Macbeth’s Insecurity
How far are you willing to go for someone’s respect? Would you commit a murder of someone close to you? In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the character Macbeth goes to great lengths to become King of Scotland despite the great risks of the job. Macbeth murders King Duncan, which he was once opposed to because his reputation was at risk. Macbeth sees himself as ambitious and gets offended if anyone suggests that he is anything other than a good man. He cares gravely about the opinions of his wife Lady Macbeth, who wants to see him as king, those of the king himself, and those of his companions’. Macbeth wants to be king because he wants the approval of others.
To start, Macbeth is not always confident about having to kill King Duncan to rise to power because Duncan praises Macbeth and trusts him. In Act 1, Scene 4, King Duncan says to Macbeth, “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing” (1.4.33-34). Duncan is using a metaphor to say
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Macbeth is insecure, and looks to his peers for praises and approval. He is desperate to be king for the sake of his image. Similarly, one who is insecure may be more inclined to submit to peer pressure and make harmful decisions. Being easily pressured to do something for approval can turn lives into a downward spiral. Some teens or young adults may do things to make friends and fit in, such as breaking laws by stealing, gambling, irresponsibly drinking, or using illegal drugs. Although some people may do these examples as an isolated thing, they can lead to addiction and quickly ruin futures. After killing Duncan due to pressures from himself and his peers, Macbeth continues to make rash decisions, and he changes as a person. He is no longer an ambitious, brave man but instead a paranoid, immoral one resulting in his own
Macbeth’s decision is heavily influenced by Lady Macbeth’s attack on his manhood. She discusses the power that Macbeth will possess if he is brave enough to do anything. “I am settled, and bend up/ Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.” (Shakespeare 1.7.79-80) Macbeth makes an impulsive choice that is very unlike his true character. He is at the point where he would do anything that will make him the King of Scotland, such as killing Duncan.
Macbeth we see him use ambition as a motif to show how when unchecked it can lead to moral decay. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seek the throne and all of its power which leads to their destruction. In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth comes to terms with the fact that killing Duncan is simply a move for power with no moral backings, “ I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on th’ other-”. Although Macbeth begins to realize that he is committing murders and destroying lives for power there is nothing stopping him. Unfortunately Lady Macbeth was overcome with the guilt of what she had done that she took her own life.
Although, the most common occurrence throughout the play is how Shakespeare uses the character of Macbeth to illustrate how betrayal and deception will come back to get you in the future. Macbeth's betrayal to King Duncan ultimately led to the downfall of his evil actions, and finally his death. By Macbeth carrying out the assassination of King Duncan and his guards he betrayed not only his whole life of accomplishments but most of all, Duncans loyalty to Macbeth as a man. Earlier in the play King Duncan
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 Macbeth, William Shakespeare portrays the end of a famed hero who chooses to go down a dark path, rather than choosing a path which would have led to glory, making him a tragic hero. When Macbeth is told his prophecy of becoming king, he intends on doing it on his own terms and decides to make impulsive decisions, such as killing Duncan, Banquo and slaughtering Macduff’s family. These impulsive decisions were an effect of Macbeth being blinded by becoming king, as he felt he had other options. Although it may seem that Macbeth was influenced by society to commit these atrocious acts, he was fully aware of the consequences and went ahead with his plan. Macbeth truly fits the role of a tragic hero as he brought his fate upon himself, through
For starters Macbeth eager desire to be king causes him to kill King Duncan. Macbeth killing the king shows his ambition because he keeps enduring with the process of killing the King Duncan even though he had doubts. With the many doubts that Macbeth had such as he would not be loyal or he would be caught and killed he reassured himself and persevered through his thoughts to accomplish killing the king. Lady Macbeth has a variety of events that shows her ambition in this play. In the play Lady Macbeth prays to invite spirts to help prepare her for the actions that she has commit.
As a result, Macbeth, after being heavily influenced by his wife and his own greed, kills King Duncan. Once he finishes killing the king he feels a huge sense of regret and guilt after committing this murderous act. However, he still achieves his aspiration of becoming king in which he is very possessive of. While Macbeth is king, he reminisces about the original
In Act 1 Scene 5 (14-29) it says “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win.” Lady Macbeth says that he is too much of an coward to become king because, he usually backs out of whatever he has to do to become king and to stay as king. Even though Macbeth killed Duncan, it doesn’t make him more ambitious, because he didn’t want to kill Duncan. After he killed Duncan he started to regret what he did.
Morality plays a large role in defining identity. Shakespeare uses Macbeth to question the impact of morality in shaping Macbeth’s identity. Shakespeare accomplishes this through defining Macbeth’s original character, expressing how Macbeth’s changes morally, and examining the effects of this moral change on Macbeth’s identity. Initially, Shakespeare accomplishes this through establishing an original state of morality for Macbeth. Subsequently, Shakespeare highlights the decay of Macbeth’s morality as the story progresses.
In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare we see many different themes emerge from the characters. Greed is one of the biggest themes in Macbeth the definition of greed is excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions. Two characters that express greed the most are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, greed causes Macbeth to go extraordinary measures in order to achieve his goals. Greed leads Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into mental illness and eventually death.
In Scene 7 Act 1 of Macbeth, Integrity of each character were displayed throughout. Macbeth had possessed a high integrity to his master at first but it was quickly changed to low integrity due to the motivation of his wife. Shakespeare used diction in the text to display integrity of Macbeth throughout this scene. Throughout, Macbeth displayed a Low Integrity, Macbeth couldn’t resist the idea of killing the king and Which is why he felled into his wife’s corrupted plans.
During the last scene of Act 1 in Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth employs the three Aristotelian Appeals in order to inspire Macbeth to murder his cousin Duncan. Lady Macbeth utilizes logos, ethos, and pathos to evoke a convincing argument against Macbeth to initiate him to kill his cousin. As Macbeth decides to kill Duncan to obtain power, it proves how Lady Macbeth’s application of the three Aristotelian Appeals utterly convinces Macbeth to commit the inhumane act of murder. The first Aristotelian Appeal, logos, is defined as an argument based on logic or reason. When Macbeth withdraws his decision to kill his cousin, Lady Macbeth furiously asserts that Macbeth “[lives] a coward in thine own esteem/Letting ‘I dare not’ wait
Macbeth shows that he is willing to kill King Duncan because he is interested in the witches prophecy, after they tell him that he will become ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and then the King.
Macbeth’s Moral Deterioration Throughout the years where ruling and power took place everyone has always wanted to feel powerful and wouldn't stop at any lengths to have it even if it means hurting others along the way and choosing the wrong path . For others not so much, but some will choose anything to have power for instance in the tragedy of Macbeth. This is a story of an unsuccessful ruler who became king by murdering and manipulation. He chose to kill and lie in order to have power. His immoral decisions eventually lead him into extreme feelings of guilt and remorse later on in the tragedy.
In the Shakespearean play Macbeth, Macbeth, the eponymous character, begins to lose his sense of morality and integrity. The first moment his decline is revealed is after he hears the first part of the witches prophecies come to pass. Whilst thinking about how this will cumulate into him becoming king, he wonders if the temptation is good or will be detrimental. He pronounces that if it is good, “why…[does he] yield to that suggestion…[of killing Duncan]” (I.iii.135). Already, the idea arrives in his head despite the fact that it is a horrid image to him.