In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, one character has always baffled the audience on who he really is—Macbeth. He appears strong to the world, but that is just a wall. Hidden behind that wall is his true cowardness. And both his strength, and weakness can be seen throughout the play. But what does make someone strong or weak? Does the definition of weak fit for Macbeth? It easily does fit Macbeth. He is a coward, morally, mentally, and physically weak.
Being strong can be defined in many ways. For this situation, strength could mean plain power, the higher title you have, the stronger you are. It seems as if all of the play is just a game of power between every character. A game of king of the hill. The player (or in this case the lord) at the top of the hill has the most strength. Everyone else wants to be on the top of the hill and have the most power as well, but only one person can be that king. While on the other hand, strength in the play could also mean how mentally or morally strong you are. In other words one can gain strength depending on, if he/she gets tricked easily, how he/she gains his/her power, or if they are mentally able to. Both definitions of the word strong apply to the situation. Macbeth is strong on the outside due to his power, but in the inside he is weak, morally ruined, and cowardly.
While he may seem strong, Macbeth is in a way powerless. Throughout the play there is evidence of his non-powerful alter ego. One example is of early in the play when Macbeth hires three murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance. Macbeth stated that the murderers would kill Banquo right after he hired them. Here is that part: “I'll call upon you straight: abide within. It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul's flight, If it ...
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...l King Duncan. The Witches and Lady Macbeth are what ultimately alter Macbeth’s thoughts on killing Duncan. Again, a strong individual would make up his/her own mind, not let others like witches or his/her own partner make decisions for him/her.
All in all, Macbeth is weak. He is morally poor, mentally unstable, and eventually not even on the throne because of his own death. Even that was caused by his feeling of invulnerability that the witches convinced him into having. He doesn’t have the courage or strength to kill people on his own. He lets the witches manipulate him as a person, and manipulate his thoughts. Lastly, Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth into killing Duncan. Macbeth isn’t strong enough to make a decision on his own. He appears as the most powerful man in Scotland on the outside, but on the inside, within his thoughts and decisions, he is a failure.
Banquo is Macbeth's best friend in the tragedy. Banquo is with Macbeth when Macbeth meets the witches and they tell him of his upcoming fortune. Banquo notices how Macbeth is too ambitious after he sees Macbeth's reaction to the witches predictions. He feels even though Macbeth is his best friend he feels Macbeth is capable of wrong doing in the future to get what he wants. This is shown in one aside after they leave the witches. "…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. Cousins, a word, I pray you. (Act1, SceneIII,line123)" This quote is stating that Banquo thinks Macbeth may do anything to get what he wants no matter what the consequences are. Duncan is the King of Scotland and Macbeth's leader. Duncan's view of Macbeth is narrow-minded. He perceives him as a loyal, noble, trustworthy, soldier whom he is very fond of. Duncan also feels Macbeth is the reason for them winning the war. There is many times in the play where this is pointed out by the things Duncan says. For example, "Give me your hand. Conduct me to mine host: we love him highly, And shall continue our graces towards him...(Act1, SceneVI,line29)" This quote shows that Duncan seems to feel like he owes Macbeth something for his loyalties and bravery in the war. Duncan's perception of Macbeth will prove to be his downfall.
“O worthiest cousin, the sin of my gratitude even now was heavy on me!”(I. i. 347) the king cannot repay him for what he has done for their kingdom. Macbeth is a highly respected warrior because he is loyal, trusted, and honest man. Macbeth is a vulnerable man; he is weak. Letting other people make decisions for him, he becomes more incapable of resisting how people will view him as a “loyal” soldier since he cannot follow through. In the film Macbeth the setting is right in the middle of war. Macbeth has held the enemy facing him, but he hesitates and looks at his soldiers for the okay to kill the enemy. With that being said, he is seriously self conscious and lets others makes the decisions for him. Before he is going to kill King Duncan, he speaks to himself in the If soliloquy. “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly.”(I. vii. 343) in this quote it shows that he is truly evil since he wants it done quick and easy.
An idea such as power establishes itself in most societies throughout the world. Power sets the basis for order and civilization, but it also causes chaos and collides with other human instincts such as greed and ambition. Power presents itself in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a confusing manner. Macbeth yearns to gain power and has the means to gain it, but the method of his gaining of power have been questioned by critics since its inscription in 1623. Macbeth, while tyrannical in gaining his power in the murdering of Duncan, sets the premise of the story and in this murder makes a name for himself on his leadership qualities. A man’s gain of power should not determine who they are as a ruler or even
From the beginning of the play, Shakespeare characterizes Macbeth to be a figure of power by things such as the defeat of the unloyal thane, and the gain of his title. Though Macbeth appears to represent an idea of power, Macbeth is proven to be a false aid to this perceived symbol of power through the witches involvement, animal nature controlling human nature, man being susceptible to temptation, all climaxing in Macbeth being a powerless, ineffective king. By examining Shakespeare’s imagery of illness, one can determine that Macbeth is a powerless figure that leads him to be an ineffective king.
