Macbeth's Transition into Darkness

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Macbeth comes from a follower of Duncan, and from this great follower he becomes a ferocious being who willingly kills, whether it is just one person or an entire family. Macbeth obtains many different themes. One of the most important themes is Macbeth’s transition into darkness. His revolution becomes visible from his first murder onwards into his death. Macbeth turns into a dark and ominous being. Macbeth’s transition is deep and dark; he evolves from a faithful follower to a rebellious murderer.
Macbeth’s first kill is startling, but this act of murder starts his murderous ways that would eventually rule his life. Macbeth isn’t sure he wants to commit this murder; however, Lady Macbeth talks him into it anyway. Lady Macbeth has to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan. “But screw your courage to the sticking-place/And we’ll not fail. When Duncan is asleep” (1.7.70-71). She puts so much of a burden onto Macbeth that he begins to contemplate whether or not he should kill Duncan in a soliloquy. “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me./Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell/That summons thee to heaven or to hell” (2.1.75-77). Curran even begins to go deeper into the thought process of Macbeth in these scenes. The murder of a thought will extend to the murder itself, a thought will eventually proceed to the physical act of murder and murder cannot be contained within a guilty mind (Curran 392). The guilty mind that Macbeth is inhibited with eventually enacts his actions. The first action of killing is just the beginning of Macbeth’s vicious ways.
Macbeth kills Duncan, however he is not willing to frame the guards, so Lady Macbeth is forced to go back to the room and frame the guards. She is frightened, but she felt if they want to...

... middle of paper ...

... In the beginning, when Macbeth questioned the killing of Duncan, he originally showed some sense of self-respect. But as for most of his other killings, he doesn’t “think twice” to “point the finger” and kill off his foes. He transforms to the worst possible person, not only killing, but also killing willingly.

Works Cited

Cox, John D. "Religion and Suffering in Macbeth." Christianity & Literature 62.2 (2013): 225-240. Literary Reference Center. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
Curran, Kevin. "Feeling Criminal in Macbeth." Criticism 54.3 (2012): 391-401. Literary
Reference Center. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2013.Print.
Szigeti, Balázs. "The Dialects Of Sin: In Shakespeare's Macbeth and Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Trilogy." Anachronist 14.(2009): 24-46. Literary Reference Center. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

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