Macbeth betrays King Duncan because the witches told him he will become king. He also betrays his friend Banquo because the witches gave him predictions that can affect Macbeth. The three weird sisters betray Macbeth because he wants things to go his way. In “Macbeth”, Shakespeare demonstrates that betrayal is lead by unreasonable decisions that cause bad consequences. Macbeth
James I was a very superstitious monarch, he hated the idea of witches and paranormal activity. Shakespeare took this into account to make the play more enjoyable for the king. The play also related to James I as it showed a man killing the king; earlier that year King James was a target of an attack on parliament, this is seen as defying god as a king was placed on the throne by god giving it the name “Divine right.” Attacking the king was equivalent to attacking god. Shakespeare shows a change in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth within their relationship throughout acts 1, 2 and 3. In the Elizabethan era, the would be the dominant figure in a traditional relationship, but in Lady Macbeth and Macbeths relationship, lady Macbeth is seen as the dominant figure and would bully, tease and mock Macbeth into committing things he didn’t wanted to do, but she thought was the best way to go.
A lust for power already existed in Macbeth, but it was his encounter with the three witches on his return from battle that triggered his thirst for the throne, and subsequently the deaths of many, Macbeth among the deceased. The witches told Macbeth that he would become the Thane of Cawdor, and when he did, he became obsessed with the idea that he will become the King of Scotland; “prophecy” said so. With the encouragement of his wife, Macbeth murdered King Duncan, and Banquo, who was a comrade of Macbeth. Macbeth then orders the deaths of Macduff’s wife and children, because he fears that they stand a chance of taking the throne. Upon hearing of his families’ death, Macduff returns to Scotland to confront Macbeth, who is slain.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the noble soldier Macbeth strays to evil when given the opportunity to be king. With the influence of supernatural prophecies and his wife’s constant persuasion, the once loyal soldier is turned into a ruthless killing machine. By the end of the play, Macbeth turns in to a cold hearted tyrant and his once cruel and ambitious wife turns into a puddle of guilt. Through the use of rhetoric strategies, Shakespeare shows his readers the dramatic change in the nature of his characters. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a weak individual.
1. Discuss the tyranny that you know happen in history of human civilization and relate it to the play that you have studied. Macbeth is a story written by William Shakespeare in 1606. Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general (Macbeth) who receives a prophecy from a trio of sinister witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed with ambitious thoughts and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne for himself.
The Reckless Ambition of a Bloody Tyrant The play Macbeth by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, is a tragedy of an ambitious nobleman in Scotland, whose eventual downfall is a product of his greedy ambition. In the play Macbeth commits a series of murders to gain the right to the throne of Scotland. He fights, kills, and challenges his way to the top, through the witches prophecies, only to find their reassuring prophecies vessels full of nothing but false hope. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth is doomed to fail from the beginning. Macbeth’s failure is a product of his own reckless ambition.
(1.3.71)” Banquo also doubts the intension of the witches, he believes that evil always tells one part of the truth in order to earn one’s trust and lead him to destruction. Banquo warns Macbeth, ”But ‘tis strange./And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/ the instruments of darkness tell us truths,/win us with honest trifles, to betray’s/In deepest consequence. (1.3.124-128)” On the other hand, Macbeth ignored his friends warning and believes in what the witches say. He is over whelmed by his ambition to be king, he said to himself,”Glamis, and the thane of Cawfor!/The greatest is behind. (1.3.118-119).””Two truths are told/,as happy prologues to the swelling act/of the imperial theme.
He is a merciless king who kills all in his path to the throne of Scotland; this ambition leads to unnecessary violence towards others. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a courageous, battle proven hero. During the opening scenes of the play, the audience has no idea that such a change of character could happen. Macbeth is convinced into his first murder, being King Duncan, by his wife, Lady Macbeth. The devil, or the evil spirits, take up many disguises, one of which is through Lady Macbeth.
The Witches and Hecate portray the image and eminence of evil in Macbeth. During the first scene of the play, the witches are chanting and cackling over thunderstorms, thus introducing themselves as evil beings. They are questioned by Banquo if they are truly women and that “...their beards forbid [me] to interpret that you are so” (I. iii. 44-45), and Hecate is introduced as the goddess of witchcraft. The remark made by Banquo and the title of Hecate states that Shakespeare intends to use repulsive-looking women, mistakenly having beards, to render that women are predominately evil.
Macbeth was a noble Thane and a loyal hero before, but his desire is aroused by the vicious witches. He even has inner conflict and hesitates for committing the treason, but he cannot resist the desire and the urge of his wife, ‘I’m settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.’ Macbeth finally murders the king just like what his wife asks him to do. ‘I go and it is done.’ He says, ‘The bell invites me. Hear it not, for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven, or to hell.’ The conflict between Macbeth’s desire and King Duncan encourages Macbeth to murder the king and brings the chaos to his country because the villainy he makes breaks the chain of nature levels.