Macbeth Essay

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a story of a great Scottish warrior hero who falls prey to the temptations of his own aspirations to be king. Macbeth hastily silences everyone who even has a chance of standing in the way of his power. Initially, he is able to overcome his scruples to obtain the position he desires, but soon the uneasiness catches up to he and his wife in shocking manners. The dagger scene, banquet scene, and sleepwalking scene are all related because they demonstrate the guilt that both the Macbeths experience after the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and the Macduffs and how their actions are driving them to their inevitable deaths.
From the start, the dagger scene foreshadows the great internal struggles that both Macbeth and his wife will have to wrestle with. It is never clear whether Macbeth is causing his own hallucinations or whether the witches chose to create the apparition of a dagger to taunt him. Macbeth sees a floating dagger before him that is leading him towards Duncan, and he doesn’t know what to make of it (Shakespeare 266). It is obvious that it isn’t physically there, but his musings about it show that he is already having doubts. Part of Macbeth’s conscience knows that once he kills Duncan he will never be able to change his path or take back his actions. He restrains himself from touching the dagger even though he would like to try and grasp it (Shakespeare 266). It seems already that he is not in his right mind. At this point, Macbeth still has our sympathy and the choice to turn back. Be it witchcraft or his own decision, he took the self-indulgent path. Soon enough, there is a valuable symbol of the bloody crimes to follow. While he’s soliloquizing, drops of blood appear on the dagger apparit...

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...er husband are afflicted with the same remorse, but whilst one appears confident, the other wavers, and vice versa. In this scene, Lady Macbeth’s internal discord is exposed; thus, her final desperate act is intelligible to the audience.
In brief, the three scenes discussed above are illustrations of the compunction the two Macbeths are equally afflicted with after they preside over the murders of their king, a close friend, and an entire innocent family. Neither one was expecting such a strong impact on their minds, but neither could hide from their guilty consciences after the fact. Inevitably, Lady Macbeth is overcome with despair and commits suicide, not surprising given her poor, ravaged mind. Macbeth, too, seems to succumb to his inexorable destiny by Macduff’s sword, solidifying the pervasive theme that unchecked ambition must lead to an unpleasant end.