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Macbeth analysis
macbeth and his murders
macbeth character delvelopment
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Each day is passing by unknowingly, everyone just hoping for the best… as if it was even our choice to make. In the play Macbeth, the argument of “Free will vs. fate”, is present since the very beginning. When the witches’ are sharing their prophecies, Banquo is simply finding it amusing, yet, Macbeth is taking everything in a literal matter. Macbeth, free-willingly, is choosing to pay close attention to what the three odd sisters are saying, “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!” (5). Soon after Ross and Angus are entering to join Macbeth and Banquo, they start giving the newly good news, “…[The king] bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor” (7), which of course is making Macbeth and Banquo fall into a state of confusion. Whilst is occurring, Banquo is very much in thought, trying to figure of what is happening, in the other hand, Macbeth is going back to the witches’ insights. Banquo is going on, arguing that “…oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tells us truths…” (8). The quote, in my view, …show more content…
Macbeth’s thoughts are filling up with the fact that he cannot have children, so he is saying “For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murder’d” (35). With that being said, Macbeth is making a decision to get rid of Banquo and Fleance, to change his fate. Interestingly enough is that Macbeth makes a decision to change fate, but what is actually happening is he is reacting to fate. Granting, Macbeth is picking evil over good by wanting more for himself even if it means losing his best friend and sanity. However, Macbeth is actually embracing the fact that, well, he is unable to sleep, or to feel innocent anymore due to all his sins so “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill” (39). In other words, once he committed sin, the next time got
Macbeth is the remaining contributor to turning himself into the power-hungry animal he is before he is finally taken down. Macbeth let himself get talked into killing Duncan; he rationalizes with himself to kill Banquo. He is too ambitious. As soon as the witches cast the prophecy that he would be King, Macbeth lets himself be jealous. Once it is an option, he realizes how divine it would be to be King. Now, Macbeth will do what is necessary to get there, even if he suffers terrible consequences. After killing Duncan, Macbeth suffers by not being able to speak. “As they seen me with these hangman’s hands,/List’ning their fear. I could not say ‘Amen’/When they did say ‘God bless us’” (2.2.38-40). Macbeth cannot utter the sacred words of God; moreover, this illustrates to the reader how terrible the consequences are psychologically for this murder. Macbeth is also jealous of the prophecy Banquo gets, which also drives him to kill Banquo. Soon after he kills Banquo, Macbeth hosts a banquet, where Banquo’s seat is left empty. Only Macbeth truly knows what has happened to Banquo. However, he hallucinates that Banquo is at the table with all the guests when Macbeth says, “Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee./Thy bones are marrowless; thy blood is cold;/Thou hast no speculation in those eyes/Which thou dost glare with” (3.4.113-116). Macbeth is seeing Banquo at his banquet even after he ordered murders to kill Banquo and Fleance, Banquo’s son. Macbeth cannot believe his eyes, he is shocked at the sight of Banquo and he is losing his mind. Macbeth endures horrific hallucinations, falling into the depths of insanity. These two quotations in the play are very important because they emphasize how Macbeth has turned into a mon...
Guilt surrounds Macbeth for the second time when he sends out the murderers to kill Banquo, his old friend. Macbeth had no other choice but to get rid of Banquo. Banquo had witnessed the three witches and the prophecies. One prophecy was that his son would become king one day "To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings"(Act3 scene1 line70). In order for Macbeth to be safe is to kill Banquo. Banquo may assume what had happened and tell the people of Scotland. "For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; for them the gracious Duncan have I murdered; Put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them, and mine eternal jewel".
The three witches told Macbeth of his fate. Did the events in Macbeth?s life occur because of the witches? prophesy or was it because of the choices he made? Could there possibly be some of both? What caused Macbeth to fall? Was it his fate or his free will?
It is obvious that Macbeth is constantly enacting his free will on his life. His fate does not entirely dictate what transpires in his life. Macbeth would never have become King, killed Banquo, descended to madness, and be killed, without choosing to commit the actions ...
In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the character Macbeth acts on free will as opposed to fate. The definition of free will is having the ability to make a choice; including the possession of options, logical reasoning for choosing each option, as well as understanding the consequences of each decision. Macbeth obeys all the criteria, using “fate” as an excuse to act like a murder-crazy lunatic, ultimately resulting in his demise.
