On the night that Duncan is supposedly going to get murdered, there is some dramatic irony of lightness and darkness demonstrated in the play. After Macbeth leaves Duncan’s castle, he wants the stars to hide their fires, in other words for there to be no stars or moon at night when he kills Duncan. Well his wish was granted, but Banquo is a little suspicious as he tell his son Fleance: “There's husbandry in heaven; / Their candles are all out" (2. 1. 6-7). It is pitch black outside, and darkness symbolizes fear. Then Banquo claims: “Merciful powers/ Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature/ Gives way to in repose” (2. 1. 11-13). It seems like Banquo is very tired but cannot sleep because he is afraid of something but nobody knows what. Banquo explains to Macbeth that he had a dream about the three weird witches. Could the suspicion be growing for Banquo, very dark night, not a star in sight, could Macbeth be planning a murder? Darkness is emphasized in his part of the novel because the darker side of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is shown as there is evil side shows that they will do anything to unrightfully make Macbeth become the new King of Scotland even that includes murder to anybody that gets in their way.
When Macbeth becomes king he controls almost everyone, from servants to assassins. He even attempts to order the three witches to do his bidding. However, Macbeth’s actions and demeanor later in the play are the result of Lady Macbeth, who holds sway over her husband. It is she who at first coaxes and controls Macbeth, resulting in the change in his personality. The supernatural, in particular the three witches, exert control over both Macbeth and his lady. In fact, it is their influences that initiate the sequence of events, and are therefore an integral part of the play.
Here, Macbeth realizes that if something is not done to Banquo, his sons will become Kings. Macbeth can not have this. He had already worried that his soul will go to hell for what he had done. His fear become evident in this scene also, "But to be safely thus: our fears in Banquo Stick deep;" [Act III, S I, L 53-54] Macbeth has Banquo murdered,
In the work of Macbeth the constant power struggle between the main characters is prominent throughout the play. In particular, the power and rule obtained by Macbeth, through killing Duncan, makes a full circle back to the rightful heir which makes apparent that power ties closely with fate in this play.
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, murders the king of Scotland and eventually murders several other people. In the end, Macbeth meets his tragic fate of being killed by the nobleman Macduff. Throughout the play, Macbeth makes decisions that affect his fate, but other characters manipulate his choices and his actions. Early in the play Macbeth, Macbeth has control over his actions, but due to the influence of other characters and his subsequent insanity, by the end of the play, Macbeth has no control over his fate.
Lady Macbeth is inarguably a very strong, powerful woman with a lot of control, especially at the beginning of the play. This quote explains the extent of her control over her husband, “Lady Macbeth appears to be somehow in league with evil and Macbeth its victim, a fly in the spider’s web who struggles mightily but cannot escape” (Johnson). She manipulates her husband to get him to do what she wants. When she learns of his destiny to become king, she can’t just let him sit around waiting on it to happen; she knows he has to act. She tells Macbeth he has to kill king Duncan and overrides his objections. Lady Macbeth tries to commit the mu...
Humans are always fascinated by power. Sadly, they do not realize the danger of it until it is too late. In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare's underscores how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both consumed by power. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth dominates Macbeth, manipulating him to kill Duncan. After the death of Duncan, Macbeth becomes ambitious, and hires murderers to kill Banquo without notifying Lady Macbeth. Even though he is a decorated soldier, when Macbeth rises to power, he becomes ruthless. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth becomes weak, and insane. Shakespeare illustrates how Macbeth’s obsession with power undermines his moral judgement, leads to his mental deterioration, and ultimately results in his death.
His actions and words show evidently his grappling at the idea. “Let not light see my black and deep desires” (Shakespeare 1.4.51). However, after Duncan’s murder, Macbeth strays farther and farther from the innocence he once had. His mind is overcome with haunting, murderous, and somewhat destroying thoughts. Possible mental illnesses start to come to light as Macbeth descends his homicidal rampage. “Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act-III, Scene -I, which helps the audience and the readers to peep into the sole of protagonist, reflects the disturbed mind concerned with the presence of Banquo” (Mitra). He starts to see more and more hallucinations which only degrade his sanity. They warn him of upcoming dangers that he tries his best to prepare for. In opposite, his actions make his mental situation known. Macbeth eventually meets his death after a clashing
hroughout the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, there were many occasions where the characters Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the three witches fascinated me. There is a common theme of power that connects all of these characters.
This quote explains how Macbeth thinks how could killing the King be bad or good? If anything the witches say is bad then why am I Thane of Cawdor? If he wanted to do the right thing he wouldn’t even think about killing King Duncan. Ambition is already starting to show as his flaw. Later into the act, Macbeth’s lust for power comes into full swing when he decides that he will kill Duncan. This lust blinds him to what he really should do. The audience can see this greed in this quote, “If it wer...
You may think that MacBeth is one hundred percent guilty and should receive a heavy punishment for his actions. But, have you ever considered the possibility that he may not have been responsible for them? Because he should not be held responsible for something he had no control over. I would like to point out that it was the Weird Sisters who told him prophesies which he then believed. It was his wife, Lady MacBeth, who pressured and convinced him to go through with the killings. And tell me, would any sane person commit the amount of crimes that MacBeth has? He has a mental condition that makes him go insane and start seeing things that are not actually there. These hallucinations are just one of the many causes that contribute to his insanity and once somebody has reached that level, there is no stopping them from doing what they want.
Macbeth's destiny and his lust for power, confirmed by the Three Witches and Lady Macbeth, leads to destruction. Every act that Macbeth commits effects the kingdom as a whole. Macbeth's indecisiveness and his understanding of success cause this destruction. This lust for power leads Macbeth, as it would all men, to an evil that exist in everyone. It is his destiny to fail.
In the Elizabethan era, the expectations for woman were limited to being a housewife and a mother. Women were expected to obey their husbands. These expectations, and the person Lady Macbeth actually was, are polar opposites. Lady Macbeth did rely on Macbeth, but she only relied on him because she could only obtain her power through him. The methods she used to obtain this power go against the stereotypical Elizabethan woman. She used deceit to convince her husband to commit the first murder, saying that she would “chastise [him] with the valour of [her] tongue.” (I,v, 26) What convinced him to go through with the murder, however, was when Lady Macbeth laid out the plan for him. (I,vii,60-72) After the murder occurred, it was Lady Macbeth who took control, while Macbeth was extremely shaken. She returned the daggers to the chamberlains, then again insulted Macbeth, saying she would be ashamed “[t]o wear a heart so white.” (II,ii,68) She then ordered him to wash his hands, telling him, “[a] little water clears us of this deed.” (II,ii, 70) Macbeth’s inability to stand up to Lady Macbeth showed that she had complete control over him. This was not expected of an Elizabethan wife.
A desire for power and advancement is typically seen among many longing to rule. Shakespeare’s Macbeth incorporates the theme of ambition and how it controls the main characters to pursue it. After attaining knowledge of the witches’ prophecies that say Macbeth will become king of Scotland, Lady Macbeth sees the predominant obstacle being King Duncan and feels as though Macbeth does not have the aggressiveness to take action and thus ensure the fulfillment of the prophecies. Using her sly words, she readily manipulates Macbeth to kill Duncan, which in turn provokes Macbeth to continue performing atrocious misdeeds, mainly out of fear for himself and his power. Although not naturally inclined to do evil deeds, the ambition of his manipulative wife as well as his own desires drive Macbeth to abandon self-restraint.