Fear, it is a drive that keeps you alive when danger is present. A story about ambition and power is riddled with fear as the underlying motivation, more than ambition for all main characters within the Macbeth universe. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth fears for what he has done and the consequences of his actions, from this point on, Macbeth live in fear. He becomes king and realizes that the other witches prophecies will come true, out of fear he sends killers out for Banquo and his son. Only when Macbeth shows no fear is when he meets his demise, and is slain by Macduff.
In act 1 scene 3 when Banquo and Macbeth both encounter the witches, he is given the prophecy of becoming king. “All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!, All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king
…show more content…
But when the decision came whether or not to kill Duncan, he falters and explains to Lady Macbeth that he will not kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth replies with “Hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale” (1.7-38-40) She is asking him why he would be so scared of the thought of killing Duncan and becoming king, Lady Macbeth verbally abuses Macbeth by calling him “no man” or that she would rather kill her own child then back out of a commitment. Macbeth is convinced to kill Duncan afterward, not because of ambition, but because of his fear towards Lady Macbeth.
After Macbeth kills Duncan, Macbeth is seen in constant fear when he recollects his memory of the witches prophecies, “ Lesser than Macbeth, and greater, Not so happy, yet much happier, Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (1.3-67-69) Macbeth is in fear of Banquo taking over the crown as easily as he did, by killing the past king in his sleep, Macbeth has no children and is worried that he will leave no heir to the throne. This prompts him to send killers after Banquo and his
Fear motivates us to do many things, whether they are right or wrong. In the play Macbeth, fear was the main motivation that influenced the outcome of the play. This can be proved by the subsequent murders after Duncan's. Why were these committed? Macbeth was scared of being caught and having to pay for the wrongs he had done. Also, look at Lady Macbeth. The constant washing of her hands, sleepwalking, and other behavior like this is done out of fear. It resembles her husband fear of being caught. The final piece of proof is Macbeth's actions. They were all due to fear, not only of being caught but of the witches' prophecies. He was scared of them coming true and tried to stop them from happening. This whole play was inspired by fear and what it can do to a person.
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
Banquo was a threat to him because he was witness when the witches told them the prophecy. Macbeth said, “He's also clever enough to act when the time’s right. He’s the only one I’m afraid of ”(p.51). In the beginning he was hesitant and didn’t want to kill, but now it seemed natural to him. Overtime, Macbeth’s personality slowly changed and is willing to dispose those who pose a threat to him. Macbeth said to his wife, “My dear wife, My mind’s full of scorpions! You know that Banquo and his son Fleance are alive.” Macbeth destroyed himself by his wicked and selfish ambitions. He let his greed lead him to
Both Banquo and Macbeth are introduced as loyal captains in the king`s army, but as the play progresses, Macbeth is overcome with the desire of power due to his reception of the prophecies. Upon hearing, Banquo does not become greedy for power, but, alternatively, he is suspect and cautious begins wondering if “we [Macbeth and Banquo] eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?” (1.3). Realizing the witches were simply trying to make him ambitious, Banquo remains loyal to his king and his country, despite knowing that he will have a dynasty to rule Scotland. Despite having the motivation, Banquo does not commit treason against his king but rather wants to “keep my [his] bosom franchis'd and allegiance clear” (2.1), meaning that he has no desire to betray the king for personal gain. Conversely, upon hearing the witches’ prophecies, Macbeth becomes ambitious for power and follows them blindly. He is curious about the witches’ prophecies and demands they “stay… [and] tell me [him] more” (1.3). When he hears that the prophecy that his heirs will rule Scotland he will be king, Macbeth`s ambition is born and his thoughts instantly turn to murder, even though the witches had not mentioned murdering King Duncan which shows that Macbeth has previously thought about murdering his king. As a result, Macbeth has no loyalty to neither his king nor his country and commits treason. While both Banquo and Macbeth hear the witches` prophecies that promised power, only Macbeth conceded to their prophecy and became overcame with ambition. Macbeth is a direct antithesis to the honorable, dependent Banquo. He transforms into a greedy man who is obsessed with his
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".
In Lady Macbeth‚s eyes if Macbeth did not kill Duncan than he would not be a man to her anymore, she believes that he would be denying all urges for greater wealth and prosperity that man should have. She is wondering why he is not taking the opportunity to be king when he can easily do so, in reality, we know why Macbeth is contemplating the murder of Macbeth, because he has morals, qualities that we consider manly today.
