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.
The devices make a suspenseful, shocking, spine-chilling play. This book is nothing short of ironic; Shakespeare uses the rhetorical device irony all threw Macbeth. For example the thane of Cawdor is killed over committing treason and treachery against the king, only to give the title to Macbeth who plans to commit worst things to the king. The king even goes on to state after killing the thane of Cawdor that “There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust” (I.IV.15). To then put his trust in Macbeth only to be betrayed by him.
As the play continues, with the foreseeing witches and the deceptive lady Macbeth, he quickly turns from a courageous strong hearted man, to a tyrant king who is willing to commit the unthinkable to withhold his royal status. In Macbeth, the prophecies foretold by the three witches about future events enflame our protagonist, driving him to make treacherous decisions that impact severely on his downfall. He is immediately taken in as the witches reveal the royal titles. Eager to unlock the secrets of these prophecies, Macbeth questions the witches, demanding them to speak. "And often to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths."
The witches were the driving force of Macbeth’s guilty ambition and were the prophecies that would play on his mind continually. “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter,” (Act One, Scene 3, Line 53). Following this, readers are introduced to Lady Macbeth, another character that encounters an ambitious discourse. The audience witnesses Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s ambitious discourse being ruined when they conclude that the only way to be on the throne is to commit the murder of the loyal King Duncan. The murderous actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lead to their guilty ambition influencing each other to commit deeds that would not only ruin their clean conscience, but also their cultural assumptions.
Macbeth truly debuts the play with auspiciousness, which in a sense, makes his downfall so much more tragic. Macbeth's ambition takes control of his noble qualities however, and creates a destructive path for both himself and Scotland as a whole. The seeds of his ambition are planted even before the Witches's first prophecy. While the Witches are predicting Macbeth's future it is evident that the notion of Duncan's murder has already crossed his mind: MACBETH: [Aside.] This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill, cannot be good.
In act 1 scene 3 the three witches foretold that Macbeth would become Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and the King of Scotland. If not for the prophecies Macbeth’s curiosity and ambition to become King might never have begun in the first place, however when hearing the prophecies of becoming king, horrible imaginings of murder came across his mind. As it gets further into the play Macbeth increasingly relies on the prophecies given by the witches, this lead to the murder of many people and slowly corrupted Macbeth near the end of the play. The manipulation and influence of Lady Macbeth was also a factor of Macbeth’s becoming more and more evil. When Lady Macbeth reads her husband’s letter, she is afraid that Macbeth is not evil enough to do what he must to get the crown.
MacBeth - Tragic Hero The character Macbeth is a classic example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. There are many factors, which contribute to the degeneration of Macbeth of these factors three will be discussed. The three points which contribute greatly to Macbeth's degeneration are the prophecy which was told to him by the witches, how Lady Macbeth influenced and manipulated Macbeth's judgment, and finally Macbeth's long time ambition which drove his desire to be king. Macbeth's growing character degenerates from a noble man to violent and crazy individual. The prophecies told to Macbeth by the Witches were one of the factors that contributed to the degeneration of his character.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is an intriguing play that was written and performed for James I, King of Scotland at that period of time. Macbeth consists of many different influences that drive noble Macbeth to a variety of murders and in mental disintegration of his mind the concept of misguided ambition is developed by those persuading him to kill. Three influences of Macbeth’s disintegrated mind would be the weird sisters, Lady Macbeth, and then his plots to kill out of fear and jealousy. First, in act one of Macbeth, noble Macbeth and Banquo meet three very odd witches, also known as the weird sisters. These witches are the true start of the disintegration of Macbeth’s mind and misguide him into a situation of rather to believe or not to believe for the sake of his future.
One can look at Macbeth’s actions as the play unravels and see that he is clearly headed down a path towards disaster resulting from one source: his ambition. It is his desire to become king that overpowers his good nature and pushes him to break all moral boundaries. Prior to his encounter with the three witches, Macbeth was a trustworthy man; one loyal to his King, wife and friends. But with the news of his future, a secret desire for power emerges and controls him as the play continues. For instance, in act 1, scene 7, Macbeth’s ambition has become to great for him to handle: “To prick the sides
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Donalbain says that, “Where we are there are daggers in men’s smiles” (2.4.141)… And in this play, perception plays a big role. Hence, the reoccurring main theme “fair is foul and foul is fair” (1.1.10). Macbeth and his devious plans become his downfall, and unfortunately for him the murders will not cease. Corruption begins with the predictions of the witches and their paradox statements about future events. Since Macbeth is so hung up on their words, he and Lady Macbeth develop this growing ambition to take the throne.