His authority drove him mad; he started to kill the innocent like the family of Macduff for no reason. Besides taking away lives, he showed no remorse when his wife died: “She(Lady Macbeth) should have died hereafter,”(Act V, scene v). Macbeth's ambition for power clearly caused him to neglect morals/ethics; even the slightest sense of humanity diminished within his ambition. His ambition for power caused him to perform these heinous actions. Superceding ethics and morals because of ambitition is not limited to English literature; history has a few gruesome examples of its own: Adolf Hitler, known for conducting one of the
Moaraj will be proving that his superstition was the cause of Macbeth’s lust for power, and I will be proving that his greed was the main cause for the terrible deeds that had transpired. Women were not considered the same level in society (Elizabethan order) as men and were objects of the men would not have had much of an influence on men. Macbeth used Lady Macbeth for her innocence and he kept her out of his plans to murder Banquo and to murder Macduff’s family. This shows that Macbeth acted out
These acts of cruelty include the ambush of Banquo, the slaughtering of Lady Macduff and her children, and the poorly treated servants. The foul desire of being king leads Macbeth to take cruel action, no matter the circumstances “Fleance his son, that keeps him company/ Whose absence is no less material to me/ Than is his father’s, must embrace the fate/ Of that dark hour” (3.1.135-138). In other words, Macbeth does not take any chances of failing what he plans to do, even if family is by Banquo’s side. The foul desire of Macbeth being king and staying king leads him to be a murderer once again by taking out future competition in Banquo. According to a Shakespeare scholar, “Like Macbeth, Banquo knows that there were two key parts to the unearthly revelation: first, that Macbeth will become king, and second, that Banquo will
Hamlet Act 4 Questions 1. When Gertrude tells the King that Hamlet is “Mad as the sea and the wind when both contend which is the mightier.” I think she is believes that she because, Gertrude explains how Hamlet was in such a wrath that he was carless enough to kill a person that was hiding behind the curtain one of which he didn’t know the true identity of the man. 2. Claudius’s immediate reaction to the news of Polonius’s death reveals about his character that he is selfish and truly only cares about his own life and not about Polonius’s life. But he is also frightened of Hamlet and he isn’t as righteous a man as he wants people to believe that he is, he as well doesn’t want his public image will be ruined by this.
The characters determination for power causes them to carry out immoral acts. These actions play on the minds of the main characters as their guilty consciences torture them into madness. The text first shows that Macbeth is feeling guilty about desiring to kill Duncan in Act 1 scene 4, when Macbeth says, “Stars hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires.” This shows that he wants no one and nothing to see what he is plotting, affirming that Macbeth understands, unlike his wife, the wrong in contemplating murdering Duncan.
As we can see through Shakespeare’s writing, power cannot produce happiness nor satisfaction. In Macbeths pursuit of power his wife, Lady Macbeth pushes him into killing King Duncan. Right before Macbeth kills him he has already begun his guilt ridden kingship. This is illustrated when he sees “A dagger of the mind…” which is the creation of the
Macbeth is an extremly complicated character to portray. His personality changes throughout the play beginning as an honurable war-hero and being praised highly by the King; making him Thane of Cawdor even though he was already Thane of Glamis. He then becomes a hesitant murderer, constantly distressed about his situiation ‘I am afraid to think what I have done’ to actively planning the murder of Banquo and showing little contrition for the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth ‘She should have died hereafter’ and becoming responsible for the massacre of Macduff’s wife and children.it is imperative that the actor playing Macbeth understands the intricacy of his character. He must also be able to show the contrast between Macbeth’s character in Act 2 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 5, in order to portray Macbeth, the actor must contemplate the mood and tone of what he is saying, his gestures and actions to match a certain phrase or speech. Also his facial expressions are very important.
The prophecies of the witches have planted a seed in Macbeth’s mind that if he kills Duncan, the current king, he will be one step closer to being king. However, although he is ambitious and his wife is pushing him to kill Duncan, he feels guilty killing his king. As Macbeth is contemplating the murder, he has a vision of a bloody dagger leading him to Duncan. The passage “Is this a dagger I see before me?.” from Macbeth illustrates how Shakespeare uses imagery and allusions to show Macbeth’s indecision and establish his frame of mind. Shakespeare uses imagery to illustrate Macbeth’s conflict between free will and a predetermined fate.
Lady Macbeth uses this tactic on Macbeth several times throughout the play. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.” (Macbeth, Act 1, Scene vii, 56-58). Lady Macbeth Questions Macbeth’s manhood in this quote and is able to degrade his confidence and convince him to murder King Duncan through manipulation. She basically tells Macbeth, if you are a man then you will kill Duncan, if not you are an immature boy. “Wouldst thou 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' th' adage?” (Shakespeare, Act I, scene vii, 45-49).
It reveals Lady Macbeth's diabolical nature: instead of advising him against believing the witches' prediction that he would become king she decides to incite him to murder Duncan. She knows fully well that her husband could become king of Scotland only by murdering Duncan. It reveals that Macbeth is "too full o' the milk of human kindness" and how she plans to "chastise him with the valour of her tongue" to fulfil their ambitions, this quote also shows some disturbance in Lady Macbeth because it sounds quite manly and unfeminine. This clearly indicates that Lady Macbeth is the dominant partner in their marriage and that although Macbeth is a brave and courageous military commander he can be easily manipulated by his wife. This has led many critics to conjecture whether Lady Macbeth herself is a witch in human form.