Macbeth Paper
Macbeth was written around 1605 during Shakespeare's so-called "Tragic Period." It is a tragedy about a wealthy Scottish noble, Macbeth, who kills his king to gain the throne. During Shakespeare's time, this was the worst possible thing that a man could do, and Macbeth was doomed to die a tragic death from the beginning. Macbeth and his wife begin to do strange things because of what their conscience. Macbeth thinks he has to kill two of his former friends because he believes that they threaten his new throne. His efforts, of course, fail, and he is eventually killed. The character of Macbeth is a classic example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. There are many factors, which contribute to the deterioration of the tragic hero Macbeth, of which three will be discussed. One of the three points that contribute greatly to Macbeth's degeneration are the prophecy that was told to him by the witches. Another contributing factor was how Lady Macbeth influenced and manipulated Macbeth's judgment. Finally, Macbeth's long time ambition and deception, which drove his desire to be king was another factor that contributed to his downfall. Macbeth's growing character degenerates from a noble man to a violent individual.
Although Lady Macbeth is the most talented deceiver, Macbeth is also lead into committing his own deceptions. He begins to learn from his wife, and, in turn, proceeds to deceive many others. Deceiving his friends becomes a frequent habit, and Macbeth is forced to continue his lies and stories. Was the hope drunk, wherein you dressed yourself? hath it slept since? and wakes it now, to look so green and pale at what it did so freely? From this time such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour, as thou art desire? Wouldst thous have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would," Like the poor cat I'the adage?"(1.7.35-42) So as is pointed out by Macbeth, Banquo was very smart and Macbeth feared that he could put two and two together and then accuse him of King Duncan's murder. However, the witches then appeared again in the play. It was around 3 quarters into the play when Macbeth visited them again and they told him some more prophecies. They said that he should beware Macduff beware the thane of fife! They said that none of woman born shall harm Macbeth, and that he shall not be vanquished until Great Birnam Wood shall come to Dunsinane. So this must mean that the witches must have had prophetic powers because the end of the play fulfills all of these prophecies. That means that they did have a very big influence on the course of the play because as soon as the first prophecies are fulfilled, Macbeth goes looking for more, and the witches again set the plot of the movie. ay that the witches are responsible for the course of action in the play. In a sense it is true that the witches dictated the whole play of Macbeth, but they didn't dictate it they just outsmarted or put ideas in the right people's heads. The witches changed the peoples thinking so that they could stay away from all the action. The conclusion that will be made is thus. The witches are responsible of the course of action in the play. They started the play off by making those prophecies, in fact Macbeth wouldn't have even thought of killing the king if in fact the witches didn't mention that he will be king before he dies. When Macbeth killed the king the murdering of Banquo and Macduff's family followed mainly because of his suspicion that they might find out about that horrible deed that keeps coming back to him in dreams. I have thought about the fact that Macbeth made his own decisions, and that the witches didn't influence the play enough to say that they influenced the whole play. However, these are not good enough reasons compared to the points against that states they played Macbeth like a puppet, by planting ideas in his head that affected his way of thinking. After all, the play is called Macbeth, so what he did was the main part of the play. Macbeth appears to be in over his head when his mind starts to play tricks on him on more than one occasion: "Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still."(2.1.33-36) Deceiving others may seem difficult, but deceiving oneself leads t
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Approximate Word count = 2159
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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