Strong both against the deed”(I.vii.13,14). In scene vii Macbeth contemplates reasons for killing Duncan and reasons that he should not kill Duncan. During this soliloquy he comes to the conclusion that he should not kill Duncan. Immediately after arriving at this conclusion Lady Macbeth enters and reminds him of the positive impacts killing the king may have. Macbeth is torn by two ...
The Tragedy of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is a tale of a man and his un-bridled ambition, set in ancient Scotland. Macbeth is a nobleman of the king of Scotland, Duncan, who is in mid-war with Norway. Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo encounter three witches. The witches tell the pair that Macbeth will be king, and Banquo’s children will also be kings. Any person in their right mind would question information given to them by strangers, let alone witches, but for some reason these statements intrigue Macbeth. They temp Macbeth to do evil things such as treason, and worse, to kill. Although un-bridled ambition is his main tragic flaw, there is one more that plays a big role in his decisions and the outcome of the story; Macbeth is far too impressionable.
Macbeth, the main character in William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth was not secure in his manhood. This insecurity led to the downfall of Macbeth because he felt the need to prove himself to Lady Macbeth. After he proved himself by killing Duncan, Macbeth became desensitized to killing.
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.
Macbeth is the main character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth goes through drastic changes throughout the play. He changes from good to evil. Many different things cause these changes.
What drove him to become a power hungry tyrant was his wife. She put ideas in his head that changed him. A day before Macbeth would not speak of the idea of killing the king and now he was considering it. By killing the Duncan, gaining the title and king, and not being caught, Macbeth was given an enormous boost. He now felt invincible and let power finally get to him and corrupt him. With this new amount of power, Macbeth was not willing to let it slip away. To protect his power, he did whatever was necessary. Macbeth cowardly had Banquo killed, going against everything he ever believed in. Killing Banquo was not enough for Macbeth. Shakespeare shows to the audience how power can make a person go higher in the world but at the same time make them more vulnerable. Macbeth was now vulnerable, to solve this he sent the murderers to kill Macduff.
Tragic heroes, who destined for a serious downfall, are the protagonist of a dramatic tragedy. A tragic hero is usually a great hero, who gets the most respect from other people; on the other hand, a tragic hero can also lose everything he gained because of his mistakes. His downfall is the result of a wrong judgment, a flaw which might combined with fated and external forces. The downfall can cause the tragic hero to suffer for the rest of his life. In many literary works, the downfall of the tragic heroes usually happen in their highest point. In the same way, Macbeth is a tragic hero in the play called “The Tragedy of Macbeth” which is written by a legendary writer, William Shakespeares. Macbeth is a great general who gained many respect from the people and even the king. In the highest point of his life, because of seeking for greater power, it created Macbeth’s downfall. Macbeth, a tragic hero, causes suffering for himself and others by committing murders and creating distress, which are the negative effects of seeking for a greater power.
Macbeth did not have to kill all of the innocent people he had murdered. Instead, he could have turned himself in and said he killed the king. Like most people he didn’t want to die, so he decided to keep this as a secret and tried to live life as best as he could. In order for this to stay a secret he needed to murder a few people. He first had murderers go out and kill Banquo and Fleance. The murderers were able to kill Banquo, but Fleance escaped. Macbeth felt better that Banquo was dead since Banquo knew about the witches rules in order for Macbeth to become king. Therefore, Banquo would assume that Macbeth murdered the king. Now, there would be no assumption from Banquo that Macbeth killed Duncan. Macbeth wanted Fleance to be dead, since the witches said that Banquo’s sons will become the next kings after Macbeth, but Macbeth wanted his family to be the royal family forever. The next person that gets murdered by Macbeth is: Macduff’s family. Macbeth had people hired to kill Macduff’s family. This led Macduff and ten thousand soldiers from England to defeat Macbeth and ultimately kill the villain. All of the murders and the stress that people had to go through because of Macbeth made him a
In Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, Shakespeare creates the ruthless character Macbeth, who is willing to go beyond any measure in order to attain the power of being king, including murder, deceit, betrayal and overpowering the chain of being. Macbeth was first tempted by the idea of kingship when three witches presented him with their portent of Macbeth becoming the next King of Scotland. Ebullient, Macbeth, immediately informed his wife of the news and they both pondered the thought of having the power to rule all of Scotland. Lady Macbeth, a power seeker herself, promptly schemed a plan to kill King Duncan in order for her and her husband to rule, displaying her ready ambition for power. Macbeth’s thirst for power ate away at his conscience
Macbeth is a very complex character whom reflects man's thirst for power through the drastic changes of his personality; thus being one of the slightest reasons in which make this intriguing character, greatest of all Shakespearean’s well-known works.
where others may not. Macbeth is weak. He gave in to his evil side by even