What Have You Found Striking About Shakespeare’s Presentation of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the Witches?

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Macbeth’s character is one that may could have been interestingly portrayed in front of an Elizabethan audience. For instance, although he is made to look like a murderer, there may be several other reasons behind his actions such as the involvement of Lady Macbeth or even the witches. However, certain people may argue that no one can be blamed for what Macbeth does as in the introductory scene of the play, Macbeth has already proven that he can win a battle and praise is declared by the captain for his killings as he has “fixed his head upon our battlements”. Macbeth has bravely done these killings without the help of anyone, this highlights that Macbeth might have always had the ability within him to perform the bad deeds from the very beginning, therefore when he later chooses his ambition over his conscious, all he needed was a little evil for the competition of it. Evil may have always been present within Macbeth and the witches prophecy or Lady Macbeth’s encourage may just merely be an excuse for his deeds. For example, in Act 1, Scene 4, Macbeth speaks in rhyming couples that insinuates this evil as he internalizes the language of the witches while chanting “ Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires”. On the other hand, Macbeth’s futile attempts to cover up his deeds through darkness and the entrance of Banquo’s ghost has quite an impact on him considering he is the only one who can see it. The sighting of this ghost who arrived to remind him and accuse him of the savage murders, demonstrates Macbeth’s inner feelings of guilt, hence proving he is really a coward than a “butcher”. Also, the sighting of a ghost would be quite striking to an Elizabethan audience, as they were greatly fascinated by anything that had a connection to the supernatural.

Lady Macbeth is a women that consists of a strong character with a clear

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