Macbeth’s ambition is to remain king for as long as possible and he will kill anybody who stops this from happening. Macbeth feels as if he was given a childless rule, and that his legacy will not continue on in fears his rule will be taken away by someone outside his family. Macbeth states, “For Banquo’s issue, I have filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murder 'd, put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them, and mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man. to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings”(Shakspeare 3.1.64-69). Macbeth had committed murder, poisoned his own mind, and destroyed his soul only to end up benefiting Banquo’s heirs. Macbeth, being the paranoid character that he is, feels threatened by this and orders both Banquo and Fleance to be killed. In Act 3, Macbeth says that, “and mine eternal jewel, given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!” (Shakspeare 3.1.67-9). Seeing this choice of act, leads Macbeth’s blind ambition doing all he can, in order to remain where he is, even if he is ‘blind’ to what it going on and fails to truly understand the concept of his choices in killing Banquo, which only further deteriorates his mind because of his thirst for power, causing
Macbeth’s choice to put his trust in the witches, rather than take heed like Banquo, leads to his own destruction. Macbeth first encounters the three witches after his victory over the Norwegians. When Macbeth passes the three witches on the road, the greet him with, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!” All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (I,iii,49-51). Macbeth doubts these claims until Ross and Angus soon tell him of his newly acquired title, the Thane of Cawdor. He starts to believe the sisters to be true and that he just might become king. Macbeth jumps to the conclusion that the three sisters are of the supernatural and decides to trust them. He does so despite Banquo’s warning, “ But ’tis strange. And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray ’s in deepest consequence...
Fate is one person's destiny, it cannot be understood by mere mortals but a greater power beyond human comprehension. Fate is so powerful that it controls a person's outcome on life before it happens. Many people become victims of fate in which they catch a glimpse of what their future is going to look like, but do not totally grasp the outcome. Macbeth cannot fully comprehend the possible outcome of his fate because he is mortal, and therefore is a victim to his power driven quest and his ultimate fate. Many have been said to agree with this statement. For example, as stated in Shakespeare A to Z, "The Witches are an enactment of the irrational. The supernatural world if terrifying because it is beyond human control, and in the play it is therefore symbolic of the unpredictable force of human motivation." The magic of the witches is thus an image of human moral disruption. Through their own uncertain nature, they demonstrate- and promote- the disruption in the world of they play.
...le Macbeth tells them that ‘every man be master of his time’ so that he can ‘keep alone’. By choosing to isolate himself and not inform Lady Macbeth of his plans to murder Banquo we see how Macbeth feels as if he can’t even trust his closest companions. After turning his back on Lady Macbeth, Macbeth becomes fixated not only on the prophecies of the witches but when he hints to Lady Macbeth that ‘a deed of dreadful note’ will fall upon Banquo and his son he talks like the witches. This shows how Macbeth has turned his back on seeking council from his lords and advisors and begins to act as a king who instead of rationally thinking things out, he chooses to justify his reasons on prophetic predictions from a world of sorcery.
Banquo is saying that it is strange how “the instruments of darkness,” (1.3.136) the witches, can lead Macbeth to harm by tricking him. They do this by telling Macbeth a small trifle – that he will become Thane of Cawdor. While this comes true, it is actually a result of Macbeth’s acts of loyalty to the king. Once this first prophecy of the witches proves true, Macbeth bel...
Banquo and Macbeth are foils, a literal term used to highlight the contrast between a tragic hero and hero. When Banquo hears “farther a line of kings, though he will be none himself” he easily accepts this and allows destiny to take part, the stark opposite to Macbeth’s reaction to his personal prophecies. Fate and supernatural forces commonly occur transpiring Macbeth’s numerous acts of violence.
How much of an influence does fate have on the ideals of a person? Is Macbeth acting out the selfish desires of his own accord? Fate is thought to be unavoidable, and all the paths of life lead to a destiny that is inescapable. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, not only is Macbeth’s hand forced in committing a murder, his fate is expedited in the process. Macbeth is in control of his own destiny, but is spurned into decisions by the Witches and his wife. Although Macbeth believes he is controlled by fate, a more thorough inspection reveals his control over all his actions.
The second malicious decision chosen by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was to have Banquo and his sons killed. This would cancel out the possibility of Banquo's sons becoming kings. In Act III scene 1, Macbeth states that Banquo and his sons would be murdered by saying, "Banquo, thy soul's flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight." (p.91) The consequence of the decision to kill Banquo and his sons started when Macbeth felt more guilt and developed a worried conscience in the form of a vision of Banquo's ghost.
When reading William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, it seems that Macbeth was predestined to do the terrible deeds that he did. However, there is also a valid argument that Macbeth exercised his free will and chose to do those things on his own. This discussion leads into many different topics, but it relates most to spirituality. The concept of free will and how it relates to Macbeth and our present lives yields a relevant and interesting topic for further discussion.
Whether or not the concept of fate is legitimate is regularly debated by many people. Some believe that the events of one’s life are predetermined by a supernatural power, out of human control. Others believe that free will allows us to create our own fate, and that one’s decisions determine how the events of one’s life play out. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, both fate and free will are predominant themes in the play. The ever-present supernatural aspect of the play can create an interesting debate over whether or not Macbeth’s downfall could have played out differently, or even been avoided completely. The witches’ prophecies had an impact on Macbeth’s actions, however, it is ultimately free-will that causes his downfall.