Examples Of Paranoia In Macbeth

Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (I.3.51-53). The witches' words are a catalyst, fueling Macbeth's ambition and setting him on a treacherous path.

Trevor Bingham English IV Mrs. Ruiz Feb 14, 2023 Macbeth in Control Would you kill your best friend for what you desire most in the world? Would you sacrifice everything you love? In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth A Scottish general, Macbeth, was told by three witches that approached him on the battlefield about his future. He is encouraged to kill the king by his wife to move his future along faster.

Macbeth is first introduced as Thane of Glamis, who goes to war leading the Scottish troops to victory over invading forces. On his arrival after successfully winning the battle, he meets the witches who hail him by his first title Thane of Glamis, then Thane of Cawdor, and King. This last title confused him; he wondered how he would be king if King Duncan is alive. He then sends a letter to Lady Macbeth about this revelation in which she is sold in by the thought of being queen, leading her and Macbeth to plot and execute the killing of King Duncan.

This quote is imperative to the scene and the play, as it reveals insight towards Macbeth’s thoughts and his characterization. The Shakespearian metaphor likens the snake to the threats that loom over Macbeth’s throne according to himself. Macbeth acknowledges that although they may have the throne, their authority is not entirely protected yet. Moreover, this quote also illustrates the extreme paranoia that has begun to eat upon Macbeth’s mind and has rendered him with excessive anxiety. Furthermore, at this point, Macbeth wishes to wipe out Banquo, as the witches had predicted that he would be the father to the new line of Kings, thus indicating that Banquo and his lineage would usurp the throne from him.

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.”

In Act 1 Scene 3, Macbeth meets with Banquo and the Three Witches, who prophesize that Macbeth will become King, “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of

(3.1.9-10). This means that Banquo will not act upon what the witches are telling him. What the witches are telling Macbeth would also never be coming true if he hadn’t acted upon it. As Banquo puts it in the play, “The instruments of darkness tell us truths,/Win us with honest trifles, to betray ’s/ In deepest consequence.”

When Macbeth and Banquo reach to Fife, King Duncan announce his son’s role after his death. Macbeth shows signs of disagreement with the Duncan’s decision of allowing his eldest son to attain the position of King of Scotland. Readers find out that the witches’ prophets

Firstly, Macbeth’s mental deterioration, due to his lust for power presents itself, when he decides to betray his best friend Banquo.

They greet him with three titles," Thane of Glamis," "Thane of cawdor," and "King Hereafter. "(Shakespeare5-6) The last two titles are used as foreshadowing for matters to come back, Macbeth himself sees them, but as predictions that would come true. The title of Thane of cawdor foreshadows a title that is soon to be announced to hi in scene four cause the execution of cawdor. The title King Hereafter foreshadows a title that will cost him more than he knows.

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 cannot control his paranoia and hallucinations, but he can control his actions towards the prophecies he 's given in the beginning. By the end of the play, his paranoia led to his lonely demise which showed how he believed in the prophecies. Macbeth’s control over his destiny reflects on what the play is teaching us overall. A way Macbeth is in control of his destiny is when he believes in the prophecies.

Macbeth is speechless for the witches prophecies came true. This makes Macbeth think about him becoming king and all of a sudden develops the urge to kill the current king,

Macbeth fate started of when he met the witches at the battle field after winning the battle against Macdonwald. The three witches predicted that he will become the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth believes their prediction “ If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Wthout my stir”

After killing Banquo Macbeth evokes fear from the audience. Yet at a banquet thrown in honor of Macbeth’s new title of King, Macbeth begins hallucinating about the ghost of Banquo haunting him, this not only ruins the evening, but causes the audience to question the mental deterioration of Macbeth. Yes he is to be feared for his actions taken against Banquo, but the audience is left to question if Macbeth’s actions are not still reactions from the prophecies the witches gave him. They played on his ambitious tendencies and clearly manipulated him, which draws pity, although Macbeth is acting on his own, not under the constructs of any direction which causes fear of what he is capable of. In this moment with the apparition of Banquo the audience has to question the confounds of Macbeth’s sanity, it is easy to fear Macbeth because of what he is doing, but circumstances such as these and the encounters with the Weird Sisters make it difficult for the audience to despise Macbeth, instead they take pity on what they view as a delusional mind.