Discussion of William Shakespeare's Macbeth

Interestingly, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, clearly illustrates Macbeth’s ambition to becoming the king. In order for Macbeth to become king he uses poor judgment when he decides to kill King Duncan. After he is king, he struggles in maintaining his position. Moreover, it is also argued that Macbeth’s judgment became negatively influenced by the witches prophesies, as well as Lady Macbeth. It is as if they were able to poison his mind and alter his sense of moral and ethical judgment.

Macbeth is a tragic hero who causes suffering by committing murder and distress, exemplifying the negative effects of a bloodthirsty desire for power. Lady Macbeth torments her husband Macbeth in going through with the evil deed of murder which leads her to be the villain. Macbeth begins in this play as a loyal, trustworthy warrior who sees himself later as king. When the witches confront Macbeth about the prophecy of him becoming king, his aspiration is distressed by his physical audacity and self ambiguity. The witches Prophecy upon Macbeth cause him to feel restless and have thoughts about if it is destined for him to become king.

This advice causes him to become scared and makes him feel as if he needs to kill more people to protect himself. This false sense of fate and power on his part is a major factor in his downfall. So, the witches influence Macbeth by causing his ascension, his madness, and his demise. They cannot thus compel his will to evil; but they do arouse his passions and stir up a vehement and inordinate apprehension of the imagination, which so perverts the judgment of reason that it leads his will toward choosing means to the desired temporal good.)

This causes... ... middle of paper ... ...characters that are important in contributing to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are an example of this as they deliver prophecies to Macbeth that are necessary to Macbeth’s change in attitude and which lead to his downfall. The witches cause Macbeth to believe he is destined to be King and that no one is able to stop him. Additionally, Duncan is significant to Macbeth’s downfall. Duncan is murdered by Macbeth in order for him to become King and this murder makes Macbeth more ambition and determined which leads to his downfall.

His wife, or the witches who foresee him becoming king often take the blame for being the catalyst of Macbeth’s troubles and therefore are often portrayed as villainous. Macbeth himself is the villain of the play as he gives up his morals in order to fulfill his ambitions, thus enabling him to act un-ethically and assume a villainous role,

Macbeth’s lack of courage throughout ... ... middle of paper ... ... see what must be done to correct all of the wrongdoings. In the beginning of the play the three witches chant “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (I.iii.12), which means the natural order has been reversed. This is a significant quote because it signifies how the natural order was upset by Macbeth killing King Duncan so he could become King. Which is where Macduff steps in to correct the erroneous doings, and rid Scotland of the evil Macbeth diseased it with. The unavoidable deaths of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth occurred because of their unquenchable desire for power.

Lady Macbeth is also caught in the depths of deception and eventually kills herself. Therefore, it is obvious that the main characters of Shakespeare's Macbeth are all negatively affected by the recurring theme of deception. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth uses her ability to mislead others in many ways. First of all, she decides to use deception to push her husband's ambition to be king. ...Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round...(1.5.25-28) Lady Macbeth believes that, to be successful in his ambitions, Macbeth must rise above his goodness and accept her evil ways.

In the play, the central protagonist Macbeth, is confronted with the supernatural and the prophesy of becoming king. He cannot help but want this position, as this flaw also includes his weakness through over ambition. It is generally said that those possessing a flaw will die. The first Thane of Cawdor was a traitor, Duncan was too trusting, Banquo did not act on the knowledge he had about Macbeth’s murders, Lady Macbeth helped plot the murder of Duncan, and Macbeth destroyed the natural order and harmony of the time. All of these deaths are a result of Macbeth’s over ambition to become king, fuelled by the prophecies of the evil witches.

The prophecies, which were told by the weird sisters, were one of the factors, which contributed to the decline of his strong character. It is believed that if the predictions hadn't been made about Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor, and an eventual king, he would still be focused on his career as a warrior. Greed and power drive humans to change themselves, when it is not needed. As a result of the prophecies, Macbeth's curiosity was aroused, and he know was driven to become King of Scotland. As the play progresses, Macbeth slowly relies on the witches prophecies.

She knows of her husband weakness of mind at what the witches have said to Macbeth so intends to persuade him " with the valour of my tongue." Obviously learning from this Lady Macbeth seems to use her evil that she has gathered to push Macbeth into this evil deed. Is it all Lady Macbeth? How could just his wife push such an overruling man into evil? She must have noticed something in his behaviour that was in some way unusual.