This misinterpretation, committed in pursuit of power, leads Macbeth to perform certain actions which result in the death of the king, the death of Macbeth’s friends, and eventually his own demise. At the start of the play, Macbeth is seeking a great amount of power. His wife, Lady Macbeth says to him, “When you durst do it, then you were a man;” (Act 1, sc. 7, line 56), suggesting that they have either considered or committed murder for the sake of their own advancement in the past. Macbeth further condones this in his action to the witches’ prophecy that he will become king.
There is none but he whose being I do fear. From this soliloquy, it’s obvious that Macbeth is once again encompassed by the extreme terror that Banquo, his best friend may know about the truth of the deed. The fear of unsecured throne terrifies Macbeth and causes him to send murderers to perform the assassination of Banquo. Later on, the unexpected escape of Fleance triggers the ideas of visiting witches once more to seek his fate. After Macbeth knows the fact that he should be aware of Mcduff, he sends orders immediately to commence a full murder of Mcduff’s family.
The truth is that many of these decisions that Macbeth makes or follows is based on what the witches told him. One example of this is when Lady Macbeth convinces him to kill Duncan in order to become king. She specifically says, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature / … / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, / and chastise with the valor of my tongue” (1.5.16-17, 27-28). In this quote Lady Macbeth is thinking about the witches prophecy and how she can make it come true.
There are many different ways to define the word power; “the ability to do or act, to have authority or influence, to have great force.” (Webster 505) No matter the definition, they all describe exactly what Macbeth wanted, and that is control. Macbeth wants it so badly that he is willing to do unspeakable things in order to attain it. The witches make a prophecy that Macbeth will be king, and Banquo will have a line of kings but not be one. Things makes Macbeth question why he will not have a line of kings, and makes him somewhat upset. Because of this, he decides he must kill Banquo, so that there will be no heir.
Discuss how the characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Duncan are established in Act I by using textual evidence to support your points. Macbeth: “return to plague the inventor” Macbeth is a person that knows what he must do but is doubtful of it. He is the war hero and got news of his promotion by the witches, who also said he would be promoted further. To make their prophecy come true he must kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth: “unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty” Lady Macbeth is the “true” evil.
Macbeth Essay | September 5 2012 “For greed all nature is too little.” – Seneca. In Shakespeare’s novel “Macbeth” greed came from the lust for power. Macbeth was a Scottish General and the Thane of Glamis, before he became power hungry. Macbeth met three witches, and they told him about the prophecies he would soon encounter. The first prophecy was that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor, and then the King of Scotland.
One of the main messages he is trying to deliver to us is to always weigh what you achieve to what the consequences will be. This especially holds true for Macbeth, as when first contemplating if he should kill Duncan, not once did he think of how he could be punished. Also, when Macbeth first hears the witch’s prophecy of him being a king, he jumps directly to the idea of murder. This kind of thinking is exhibited in Macbeth’s monologue in scene 5 act 5, where he discus’s the uselessness of living, and this attitude towards life made him go mad. This also points to how unintelligent Macbeth really was.
Lady Macbeth is a victim of her uncontrolled ambition.This ambition causes her to push herself and Macbeth to the very edge. She convinced Macbeth to kill Duncan by questioning his manliness. Lady Macbeth shows her negative ambition and ruthlessness while speaking to Macbeth in this quote: "Was the hope drunk?...Like the poor cat I' th' adage." (Act I, Scene vii, Lines 35-45) In this quote Lady Macbeth is asking Macbeth if he is afraid to kill Duncan, and if he has enough courage to say so. She is asking him if he wants to be king or not, and if he is to be king he must commit regicide.
We also recommend watching Macbeth: Themes and Quotes from the Scottish Play and A Midsummer Night's Dream: Summary, Quotes and Characters Lady Macbeth Character Analysis Ambitious. Manipulative. Evil. These three adjectives can easily be applied to Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Her lust for power and position drive her to manipulate her husband to murder Duncan,
In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the events of the tragic downfall of a man to demonstrate the significance of external influences and forces on the mindset and decision-making of an individual. There are many factors that caused the deterioration of Macbeth including the manipulation of his character by his ambitious wife, the three witches as well as his own internal desires. Lady Macbeth can be seen as the most influential character, manipulating Macbeth into committing unspoken acts to become king that would satisfy her lust for power. Macbeth did not personally have enough ambition to take the throne or plot to take action to personally give himself an opportunity to take the throne. However, once Lady Macbeth heard that her husband had been fortuned to be king in the future, her lust for greed, and selfishness drove her to insist that her husband take action immediately to seize the opportunity to become King of Scotland.