Lady Macbeth questions the meaning of manhood, as she believes masculinity is measured in committing murder rather than being noble. “When you durst do it, then you were a man;” Lady Macbeth addresses Macbeth in a teasing and convincing tone in order to pressure him to kill King Duncan. Responders may also note irony is used in thi extract to suggest that humans gender stereotype on how one should behave. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man is smother’d in surmise,” The author establishes the mood through personification to link Lady Macbeth to the Witches as she is not disturbed by her dark thoughts. Lady Macbeth’s corrupting power has connotations to the story of Adam and Eve as Eve takes the temptation and gives it to
Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth’s persuasion and the witches’ charm, both in act 1 to show the influence of others. Lady Macbeth uses different techniques to persuade Macbeth to kill the king. She accuses Macbeth of being “green and pale” like a coward. He is also accused of being “afeard to be the same in …act…as thou…desire”, telling us he might be weak or fearful. The witches are possibly linked as the “charms” seem to influence Macbeth and he begins to echo “foul and fair”.
When Macbeth is talking to Lady Macbeth he says, “I will, to the weird sisters: / More shall they speak,” (3.5.134-135). In this context Macbeth is anxious to go to the witches to see if he should fear anyone taking his newfound power from him. This shows that he has acquired what he wanted however he doesn’t feel secure, this shows that he relies on the witches for support and cannot think without first taking into consideration what the witches say. Before this
Betrayal Leads to Bad Decisions Betrayal is something that will have negative consequences. William Shakespeare shows different ways of consequences in “Macbeth”. At the beginning of the play Macbeth and Banquo, two captains, are loyal to King Duncan. After receiving predictions from three witches Macbeth they betrayed each other when they didn’t expect it. Macbeth betrays King Duncan because the witches told him he will become king.
Shakespeare presents the flaws in Macbeth’s character using prophecies from the witches, juxtaposition in his soliloquys, and Lady Macbeth slowly manipulating him to do deeds that in the end lead to his demise. In Act 1 Scene 2 Shakespeare uses 2 characters talking about Macbeth to portray the idea that Macbeth is a loyal, brave and tenacious character and he uses imagery to show this. The sergeant tells us that Macbeth “with smok’d with bloody execution, like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage.” The imagery of “valour’s minion” is used to suggest that Macbeth is Valour’s favourite person and that he is the bravest person other than Valour himself. The imagery used to suggest that he is also a very violent person, able to commit acts that were perhaps disturbed is “smok’d with bloody execution.” This quote tells us that Macbeth is perhaps considered a violent person, but it is acceptable because it is for the King, therefore it is the right reason. In Act 2 Scene 1, just before Macbeth kills the King, we see signs of his psychological destruction when he hallucinates about the dagger.
I was interested in studying this because it caught my attention the way Lady Macbeth and her husband were punished for committing treason from Shakespeare point of view, but from a modern point of view we can read the scene differently. The first paragraph is general background of what happened, introducing the scene. The second one is about the Elizabethan Society and their way of thinking through anomalies and rare things like the one Macbeth and his wife suffered. Elizabethan society´s superstitious belief in the unifying theory of the Chain of Being is explained: What is natural and unnatural, health and sickness as signs of unnaturalness. The third contrasts the Elizabethan Society with the modern one, which gives more scientifically and psychological reasons for the mental illness of Lady Macbeth.
Banquo illustrated Macbeth’s subconscious belief that he was an undeserved kin, for he has played “foully.” Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s conscience to show how even the idea of power can be strongly manifested in someone’s mind and slowly corrupt any existence of principles and integrity, once again emphasizing the idea that “absolute power corrupts absolutely. “Another example of Shakespeare using Macbeth’s internal conflict to depict the theme, “absolute power corrupts absolutely” was after Duncan’s regicide. After hearing the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth contemplates on committing regicide on the King but once again his conscience constricts him from doing so. However, he is clearly vacillating with the thought of murder when he says, “if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without stir. His inner conflict is shown explicitly in act 1, scene 7 when he weighs not only the detrimental political consequences of the murder but also the moral values involved.
One of the main ideas Shakespeare tried to pursue was betrayal. “Look like the innocent flower /But be the serpent under it.” (Macbeth I, IV, 65-66) This quote can be used to describe the role of the characters in this play. Deceiving means to cause to believe what is not true; mislead. The Witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth, play a big part with misleading others throughout the play. When Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth he showed that being dishonest and misleading will bring you nothing in life but
Antony Sher felt as though Macbeth was closer to the first knife murderer, showing guilt for his murders. Sher’s theory on Macbeth being “war crazy” seems to be on target with what I had thought. His killing in war probably destroyed his sanity. Sher also seems to believe that playing the part of Macbeth is
Outline Introduction: * Betrayal and deception play a big role in the play Macbeth, it tells us that you never know who you can trust or not. * The Three Witches, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show us how someone that you once could trust, turns into someone you don’t recognize in a second. . First Main Point: The Witches * display evil power * change Macbeth into an evil man * not trusted Second Main Point: Macbeth * he betrays Duncan * betrays Banquo * became a murderer Third Main Point: Lady Macbeth * plans to kill Duncan to take over the throne for Macbeth * talking in her sleep, expressing the murder * deceives her king Conclusion: * good turns to evil, trust turn to betrayal