William Shakespeare's Macbeth Not only is Macbeth the main character in William Shakespeare's
Macbeth, but he is also one in the history of Scotland. Macbeth is
certainly not the only play with historical themes that is full of
inventions. Macbeth represents a human of ambition, guilt and most of
all, different degrees of loyalty as he takes on different roles.
Despite his deficiencies of proper values and "vaulting ambition,"
Macbeth is a character who seems infinitely real to audience members.
Shakespeare's version uses several similar characteristics and events
that the real Macbeth experienced. However, there are quite a few
modifications to the character of Macbeth and the incidents he
encounters. Shakespeare tends to choose what parts of history he
prefers, and alters them to create his edition of Macbeth as a family
member, a subject to the king, a king, a friend and as a person. By
changing and/or keeping parts of history, Macbeth's character becomes
an interesting one to analyse. Macbeth is a basically good man who is
troubled by his conscience and loyalty though at the same time
ambitious and murderous.
The Macbeth of Scottish history shares the same commitment to family
members, as does the Shakespeare's adaptation of the character.
History states that Macbeth's father Findlaech was killed by his
nephew, Gillacomgain. It is believed that Gillacomgain and fifty other
people were burned to death in retribution for the murder of
Findlaech, probably by Macbeth and other allies (Ed Friedlander, M.D,
www.pathguy.com/macbeth.htm). This loyalty shown towards his ...
... middle of paper ...
...ed and guilty.
Bibliography
"Enjoying "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare", (2002), Macbeth,
http://www.pathguy.com/macbeth.htm
"Holinshed vs. Shakespeare", (2000), Shakespeare vs. Holinshed,
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1906/benstuff.html
"Macbeth and Fate", (2002), Macbeth,
http://www.clicknotes.com/macbeth/Fate.html
"Macbeth - The truth behind the Shakespeare", (1999), Historical
Macbeth Myth, http://www.highlanderweb.co.uk/macbeth.htm
"Macbeth: what is its relationship to Scottish history?", (2002),
Macbeth, http://www.shakespeare.com/faq/faq37.php
"To Strut and Fret Upon the Stage: Theatrical Interpretation of
Sources for Macbeth" (1999), Sources for Macbeth,
http://www.io.com/~jlockett/Grist/English/macbethsources.html
Shakespeare, W., (1967), Macbeth, Penguin Books, London
The two scenes that the essay will be focusing on are Act 1 Scene 1
Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.
For the purposes of this essay, a good king is defined as a person who keeps his kingdom together and does his best to improve it. In his job of keeping the kingdom together, the king can defeat or keep back enemies and act on the principle that
William Shakespeare's Macbeth Shakespeare first showed Macbeth in the court of a newly crowned King James the First. Some people would argue that in places this was written as a piece of flattery for James the first. James was meant to be a descendant of Banquos' and therefore Shakespeare shows Banquo to be a valiant and heroic character throughout the play. However, Shakespeare had to be careful what he said in the play, as he didn't want to upset the King. This play could be written as a piece of propaganda or a warning to anybody who went against the King.
MacBeth’s villainy is shown when he kills his king, friend, and innocent people and usurps the throne but he is not totally evil. His bravery loyalty and honour are qualities to be admired. He’s a man of action and remorse not just an evil villain.
“What goes around comes around.” The decision of the execution of the King Duncan was beyond the concept of being egoistical. The sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. Macbeth, every dreadful deed you take as an action and claim you have committed a wrongdoing; you excavate your own grave. Since, you commit the murder of King Duncan, how do you believe that fortune will come your way. The three Weird witches and your own love, Lady Macbeth are the key players in this game of guilt. Abundantly, Lady Macbeth is the true top dog pulling the strings, you are the puppet, and while she is the puppet master, you’re just a squirrel trying to get a nut in her world. No virtuous outcome comes out a misdeed. You have to conquer her mindset, and be grateful for what you have now. You should not be able to give your own decisions to someone else.
However, she may be old as she is determined to get her last chance of
Shakespeare pays much regard as to what it is to be a man and to
This is said by Lady Macbeth, who we will speak about later, in act 1,
account I think the witches did play a big part in the murder of king
Throughout this play, Macbeth journeys from a noble, loyal soldier to a power-hungry, deceptive monster, destroying any obstacle in his path. These obstacles are sometimes people, including the former King Duncan and his “friend” Banquo. Evil and greed take over his every thought, and in the process of destroying his obstacles, he never realizes that his own actions will lead to his downfall. Many quotes in this play prove this to be true. Throughout the play his attitude goes through drastic changes, and he ends up thinking he is indestructible.
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” Once said by Marc Twain, this is an excellent example of the human nature that is represented in the play: Macbeth. Shakespeare demonstrates that all humans have the ability to do good or evil. This is strongly affected by the choices that we make and by our actions. These decisions will have a huge impact on our lives and the lives of others. Throughout the play, Macbeth experienced a huge decent into evil and violent action that lead him to his death. With his thirst for power and constant paranoia, he killed his way to seize the crown. By killing Duncan at the beginning of the play, Macbeth soon realizes that nothing can be undone and his blood stained hands can never be cleaned. “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.3 70) said by Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder. But what they don’t know is that this is the start of the bloody massacre that will change who they are and how they think forever. Macbeth has multiple hallucinations and his paranoia leads him to hire murderers to kill Macduff’s family out of anger and spite. Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and gets to the point of madness when she kills herself at the end of the play. This demonstrates that our actions can be affected by human nature and our thoughts can be easily corrupted by temptation.
Macbeth, one of William Shakespeare’s famous tragedies, is set in Scotland. Returning from battle with his companion Banquo, the nobleman, Macbeth meets with three witches. They predict that Macbeth will initially become the Thane of Cawdor and then king of Scotland. Macbeth privately has ambitions of being king and enjoys the ideas of becoming the head of the country. After the first part of the witches' prophecy comes true, early in the play, he begins to think the subsequent part may also come true. Encouraged after continuous unrest from his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan, while he is a guest in his castle. Macbeth then seizes the throne of Scotland.
People, everywhere, are often in disguise and it makes it challenging for someone identify their true motives. Thus, because one’s perspective of a person continuously changes, it can lead one to suffer many consequences, such as death. Appearance vs. reality is a crafty way of playing with a person’s view of another. In the play, Macbeth, William Shakespeare demonstrates the recurring theme that what is thought is not always obvious at first sight and, as a result, causes one to be deceived through the appearance of others. The characters in the play can experience, cause, and avoid the effects of trusting someone’s identity. Appearance is consistently hiding the reality of things through these important characters. The effects of trusting appearance is seen when King Duncan naively trusts Macbeth. In addition, Lady Macbeth shows false images to others around her causes the effect of trusting identity. Thus, this is shown through Macduff’s suspicion of Macbeth that the effects of trusting appearance can be avoided.
he heard this he was intrigued to find out how he was going to become