Theme Of Consequentialism In Macbeth

When thinking about ethics the most common definition would be the behavior for distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable actions. Ethics refer more to rules from an outside source, morals however, are a test of one's individual principles regarding right and wrong. When judging morality, consequentialism is the belief that the goodness of an action should only be determined by the end result. Consequentialism is a good test of one's moral compass by viewing how one sees their personal gain versus the steps took achieve the goal. The most common saying relating to consequentialism is “the ends justify the means” saying that it does not matter how one would achieve his goals as long as he gets there eventually. This statement

In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, we can see the theme of consequentiality scattered throughout the play. The most pivotal moment in the play regarding consequentialist ideas would have to be when Macbeth murders king Duncan in order to grasp the throne. Macbeth had achieved his goal of becoming king, thus for a while he overlooked the means he took to take the throne. Not too long after Macbeth defied his morals to achieve his goal he started to think deeply about what he did. Macbeth began to not being able to sleep, become depressed, and even started experiencing hallucinations. Macbeth had followed consequentialist ideals to benefit himself, and it had worked for him in the beginning. However in the long run Macbeth's actions caught up to him and ended up ruining his life by driving deep into his conscience. This murder caused him to feel remorse by going against his fundamental human morals. This is a prime example of consequentialism not succeeding in its attempts, a consequentialist would believe that if Macbeth was a better king than Duncan, then him murdering Duncan would be justified. This is not how the world works, by committing morally wrong actions for personal gain or even the greater good does not justify the