Betrayal In Macbeth

In act one scene seven, in the play Macbeth, shakespeare uses diction to reveal Lady macbeth's complex thinking and ruthless ambition of gaining power by having macbeth kill king duncan. Shakespeare demonstrates this through many conversations between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. The diction shakespeare uses also expresses Lady Macbeth’s motivation towards killing king duncan and how it influences Macbeth. Shakespeare also uses metaphors, and persuasive language to depict Lady Macbeth's obsession for power and authority along with Macbeth’s reluctance to agree with Lady Macbeth's plan to kill king Duncan. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship is very strong.

Macbeth’s betrayal of his friend Banquo and his king, Duncan, are both incredibly heinous acts. Both betrayals are driven by Macbeth’s ambition and his willingness to do whatever it takes to secure his own power. However, when debating which of Macbeth’s betrayals is worse, it is important to consider the greater implications of each act. Macbeth’s betrayal of Duncan is arguably worse than his betrayal of Banquo. Duncan is the king of Scotland and Macbeth’s liege lord, so his betrayal of Duncan is a direct attack on the monarchy and the social order of Scotland.

Betrayal is an act of intentional disloyalty and unfaithfulness. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth commits extreme felony and betrayal by murdering his king, who wholeheartedly trusted him, in order to take the crown. Similarly, Lord of the Flies demonstrates the act of betrayal through Jack, the novel’s antagonist. Jack angrily abandons Ralph and forms his own violent tribe, whose ultimate goal becomes killing Ralph. As shown through Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, and Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, betrayal leads to the consequential destruction of an individual rather than his/her desired success.

In this passage from Act 3 scene 1, Shakespeare uses anxious diction and imagery to show Macbeth is feeling nervous and threatened. In Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth expresses his fear and concern about the threat posed by his former friend, Banquo. Having killed King Duncan to become king, Macbeth is now focused on maintaining his power and ensuring his own safety. However, he recognizes that Banquo poses a serious threat to his reign. Macbeth has a nervous obsession with his willingness to do anything to protect it including murder.

During the the Middle Ages and Renaissance loyalty played a huge role in everyday life. Men were expected to show loyalty to their king, their fellow soldiers, and to their country. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, loyalty plays an important role. Macbeth,Malcolm, and Macduff are all examples of loyalty in Macbeth.

In the play Macbeth there are many important themes, betrayal being one of them. The most important theme is betrayal. Betrayal is the biggest theme because it occurs many times throughout the play. If betrayal wasn’t in the play then many of the big events would never happen and there would be a different outcome. The three best examples of betrayal are the Thane of Cawdor betraying the king, Macbeth betraying the king, and Macbeth betraying Banquo.

King is the highest honor someone could have during this time, with that comes respect and loyalty. The king is highly venerated and held at almost a holy standard. One would expect that someone who loves their country would also love their king. Often times the reason for someone not liking their king is the way they rule. Speaking in terms of the play Macbeth, Duncan-the king of Scotland- rules justly and fairly, but he still has plenty of traitors within his group of trusted men.

In the story, Macbeth becomes nervous that Banquo will over power him. “But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared. ' Tis much he dares, And to that dauntless temper of his mind To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear.”

It states that “When a person cannot control is overcome within there vices, he’s liable to betray.” Macbeth shows betrayal in a way that is deadly. Macbeth is full of ego and pride. He will do anything, and I mean anything to get what he wants. Macbeth sees Banquo as a threat towards his future in becoming king, he also knows he will inherit the throne, so he feels the need to kill Banquo.

Banquo says, “I fear thou play’ds most foully for’t” (Act 3 sc 1 lines 2-3). I feel that Banquo is seeing that Macbeth is getting everything that he wants and Banquo is noticing that it’s out of the ordinary and he ends up getting suspicious of Macbeth. Macbeth notices that Banquo is getting suspicious of him. Also, the weird sister told Macbeth that one of Banquo sons is going to be king one day. Macbeth doesn’t like the idea of both of these, so Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.

With the King dead, Macbeth becomes overly paranoid and imagines hearing a voice. Lady Macbeth scolds him for being afraid and childish by saying, "You do unbend your noble strength to think So brainsickly of things" (2.2 60-61). Macbeth drives himself insane by worrying about the repercussions of killing Duncan. The shame and paranoia consume Macbeth leading him to commit more murders to protect himself from suspicion and animosity. Macbeth proposes to kill Banquo due to a prediction that Banquo's sons will threaten Macbeth's throne.

In Macbeth’s soliloquy, he talks about Banquo’s “hath of wisdom” and how Banquo acts safely(58). This illustrates that Macbeth is afraid of what Banquo might do. This illustrates Macbeth’s ambition because he is not going to give up until he finds what he is looking for if he gets suspicious with Macbeth. This makes Macbeth very scared of Banquo because if Banquo finds out that Macbeth killed Duncan, Macbeth’s life is going to be hell and Banquo is immediately going to tell everybody in Scotland. Macbeth fears Banquo so much that he will “champion his utterance” and will battle anybody to keep his crown(77).

Macbeth is worried about Banquo’s son and wisdom. He then sends two assassins to kill Banquo and his son This is important because Macbeth realizes that being king is meaningless if he is not safe, and is willing to commit another murder in order to make him live a worriless life as king. In this passage, Macbeth says that he is trapped, and cannot move forwards or backwards. Macbeth is in a situation where he is forced to “stand his ground” because he made the decision to murder Duncan. This is significant as it shows that Macbeth’s decision to kill more people in his way (fulfilling the witches prediction) as he has already killed people in order to become king.

In shakespeare 's Macbeth there are and twist and turns shake ups and things you couldn 't even imagine. In the play a man named Macbeth is driven crazy with power and starts to do thing out of the ordinary shakespeare says that even the ones closest to you will turn on you though Macbeth by making him turn on the people close to him Betrayal happens right in the beginning of the play it is the reason why the war was started because someone betrayed the king of Scotland. An example of it in act evonne is when king Duncan says “No more that thane of cawdor shall deceive” (act I,III,71) he says this because the thane of cawdor betrayed him and was giving away all of his plans during the battle with Norway. After Macbeth hears his prophecy he decides to take further action which is to kill the king he says “It were done quickly if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch” he was basically saying that if he kills the king and get caught there would be serious consequences.

After achieving the title of the King of Scotland, Macbeth wants to secure his position as the king and desires to inherit the Scottish throne to his ancestors. His aim was showed in “To be thus is nothing, /But to be safely thus” (III, i, 52-3). This quote reveals that Macbeth not only wanted to become the king but also wants to secure his position as the King of Scotland for the welfare of his upcoming generation. This reveals Macbeth’s is implying the witches’ prophecies; as long Banquo’s sons live, Macbeth’s throne would not be able to inherit down to his ancestors. As the play progresses, Macbeth’s hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance, as represented through, “Banquo, thy soul’s flight, /If