“For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name… Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chop and fixed his head upon our battlements” (Act I, Scene 2, lines 2). He was one of the last people anyone would expect to kill King Duncan. Shakespeare chooses a noble character such as Macbeth, to emphasize how greed and power can alter a person’s good morals. In Act one we start to see Macbeth’s desire for more power rise. “Stars, hide your fires; Let no light see my black and deep desires.
While Macbeth started the play as an exuberant warrior who was eager to bend his knee to the royal throne, he finishes as a mere shadow of his previous self. In the middle of the play, Macbeth is presented to us as an unstable man who is willing to do anything within his power to preserve the power that he has stolen for himself. By the end of the play, Macbeth is pathetic and it clearly shows in the tomorrow soliloquy. As Thomas De Quincy states in On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, “Shakespeare must throw interest on the murderer. Our sympathy must be with him.” While for the most part Macbeth commands no sympathy, if there was ever a place we would feel sorry for him it is here.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare vividly demonstrates a recognizable theme of the weighty pull that power holds over those with authority. Shakespeare masterfully illustrates the demise of man through Macbeth who falls under the control of the lust of power. Throughout the story, Shakespeare gradually suffocates his character, Macbeth, by the potent grasp of the desire for power. In the beginning, Macbeth is spoken of as a war hero; seemingly not concerned with his advancement, but rather honorably fighting for king and country. As described by a soldier after a battle, “But all’s too weak, For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name— Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valor’s minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave; Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements.” (1.2) However, Macbeth is impressionable and onc... ... middle of paper ... ...t I bear Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.” (5.3) Yet just a short time later he demands news about his enemy and for his armor for protection.
One must be familiar with the early days of English literature in order to comprehend the foundation of much of more modern literature’s basis. Shakespeare’s modern influence is still seen clearly in many ways. The success of Shakespeare’s works helped to set the example for the development of modern dramas and plays. He is also acknowledged for being one of the first writers to use any modern prose in his writings. Another sign of a truly dominant writer is one who finds even the entire existing vocabulary of the language limiting to his creativity.
The role reversal of husband and wife is represented in the belittling of Macbeth, his own “retribution” for being incompetent to carry out the plans exactly. Macbeth, after murdering Duncan and implying that his sons had their hands in the act, becomes king. This is his reward for betraying the trust that the late king had put in him so faithfully... ... middle of paper ... ...s life. I found it very interesting that Macbeth died so young, because of the fact that he wanted so much to have power forever. My theory of this play is such that, when Macbeth takes fate into his own hands as early on as Act 2 (the killing of Duncan), he consigns himself to an early death.
He comes out of no where and surprises England by declaring that his dissolute lifestyle is all an act, and that he is just trying to lower the people around him expectations so that he can unfold his true heroic knowledge and t... ... middle of paper ... ...the whole play. The characters all have their own different values and goals and this is why Falstaff can be lazy and dishonest, but he can still be considered honorable in his own way. This also goes along with King Henry IV and also his son Prince Harry. King Henry arranges a murder for Richard II just so that he can seize the throne for himself, yet he still is considered honorable and people view him as a great leader and look up to him. Then there is Prince Harry, he has to earn back his honor from the King and through out the whole play he shows how he is transforming himself form a low-life bum, that he pretends to be to become a honorable and noble leader.
Indeed it can be shown that Macbeth’s pride vulnerability, vaulting ambition, and over confidence brought him to kingship and change the tragic hero into a sinister tyrant, bringing him closer to his death. Pride will always bring a man to their downfall, which is true for Macbeth; Shakespeare made Macbeth a character with multitude amount of pride, which is ones of his major character flaws. Macbeth has an arrogant personality, because of his many triumphant battles Macbeth was apprehending the title of; Price of Cumberland-the highest honor after king. When it was bestowed upon Malcolm, Macbeth was mortified. As a proud man this was a slap to the face, he thought that he was a better representative of that title which provoked him into to becoming king while pushing all morality aside.
He placed evidence on himself so it looks like Edgar is attempting to assassinate Glouscter when really it’s Edmund framing him. He sets all this up in order for Edgar to seem like the bad one so that Edmund will look like the good guy in Gloucester’s eyes. Edmund gets in a lot of trouble to make Edgar think that he is still on his side still. One thing that you can learn through the William Shakespeare is that Edmund can’t be trusted and that he is turning on his family to get what he wants for himself. In other character’s eyes they see Edmund as a good guy and that he has done nothing wrong.
These actions and thoughts are caused by his human nature that resulted into corruption because of temptation and ambition. His aspirations to be king were acceptable, but to kill his way to get the crown shows his inner character and how easily he can be swayed into dark and evil actions. Macbeth gives the audience a sense of how our human nature is naturally inclined to be dark, but how we must be strong enough to overcome evil and achieve greatness.
Even in an inhibited state, Caliban displays his true temperament towards Prospero and utilises his ethos to convince Stephano to fight for his cause, “I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island” (3.2.40-43). Through the contrast of Prospero’s servants, Shakespeare describes on man’s means to regain their status and power, either by loyal duty or