Later in the play Banquo starts to have a bad feeling about Macbeth. "Thou hast it now: King, Cowdor, Glamis, all,/ as the weird women promised, and I fear/ thou play'dst most foully for `t." III i 1-3, this is a quote from Banquo explaining how he feels about Macbeth's predictions coming true. Macbeth realizes this about Banquo and he starts to have feelings about killing Banquo. This isn't the only reason he feels this way, the witches had also made predictions for Banquo. "Thou shall get kings, though thou be none." I iii 67, Macbeth doesn't want any of Banquo's family to rule Scotland; he wants his own family to continue to rule. Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his on Fleance. The murderers end up killing Banquo, but Fleance gets away.
This shows that he really didn't want to kill Duncan, but he did it in order to prove himself to Lady Macbeth, and to become the king. By the end he had no fear, and had killed not only Duncan but also many other people. He now had different views from which he had in the beginning of the play. Macbeth realizes that he is no longer afraid "no, nor more fearful. (Act V, scene vii, l 9). He is now considered a man, but he doesn't like the fact that he has killed all these people.
After murdering Duncan, Macbeth feels that he needs to kill Banquo. He is afraid that Banquo is going to be a problem for him. He is suspicious that Banquo believes Macbeth had something to do with Duncan's murder, "Our fears in Banquo/ Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature/ Reigns that which would be feared" (3.1.47-49). He plans to kill him, though Banquo has made no direct threat against Macbeth. He speaks of feeling inferior to Banquo, even though he is king. "There is none but he/ Whose being I do fear; and under him/ My genius is rebuked" (3.1.53-55). Banquo is Macbeth's closest friend, he is starting to lose trust in everyone around him.
After Macbeth was successfully crowned, his fear did not let go of him. Earlier in the play right before the murder of Duncan, Macbeth was afraid that if he would kill Duncan this sin would come back to haunt him. “ This even handed justice commends the ingredience of our poisoned chalice to our own lips”(Act 1 Sc. 7 p. 39). So now when everything seemed fine, Macbeth was actually very afraid that something was wrong.
After the death of Duncan, Macbeth begins to distance himself from Lady Macbeth, and he becomes ambitious. Despite being a king, Macbeth is worried about Banquo:
Moreover, Banquo was killed due to Macbeth’s fear the prophecy that he “shalt get kings, though thou be none” will come true
(Act 3, scene 1, 68 - 75) In this sense, Macbeth fears that his children won't get the throne of Scotland, and instead, Banquo’s children would get the throne, as per the prophecy. Macbeth kills Banquo and his son in fear of him losing the line of kings to him. He shows a frightening persona that looks very out going as an innocent the first half of the play. “To beguile the time, look like the time, bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower.”
It also does not help the fact that the prophecies of the three witches is what drives forth his desire in the first place. His desire and greed of wanting to become king causes him to murder the lovable King Duncan (along with influences from his wife), and his guilt and yearning for the title clash within him as his wanted to longing to keep this title for himself but did not have the heart to kill him. The murder of the old king rouses his doubt, along with his desire to have his future sons continue his line on the throne. With these two characteristics and motive on hand, he must eliminate Banquo, person given the third prophecy. Through his death, he return in a form of a silent yet specteric messenger, giving Macbeth the memo that, “he cannot easily extinguish the human force within himself that the torment of fear.
Lady Macbeth is a vicious and overly ambitious woman, her desire of having something over rules all the moral behaviors that one should follow. On the beginning of the novel, Macbeth receives the news that if Duncan, the current king, passed away he would be the next one to the throne. So, Lady Macbeth induces Macbeth into killing Duncan by filling his mind with ambition and planting cruel seeds into his head. After accomplishing his deed of killing the king, he brings out the daggers that were used during the murder, and says, “I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not.” This is his first crime and Macbeth is already filled with guilt and regret. He shows the reader to be the weak one of the duo. Lady Macbeth as the cruel partner still has some sentiment and somewhat a weakness in her heart and mind. When talking about Duncan she says, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” Weakness is still present and will always be there throughout the novel but this one change the fact that Lady Macbeth is still the stronger and cruel one.