Is Macbeth wholly evil?
'Macbeth' is one of Shakespeare's shortest and most compact tragedies, and because of this fast pace, Macbeth himself is the only character to be fully developed, the other characters existing to help the audience understand the changes in Macbeth's personality from play start to end. This 'centering' on Macbeth throughout the play is fascinating, for Macbeth's character descends from being a noble and valient general in the Scottish army, to being known as nothing more than a mercilous butcher. The play has many themes and images running through it, but they all return to the main confliction, which is good versus evil. This 'battle' also takes place within Macbeth's character, and the inner turmoil he experiences is reflected in the many soliloquys he speaks throughout the play. Like all of Shakespeare's tragedies, 'Macbeth' was written in the Jacobean era, and the anxieties experienced by the characters in the play about the stability of their state would have related to the fears of the audience at that time, an audience that would have included King James I, who was afraid of the possibility of civil war in his kingdom, which he him felt to be the worst evil. The play opens in a scene of darkness
It has been said that the core of the play is the contrast between the spiritual states of Macbeth and his wife. This changes in the play, for at Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth seems strong and Macbeth weak, but later, as Lady Macbeth realises what she has involved both herself and her husband in, she cannot bear it and goes to pieces almost at once. After Duncan's murder, Macbeth is tragically clear-sighted and sees the full horror of what he has done, becoming almost hysterical. He murdered Duncan while Duncan was asleep and now worries that he has murdered the innocence and peace represented by sleep. Lady Macbeth however, takes charge of the practical side of things and takes the daggers back to the guards, feeling no guilt at all for persuading her husband to murder the king of Scotland. Her personality seems to be extremely hard, but the key to her actions is her lack of imagination. She has no time to think about what she is really doing and never lifts her head to the horizon. The first we actually see of Macbeth is in the third scene. He speaks the words 'So foul and fair a day I have not seen.' This reiterates the words of the witches, again connecting Macbeth with them. Up until the time when the witches make their predictions, Macbeth is known to be a noble and contented man. However, when the second of the witches' predictions comes true, that Macbeth should become the thane of Cawdor, he can think only of their third prediction, that he would become King. Macbeth gaining the title of the thane of Cawdor is quite important, for it means that Macbeth would be putting on the treacherous Cawdor's robes - It is likely that Macbeth will become a traitor as well. The effect of the witches' words upon Macbeth is so noticeable that Banquo asks him if he fears the witches' predictions. Macbeth is now in turmoil and speaks his first soliloquy, in which he mentions murder, although it is he who connects kingship and murder
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lady Macbeth, WHOLLY EVIL, King Macbeth, Weird Sisters'-, King Duncan, Eagle Captain, Macbeth Evil, King James, Macbeth Act, Duncan Duncan, throughout play, lady macbeth, foul fair, thane cawdor, witches' predictions, evil play, bloody images, duncan's murder, macbeth's character, towards evil,
Approximate Word count = 1311
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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