The Fall of Macbeth
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is about a Scottish solider named Macbeth who is respected and honored for his bravery. Macbeth learns from three witches that he will become king, which causes a spark of desire in him. With his wife fueling the fire, Macbeth becomes king and drunk with power. He murders many innocent people, including Macduff’s wife and children. This causes Macduff to rise against Macbeth and kill him to bring peace back to the kingdom. From a psychological view Macbeth’s psyche and fall from power are influenced by his wife, Lady Macbeth, in her quest for power.
The first thing Lady Macbeth does to damage Macbeth’s psyche is insult his manhood and courage. By doing this she was able to pressure him into anything, including murdering King Duncan so he could take over the thrown. She starts off by telling Macbeth he is too kind to do the job. “Then, she manipulates him through a meticulous process of cruel and piercing emasculation, purposefully designed to attack his warrior status, an identity of utmost importance in his medieval and brutish realm” (Astride, Thompson, He says/she says: Shakespeare's Macbeth (a gender/personality study) ). She does this by telling Macbeth “Art thou afeard/ to be the same in thine own act and valor” (I,iiV,40-41). This is a question of his bravery; she is asking if he is afraid of his desires. She goes on to say “Wouldst thou have that/ Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life/ And live a coward in thine own esteem/ Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would/ 'Like the poor eat i'th’adage (I,iiV,36-46).” Here she is pushing Macbeth into the murder by mocking him with questions such as: will you take what you want or will you live a cowardly life hoping for so...
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...ciless killer and one of Shakespeare’s most transformed characters.
Works Cited
Ancona, Francesco Aristide, and Mary Ives Thompson. "He says/she says: Shakespeare's Macbeth (a gender/personality study)." Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 27.3-4 (2005): 59+. Psychology Collection. Web. 20 Mar. 2014
Muslin, Hyman L. "Macbeth: The Self of Evil." Psychoanalytic Psychology 5.4 (1988): 357-68. ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
"Object Relations Theory." Object Relations Theory. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare." The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
"Till destruction sicken": The catastrophe of mind in Macbeth
Tarantelli, Carole Beebe. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 91.6 (Dec 2010): 1483-501.
Shakespeare created a character in Macbeth who is strongly influenced in his decision making throughout the drama of The Tragedy of Macbeth. This drama is a Tragedy, hence the title, and has a hero, in Macbeth, who has a downfall. Readers become aware of the aspects that lead up to this predicament. Macbeth’s downfall was contributed equally from Lady Macbeth, the three weird sisters, and Macbeth’s ambition.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play about an honest and brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that he will be made Thane of Cawdor and one day King of Scotland. As the first prophecy comes true, Macbeth becomes consumed by ambition and greed leading him to murder King Duncan and taking over the throne. Afterwards he is filled with regretted and guilt yet continues on killing as a means to protect himself, losing sight of the honourable man he once was. Throughout the play Shakespeare uses many stylistic features and language techniques such as imagery, paradoxes and soliloquies to engage his readers, both those of his time and today, as well as highlighting important issues.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press New Folger Edition, 1992
wink at the hand! yet let that be, /" (I, iv, 57-59). Macbeth is vexed
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.
serious if his wife was not more anxious than he was. She, more than her
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, murders the king of Scotland and eventually murders several other people. In the end, Macbeth meets his tragic fate of being killed by the nobleman Macduff. Throughout the play, Macbeth makes decisions that affect his fate, but other characters manipulate his choices and his actions. Early in the play Macbeth, Macbeth has control over his actions, but due to the influence of other characters and his subsequent insanity, by the end of the play, Macbeth has no control over his fate.
The tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare is based on a thane in whom is corrupted by greed and a negative ambition. The character Macbeth contradicts his moral responsibility in this play a great deal; many moral questions are brought forth to Macbeth. He questions himself and whether or not he should follow through with the evil deeds that he does. Macbeths ambition causes him to compromise his honour, he doesn’t take into consideration that he is being trusted and that every action that he takes will have a reaction. Macbeth attains his position as king unjustly. As is evident by the conclusion, justice prevails as usual and Macbeths demise is a result of his evil deeds.
We see how a vigorous Lady Macbeth; initially in association with the witches’ predictions, at-tempts to mirror their disturbance of gender in psychological terms by desiring to "unsex" herself in order to carry out such a powerful action [murder], otherwise, being impossible for a woman to carry out (no offence or sexism is intended when I state this).
After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others. It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven in...
Explore the ways the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth develop throughout the play. Making reference to Shakespeare's use of language and stagecraft, examine the ways the events of the play impact on them and their relationship.
She is a woman, but desires to be cruel and monstrous like a man. In consideration of murdering King Duncan herself, she requests that the spirits “unsex [her there] / And fill her...Of direst cruelty 1.5.44-46”. This matches Shakespeare’s implication of masculinity, as Lady Macbeth feels that if she were a man, she would more easily be able to commit brutal acts without any feeling of remorse. It indicates that men are stereotyped by Shakespeare to be callous and ruthless while women are perceived as rather fair and harmless. Additionally, Lady Macbeth is a large cause of the brutal behaviours that Macbeth demonstrates throughout the play. She convinces Macbeth that if he slaughters Duncan, he will “Be so much more the man 1.7.56”. This continues emphasize that in order to be discerned as a man, one must be violent and cruel. Shakespeare’s ideas regarding theme of manhood are carried out uniquely to a massive extent, as ideas of masculinity are forced upon Macbeth primarily by Lady Macbeth, who is a
According to the classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does macbeth do this?
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth’s desire and ambition leads to her eventual downfall. When Lady Macbeth hears of Macbeth’s prophecy she dreams of the glory and high-standing that awaits being queen. She cannot withhold her ambitions and she is willing to manipulate fate to bring about Macbeth’s prophecy. She invokes evil spirits to be filled from head to toe with cruelty to do the evil actions necessary to make Macbeth king and to remove all remorse and pity for her action from her heart. She is initially able to be involved in the treacherous deeds that are needed to bring about the prophecy quickly, but as the play progresses the weight of the merciless deeds fill her with remorse. The remorse and pain she feels for her wicked ways cause Lady Macbeth to lose control of her life and wither away until the weight of her deeds causes her to die. Lady Macbeth’s wish is partially granted, her mind becomes evil and enables her to do horrific things, but her soul remains pure and unsure of her actions and her remorse for her wicked ways leads to her destruction.
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.