The Destruction of Macbeth’s Character in William Shakespeare's Play At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed by Shakespeare as a noble soldier who is brave enough to fight for his country and slay King Duncan’s opponents. He is spirited and obedient, like a dog to its master. Shakespeare introduces Macbeth in a victorious scene, where he is shown as a “valiant” hero and that becomes a platform for Shakespeare to delineate the disintegration of Macbeth’s character, contrasting the start of the play with his satanic attitude at the end of the play. The structure of the plot is organised in this way to make a formidable impact on the audience, as “brave Macbeth” turns completely evil right in front of their eyes. In Act 1 Scene 1, Shakespeare uses visual evil symbolism to create a wicked, malicious atmosphere. The play commences with three beastly witches, dressed in black, hooded cloaks and with gruesome faces to disturb and horrify the audience. The audience in Shakespearean times would have been greatly influenced by them because they strongly believed in the supernatural world and the sight of these witches would have been chilling. This scene creates a corrupt atmosphere; a perfect atmosphere to accompany the tragic hero. This scene also uses lots of foul imagery, for example, the stage directions are thunder and lightning. This suggests chaos, suspense, horror and even death are approaching, and would alarm the Shakespearean audience as well as a modern audience. In Act 1 Scene 2, Macbeth appears to be the boldest man on Earth, as the Sergeant describes how he, “like ... ... middle of paper ... ...e cheering wildly at the end of this “hell-hound’s” life and would be glad to see this tragic, but deeply satisfying ending. In conclusion, Macbeth changes from an ambitious man of strong moral sense to a monstrous man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. By the play’s end, Macbeth has lost all emotion and has turned from a fine natured person to an incredibly evil person. His ambition to be king and strong belief in the witches’ prophecies had brought him to a tragic end of his own life, and also caused the deaths of many others. Shakespeare has used several techniques, including language and dramatic contrast to re-enforce various different themes into the scenes. Both regicides are the climaxes of the play and the audience would be horrified to see a heroic figure degenerate in the way he does.
The mind, though complex in its design, can be one of the weaker parts of the human composition, taking the least amount of damage to break and taking the rest of the body with it when it does. However, the mind does not break as quickly and cleanly as a bone but instead it deteriorates, rotting away like a dead tree, showing no sign of damage until it is too far gone. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s mental state deteriorates as the truths in the prophecy of the witches incite him to take fate into his own hands.
Shakespeare created a character in Macbeth who is strongly influenced in his decision making throughout the drama of The Tragedy of Macbeth. This drama is a Tragedy, hence the title, and has a hero, in Macbeth, who has a downfall. Readers become aware of the aspects that lead up to this predicament. Macbeth’s downfall was contributed equally from Lady Macbeth, the three weird sisters, and Macbeth’s ambition.
have said has come true and now the greatest is yet to come i.e. being
Macbeth's Downfall in William Shakespeare's Play 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare is a play set in 1040 about a Scottish general named Macbeth. It explores the transformation and effect of his ambition upon his life. Although it is set in 1040, it is written in the 1606 under the reign of James 1st. James' very recent accession to the English throne would have been of great contemporary importance and a play which focuses on Kingship would have roused interest too.
opinions in Act 1, Scene 2. The aim of this is to build the suspense
The Character of Macbeth in William Shakespeare's Play Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is a play about murder and tragedy. When we first meet Lady Macbeth’s husband, Macbeth, we see him as a loyal and honourable man, however as we read further into the play his character changes. Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth: “False face must hide what the false heart doth know. ”
At some point in the life of every individual, certain events and changes occur that shape the person into how they will behave and appear in the future. The life of an individual either starts to blossom with opportunity or starts going through a consistent downward spiral. How does it work out perfectly for some and go wrong for others? Macbeth is a prime example of how one decision can alter life forever. As Macbeth tries to successfully pursue his prophecies, his mind and body slowly deteriorate until he has nothing left to live for. Tillyard once explained that the human mind works through reason, will, and passion (Tillyard-The Elizabethan World Picture). These ideas are somewhat parallel to Macbeth’s actions. Once he begins feeling guilty of his actions, fearful of being caught, and driven to have total control, the motives of his mind are gradually moving from being thought out with reason, to will, and finally to passion. As Macbeth makes his descent into death, his passion to be king gradually takes control his whole being. At the lowest point of his existence there is no reason left inside him. His mind is so busy and crazy that he no longer has the ability to make thoughtful and insightful decisions. He goes from being a loyal and careful servant to a deceitful and scattered ruler.
At the start of Act 1, Scene 2 Macbeth is shown brave and loyal with
demise of his entire family and his friend Clerval. This resulted in his bereavement, another
Macbeth is one of the best known of Shakespeare's plays. It is commonly classed, along with Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, among Shakespeare's four great tragedies. After reading Macbeth, several significant aspects of the play come to mind: the central characters (Lady Macbeth and her husband) and their development, the treatment of gender issues, the nature and conflict of good and evil, the final triumph of the forces of goodness and life, and the troubling implications of that triumph.
The Character of Macbeth in Shakespeare's Play Shakespeare uses the Aris Totle tragic pattern in many of his plays and Macbeth is no exception. Using the Aris Totle tragic pattern the audience witness Macbeth's downfall from his height of happiness and power (Hubris) to a low bloodthirsty killer (Nemesis). The Audience of that era and even today love to hate the villian, in this case Macbeth.
People are innately “good”– it is circumstance that has the transformative ability to twist commendable qualities into fatal flaws. Such is similar for Macbeth, as he too is a victim of fate – left vulnerable by the exploits of the supernatural, his wife, and most tragically, his own fatal flaw. Lady Macbeth effectively summarizes her husband’s downfall as a direct result of his ambition, as Macbeth “wouldst be great... not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” (1.5.17-19). Readers witness how Macbeth “catches” evil as one would catch a disease; his symptoms develop through his corrupt rise to power, as he reigns with a decreasing hope of cure until his inevitable death. Although Macbeth 's monumental downfall is largely influenced through manipulation, it is ultimately his own hamartia and corruption of power that leads to his demise.
Many strive to achieve goals set in their minds, but some may lose control of their actions while doing so. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s overconfidence and unrestricted ambition causes his humanity to deteriorate as the play progresses, ultimately leading to his demise. This is shown through the significant events surrounding the murders he commits, especially the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family.
Everyone who is mortal has at least one flaw. Some flaws are more serious than others. For example, some people have addictions to gambling, while other people can not remember to put milk away after they use it. After a while though, a person's flaws come back to haunt them.
Macbeth's tragic flaw in character was the paradoxical pairing of his ambition with his passivity. Throughout the play we see many examples of Macbeth's conflict between his ambition to attain the crown and his passive attitude towards the actions that are required to obtain it. Macbeth's ambition is first illustrated in his susceptibility to the idea of becoming king, introduced by the witch's prophecies. When the witches greet Macbeth by saying, "All hail, Macbeth! That shall be king hereafter" ( I, iii, 50)