Already the audience can see she has evil plans. “Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valour of my tongue.” (Act 1 scene 5) This exhibits that she wants Macbeth to come back home so she can persuade him to do the evil deed. Later in the scene, Lady Macbeth is afraid that Macbeth is too weak and too compassionate to be a murderer, therefore she asks the gods to replace all her goodness and femininity with cold haunted evilness. This is clear when she calls the evil spirits; “...Unsex me here, Make thick my blood, Stop up th’access and passage to remorse... Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall...” (Act 1 scene 5) So that she can poison her husband’s mind. The audience’s first impression of her is as a remorseless, cold evil wife.
The three apparitions towards the end of the play is a prime example of how the witches contributed to Macbeth’s self downfall. Once Macbeth killed Duncan, he had to continue to kill other people off to protect himself and his wife. Also, when his wife passed away Macbeth stated that it was just her time to go. Furthermore, this shows that fate has complete control over Macbeth. He is even thinking that things are happening because they are supposed to, he is brainwashed by the wicked sisters (Jorgensen).
Macbeth now convinced that he must prove his manliness by becoming king and he must make this happen by murdering Duncan. Although Lady Macbeth is portrayed as the villain, she has to have someone else to what she want which keeps her from doing the dirty work. After Macbeth kills Duncan, it seems that Lady Macbeth helps by finishing the murder by framing someone other than her husband. 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.
All of these deaths are a result of Macbeth’s over ambition to become king, fuelled by the prophecies of the evil witches. Like Macbeth, a tragic hero has choices, a conscience of right from wrong and in the end must die, because to live would create mayhem and a feeling that his actions were justified.
It is continually building up until the end, when all the evil is unleashed upon the world. This song connects to the play because when Macbeth hears about the witches’ prophecies, something evil is born in him. He starts thinking about killing King Duncan and having horrid images of him doing it. His thoughts when he heard the prophecies were: “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion/Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,/Against the use of nature? Present fears/Are less than horrible imaginings./My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/Shakes so my single state of man” (act 1, scene 3, lines 138-143).
The witches' predictions sent Macbeth into his own world where he could not be stopped on his way to becoming king. The brave hero from in Act I has metamorphosised in to someone or something that is completely villainous. Although Lady Macbeth at times in the play provided the spark that caused Macbeth to commit murder, and although she may be villainous, Macbeth is ultimately far more villainous. He will do anything and will stop at nothing to preserve the crown in his head and is entirely driven by his greed and ambition. Macbeth’s rise and fall from power in the play, Macbeth relates very closely to the quotation, “Power corrupts.
Macbeth English Units ½ Shakespeare essay: Macbeth Topic: “The instruments of darkness brought about Macbeth’s downfall.” Do you agree? William Shakespeare’s Macbeth demonstrates the ultimate downfall of a tragic hero manipulated by evil. The forces of evil, namely witches, initiate Macbeth’s downfall, seducing him with the concept of power, firing up his ambition to become king. However, despite their obvious involvement, Macbeth delves deeper into the darker side of his nature on his own, seeking evil and wading further into his imagined river of blood. His downfall was brought about by the instruments of darkness – they planted the idea of Macbeth’s rising power in his head and their influence saw him fall from a noble man to a tyrant of a ruler but regardless of this it was his own conscious choice that ultimately led to his fall from grace.
Evil In Women and Its Effect on Macbeth "...My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is But what is not." (1.3.140-143). Throughout Shakespeare's play, we see that Macbeth is the victim of evil seduction by women. In the above quote the evil is perpetrated by the witches. Lady Macbeth also plays a strong role in his moral corruption.
The Extent to Which Macbeth is Portrayed as a Tragic Hero in Macbeth by William Shakespeare A Shakespearean tragic hero according to Aristotle is usually a prominent figure, who happens to have distinctive flaws in their personality. Because of these flaws, and to a certain extent the influence of external force and or an ‘evil’ antagonist the character will experience a fall from prominence that will eventually lead to his suffering and often to his death. In Macbeth’s case, his fatal flaws are his impressionability, greed and most importantly his “vaulting ambition” and hubristic character. There is no direct antagonist in the play, but Macbeth is influenced to murder by both the Witches and Lady Macbeth to an extent. We see the degeneration of a valiant soldier, ‘Noble Macbeth’ to a vicious murderer, ‘this dead butcher’.
?.Speak, I charge you" (71-79). As scholar A. C Bradley observes, "The words of the witches are fatal to [Macbeth] only because there is in him something which leaps into light at the sound of them" ( 289). However, this ambitious attitude soon changes to passivity when he realizes the grave actions that are required of him. The contrast between Macbeth's ambition and his passivity-caused by reluctance to do evil-is depicted clearly by his actions and thoughts that occur before he murders Duncan.