In the play script, “Macbeth” written by William Shakespeare, the idea of internal conflict is clearly presented through the main protagonist, Macbeth. In the text, Macbeth, a highly recognized general, strives blindly in attempt to achieve power, driven by his “vaulting ambition.” Throughout the text, Macbeth faces internal conflict and insecurity as he slowly follows a path of corruption. Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s internal conflict to explore the theme; “absolute power corrupts absolutely” after hearing the witches’ prophecy, after the murder of Duncan and after the murder of Banquo. The first example of Macbeth’s internal conflict was when he encountered the weird sisters. Their manipulative characters was used by Shakespeare when they
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
A hero, a soldier, a noble man - we are first introduced to Macbeth at the start of the play and it becomes apparent that he is these three things. As the play advances he begins to shine through as revenge seeking, devious and an evil murderer? But why; what makes Macbeth change character and to perform lifes most gruesome act, murder? Of course Macbeth himself had reasons and influences that allowed him to become this way, including his wife Lady Macbeth, the witches prophecies, his need for power and of course his 'fatal flaw'. Lady Macbeth - cold hearted, power, witch-like - is the most reasonable for turning Macbeth into an evil murderer.
Macbeth further condones this in his action to the witches’ prophecy that he will become king. Once made Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth realizes the truth in the witches’ predictions, and immediately begins to contemplate the other part of their prophecy. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,” (Act 1, sc. 3, line 151-152) he thinks, bringing murder to the front of his mind almost as soon as the witches are proven correct. Later in the play, Macbeth’s yearning for power, encouraged by the weird sisters, convinces him to kill the king and assume the throne.
Therefore the witches could foretell Macbeth’s fate and his downfall. Although, the witches were not completely honest, Macbeths' actions were more ambitious and destructive than the witches, since Macbeth used violence to advance in the game of power taking harmful actions to the advance to the next. Proving, that Macbeths' actions fed his ambitions and led him to his downfall. Secondly, the witches told Macbeth the apparitions as if they were complete truths not just mere predictions. The witches mislead Macbeth into believe a certain fate that could possibly have been a false truth.
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.
Who causes the Downfall of Macbeth? Macbeth's downfall is attributed to a sense of over-confidence and unchecked ambition, and the impact of the witch's prophecy all three seal Macbeth's fate and his destruction At the start of the play, Macbeth is a loyal, courageous servant of the King of Scotland, but he is a man who harbors a hidden ambition for power. He is both noble and brave in his defense of the King in battle, he is rewarded for his actions. Macbeth has an encounter with a trio of witches and his life is changed. Once the witches show him his future, he becomes obsessed with speeding up the anticipated coming into power.
In Macbeth, ambition is presented as a dangerous quality, and can tarnish even the purest of souls. The destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints is arguably expressed strongest through interaction between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and is the main foundation of Macbeth’s inevitable downfall, and triggers a series of deaths. Lady Macbeth encourages her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan, helped by the malign prophecies of the witches, and urges him to be strong in the murder’s aftermath, but he is said to be too kind, 'Yet do I fear thy nature it is to full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.' (I, v, 14-16). Although a courageous general who holds Duncan in high regard, ‘he hath honoured me of late’ (I, vii, 32) and isnot naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, he deeply desires power and advancement; he kills Duncan against his better judgment.
Near the end of the play she admits to her crimes, further solidifying her guilt. Still, however guilty she may be, Lady Macbeth’s greatest skill lies in her aptitude for deception and cunning. During Macbeth, Lady Macbeth forces her husband to do her bidding and commit vile murders using a variety of methods and means. Chief amongst her tools are the arts of persuasion and deception, both of which she teaches to Macbeth. As she receives a letter from her husband, she says, “...I may pour my spirits into thine ear and chastise with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round”(I v 25-26), proving that she plans to convince Macbeth to remove all that impedes him from the crown, clearing the way for her to be queen.
Macbeth's fortune begins from killing Duncan and becoming a king to an ending where his head is cut off. Lastly, Lady Macbeth's character trait starts from being evil and ambitious to an endless life of fearfulness (of course dies in the end of the play). Macbeth begins as a brave and loyal person in the play, but after the murder of Banquo, his character trait becomes