady Macbeth, who is fooled by the witches; and Macbeth, who is tricked repeatedly by others.
Macbeth’s ambition to obtain power convinces him that it is his destiny to become King of Scotland, and that he should do anything to fulfill that destiny, even if it involves him committing tremendously immoral acts such as murder. After Macbeth realizes that the witches may actually speak the truth due to the second prophecy (Thane of Cawdor) becoming true, he begins to have an eerie and frightening thought of him killing his king and friend, Duncan, in order to ac...
Here Macbeth’s imagination precedes his rational thought, he is stolen in the grip of his fantastical imagination. It is as if the dagger is actually pulling him towards his desires to murder Duncan, rather than being persuaded by an actual inner passion for that motive. Shakespeare uses this scene to demonstrate to the audience that Macbeth’s conscious act of knowing that his desires are immoral and still acting upon them proves him quite the villain. This symbolism brings the audience to savor the play’s hidden meanings and also allows for leeway in the interpretation of the plot.