Macbeth Theme Essay

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hemes of Macbeth The British play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is the shortest tragedy ever written by Shakespeare. It tells the story of a Scottish general named Macbeth who is convinced by witches he will one day become King. Eager to make this dream come true, Macbeth went over his head and did everything in his power to take the Throne. The tragedy concerned the fall of Macbeth from a high standing point, to the position of humility based on his ambitious pride. The tragic hero was to be pitied, but not forgiven. Macbeth exhibits elements that reflect on great tragedies. William Shakespeare develops multiple themes in the play Macbeth, which includes Ambition. In addition to themes, two other examples are Warrior Honour and Sleeping and Feasting, which are represented by Macbeth himself and Lady Macbeth, which are furthermore explained by G. Wilson Knight. The protagonist Macbeth was once this great Scottish hero, but he was a victim of his own ambition for power, which in the end was the cause of his tragic downfall. No matter how much force he put against himself, he could not resist his evil urges. Macbeth is so intrigued and obsessed with the idea of being King, he puts himself in situations that are hard for anyone to get over. “The prince of Cumberland! that is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’er-leap, for in my way it lies” (I.IV.55-57). With the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth was able to take a dagger and kill the present King of Scotland, Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so that my single state of man that function in smother’d in surmise, and nothing is what but is not”(I.iii.52-55). His ambition becomes so powerful he begins to think the witches are the ones who told him to murder Duncan! His first thought was killing the King, so they may have triggered his murderous ambition that has been

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