It could be that he has damaged himself so that he is unable to feel empathy for others - or that the evil is innate. Macbeth displays some very evil characteristics - selfishness, coldness, obsession and cold-blooded murder. Shakespeare explores the degree to which he alone is responsible, and how far others contribute to Macbeth is perhaps Shakespeare's greatest exploration of the problem of evil. Evil is positioned both within and without. The witches are objective figures but Macbeth's first utterance in act 1, scene 3 suggests that he shares a similar thought with the witches.
Macbeth/Macduff Essay Macbeth is the main character, but also ends up being the antagonist. At first the reader tries to understand what he’s doing and have sympathy for him but as the play progresses we lose faith. Macbeth is a very bad character, but there are also other “foils” which we can compare to him. Macduff is portrayed as the good, respectable and loyal protagonist of the book, juxtaposed to Macbeth, who is evil, deceitful and a traitor. Macbeth’s wrongdoings are amplified by the kindness and loyalty of Macduff and the legacy Duncan left as a great king.
Shakespeare does a magnificent job by using Macbeth to show the terrible consequences that can result from an unchecked ambition and a guilty conscience. Those elements, combined with a lack of strong character, distinguish Macbeth from Shakespeare's other tragic heroes, such as King Lear and Richard III, both of whom are strong enough to overcome their guilty conscience. Before Macbeth murders Duncan, he is plagued with anxiety and almost does not go along with the plan. It takes his wife, Lady Macbeth's persuasion in order to complete the plot. When is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger covered in blood floating in the air, representing the bloody course he is about to take.
17. Examine Aristotle’s theory of tragedy in light of this play. In what ways does the theory fit, and in what ways does the theory not fit? The play, Macbeth, in some ways follows Aristotle’s theory of a tragedy, while in other ways it goes it’s own route.. Aristotle states that tragic heroes possess four main qualities such as goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and a tragic realization. He also believed that tragedies arouse pity and fear in the audience, which feels sorry for the characters and hates to see them suffer so that they may identify with the play more so themselves.
Macbeth Essay Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play, which highlights individual’s thirst for power and the unethical paths many take to achieve their goals. The final scenes draw the dramatic tale to a close and cease the constant stream of murders. The audience observes the re-establishment of themes within the final scenes such as guilt, restoration of harmony, and good defeating evil. These along with significant events change the mood of the play consequently altering responders’ overall interpretation. Guilt is constantly seen throughout the play Macbeth driving the characters to question their morals.
There is much evidence in the play that Hamlet deliberately feigned fits of madness in order to confuse and disconcert the king and his attendants. His avowed intention to act "strange or odd" and to "put an antic disposition on" 1 (I. v. 170, 172) is not the only indication. The latter phrase, which is of doubtful interpretation, should be taken in its context and in connection with his other remarks that bear on the same question. To his old friend, Guildenstem, he intimates that "his uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived," and that he is only "mad north-north-west." (II.
It seems that most people believe that Macbeth is the real villain of the play, after firstly killing the King but then Banquo and Macduff’s family but through Macbeth’s own ambition and desire for power, Lady Macbeth was able to manipulate and evoke weaknesses in Macbeth’s character to cause his respectable needs as a loyal solider, to turn into evil motivations. In the course of the play Macbeth’s mind changes from thinking logically to thinking unreasonably and acting impulsively on every thought that comes to his mind. The ideas that Lady Macbeth had and the prophesies from the witches came together to lead Macbeth into the conflicted character he become, going from a loyal, respected soldier into a tragic flawed hero. Before Macbeth’s character shifted into villainy he was a loyal and respected thane. His desire for power grew throughout the play and begins when he first encoumis, then they hail him the thane of Cawdor, which he didn’t yet know of, to him soon would be his next, second title.
The play Macbeth (1603-1607) by William Shakespeare is a tragedy about the struggle for power, deception, lies, treason, and war, hero to villains, suffering, guilt, and falls from grace. Caught in the middle of this is a well known Scottish general, Macbeth. Macbeth’s downfall is most note worthy as it isn’t a slow fall, from the noble, humble man the reader is introduced to in the beginning, but rather a quick fall to the tyrannical, bloodthirsty man at the end of the play. There are many causes to Macbeth’s downfall, but the most prominent were Macbeth’s character flaws, his predetermined fate, and his equally power hungry wife, Lady Macbeth. At first glance, Macbeth appears to be a noble, humble, and brave man, but as the play progresses, Macbeth’s good character regresses.
Banquo is juxtaposed to show how an honest man would react to fair-surrounding predictions. Macbeth’s “aside” clearly reveals him to be a man who is morally flawed and susceptible to temtation. Shakespeare’s use of imagery with the three witches makes us realise that the witches only want bad things for Macbeth. They test his character to see if they can corrupt him from his natural state of mind into their evil ways. As such Macbeth is morally vulnerable to them.
As the play goes on, Macbeth slowly looses his morality as he strives for more control whilst Lady Macbeth steps into a frantic stage of guilt. After killing the king, Macbeth starts to plot other evil undertakings as he becomes nervous that someone will take away his power. At one point he goes from wanting to needing the sovereignty, which makes him loose sight of his integrity. As Macbeth begins to immorally act in order to achieve what he hungers, the line between good and evil starts to fade. “I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (3.4.136-138) In this quote, Macbeth is telling himself that because he has stepped into evil so deeply, it will be hard to go back to morallity because he will never be able to rid of this guilt brought onto him.