The Villainous Duo

A detailed Summary of The Villainous Duo

In The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and his "dearest partner in greatness" (Act I, sc. V), Lady Macbeth, were indeed partners, but of anything but greatness. These two, as Malcolm stated, "this dead butcher and his fiend-like wife" (Act V, sc. viii), are most definitely deserving of these descriptions. They lied, cheated, and murdered people to satisfy their own selfish, unbridled ambition.

Foremost, Macbeth was a brave and courageous man. He was one of Duncan's most glorious generals. The key word to take note of is "was," this man was kind and brave but had become blinded by ambition and avarice. He allowed evil to permeate his mind and transform him into a butcher. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth fears that Macbeth is "too full o' the milk of kindness" (Act I, sc. v) to take the necessary drastic measures that will place them on the thrown of Scotland. The fact that she thinks this, implies that she too is being transformed by sinful ambition. She "was" quite kind and motherly, until her ambition blinded her and led her to solicit the powers of darkness to take milk from her breasts as gall and to thicken her blood, thereby preventing any interfering pangs of consciousness.

Part of Macbeth's actions, of course, can be traced to envy. Early in the play when Macbeth hears the witches' prophecies, he envies Banquo's having heirs, as much as he fears, later, those same heirs as rivals to the throne. Being childless, Macbeth's greatness must lie within himself. Thus, he murders Duncan. But before he slaughters his cousin, the king, and afterward, Macbeth is plagued by constant fear. In addition, he fears Banquo, for Banquo is an honorable man. Furthermore, he recognizes Banquo's valor and wisdom:

After knowing of the witches' prophecies, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth start to change. They become more evil with every passing second letting their greed and selfishness take ove!

Macbeth had many chances to turn his back at the evil that lay before him, but he did not. Macbeth knew that the witches represented evil, yet he was immensely pleased by "the two truths" they told him. He sees them as "happy prologues" (Act I, sc. iii) to his prophesied investiture. The importance of this aside cannot be overstated. It shows us the nature of Macbeth's ambition for imperial power and, in addition, it shows us that his vivid imagination controls his thoughts so completely that it seems to be reality itself. This was not the only moment in the play, at which Macbeth had the chance to redeem himself. When Macbeth is in Duncan's room looking down at him, he hesitates. At that moment he had the chance to make the right decision He hesitates for several reasons, the first being that he wishes that the murder could be committed without any aftereffects or results. If he could be absolutely sure of success a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lady Macbeth, Macbeth Duncan's, Act III, Banquo Banquo, Lady Macbeth's, Foremost Macbeth, Edward Macbeth, Shakespeare Macbeth, lady macbeth, act sc, macbeth lady, Macbeth Lady, macbeth lady macbeth, fiend-like wife, dead butcher fiend-like, play macbeth, butcher fiend-like, dead butcher, witches' prophecies, throne macbeth, butcher fiend-like wife, dearest partner greatness, act sc vii, murderers macduff,

Approximate Word count = 1110
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English