Macbeth

A detailed Summary of Macbeth

At the beginning Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a sort of hero. He is presented as a great warrior and loyal servant of the king, Duncan. However, as we progress through the play we see another side of Macbeth. This is the side of evil all powered by his unstoppable lust for power and greatness. We see this lust for power become stronger and stronger until he leaves the whole of Scotland in a terrible state.

The play starts with the witches talking about Macbeth and what a great warrior he is. In Shakespeare's time witches were thought of as evil and the fact that they were talking about Macbeth made the audience make the connection between Macbeth and evil. The witches also give the audience the setting of the play and the story so far. They tell the audience about the battle in which Macbeth is fighting and that they will meet Macbeth on his return.

When the king hears of Macbeth's heroics in battle he is very pleased and refers to him as "valiant cousin, worthy gentleman." The king also presents Macbeth with the title of the Thane of Cawdor. This just adds to Macbeths already great status and shows him to be even more of a hero. This is backed up again by the sergeant who refers to him as "brave Macbeth" and "Valour's mi

When Macbeth hears that Banquo is dead but Fleance still lives he is again uncertain about his future. "Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect." At the banquet Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo and starts to panic and shout at it. Lady Macbeth again has to come to the rescue by telling guests he has been having fits like this since his childhood. "The fit is momentary.... feed and regard him not." This event causes Macbeth to go and search for the witches to learn about his future. In this scene Macbeth reveals how he regards his present state and he decided to continue along the path of evil. "I am in blood stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er."

In the end Macbeth got just what he deserved but I don't think he knew the full extent of what he was getting himself into. I believe that most of the blame must lie on Lady Macbeth's shoulders, as it was she who persuaded Macbeth to go ahead with the deed when he was about to give up and be the loyal soldier he should have been.

When Macbeth comes back home after the battle he makes it clear he hasn't made up his mind about killing Duncan by saying "we will speak further." Later on Macbeth considers the consequences of killing Duncan and thinking that killing him would be easy if there were no consequences to go along with it. "That but this blow, might be the be-all and end-all here." Macbeth also considers the effect that killing Duncan will have on his conscience. "Bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague the inventor." After coming to these conclusions Macbeth thinks up a list of reasons why not to kill Duncan. He knows that he is the king's loyal kinsman and as his host, should protect him. He says that killing such a great king would cause heavens angels to "blow the horrid deed in every eye." The only thing that keeps Macbeth going is his lust for power and this is proven when he says, " I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other."

Macbeth's lust for power is strengthened again when Duncan proclaims his son, Malcolm as heir to the throne. Macbeth reacts to this by referring to Malcolm as "a step I must o'erleap."

Scotland under Macbeth was by now a very unhappy place and opposition

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Approximate Word count = 1559
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English