The Tragic hero of Macbeth The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare in 1606 was just one of his famous plays that ended in catastrophe. Macbeth is a story of a brave general who received life-changing news from three witches. The witches proclaim their prophecies to Macbeth, that Macbeth will soon become King of Scotland. This started his obsession with taking the Scottish throne for himself. Macbeth started as a man who answered to his wife, he became overconfident and was fully consumed in everything that was happening around him by the end of the play he was slowly losing his humanity. Macbeth was a play full of tragedy which leads to death in the end. Greed and ambition helped Macbeth stride for power, which drove him to act the way …show more content…
He was dependent to stay king no matter what. His ambition grew larger as more people started to get in the way of his throne. He had the ambition of killing Banquo and Macduff's whole family as revenge. Macbeth killed Duncan out of the selfishness of wanting to become king which shows that he would've done anything. All that this killing is doing is bringing down Macbeth slowly. The more people he killed the worse his ambition had gotten. Macbeth started his killing spree when he tried to kill Banquo and his son as he felt threatened by them because he was next in line to be king. Mathbeth was willing to do anything in the world to keep his title; he was so consumed with wanting to have the throne all to himself. Macbeth decides that he was to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. The killing of Banquo is irrational because he did it mainly out of greed and a desire to stay King. Murderers were hired to kill both Banquo and Fleance. The murders inform the "Most royal sir, [that] Fleance is 'scaped" (3.4.19-20). It's weird how "some people are willing to betray years of friendship just to get a little bit of spotlight" (Conrad). This just shows that he wanted to be and stay the king no matter what even if that meant killing his own best friend while keeping it secret from his wife. Macbeth felt threatened by the fact that Macduff knew that he killed Duncan and that he went all the way to England to find Duncan's son to take his title as king away. When Macbeth was feeling this way he soon revealed that he had to get revenge on Macduff somehow. Everyone was confused as to why Macduff had left town; his wife, Lady Macduff was especially confused as to why he would pick up and leave his wife and family in such urgency. Running away to try and warn Malcome was just like "running away from everything" (Churchill) he ran away from the real problem and that was Macbeth. While feeling betrayed by Macduff a nobleman with whom
To continue his family’s name but also assuring he has a lot of power he had to kill King Duncan as shown in Act 2 Scene 1 lines 33-35 Macbeth says “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” this was when he was on his way to murder Duncan. Macbeth also had to murder his companion Banquo and others to keep his ambition going.
To start, Macbeth shows greed many times throughout the play, he kills just so he can get what he wants. The text states, “ Both of you know Banquo was your enemy” ( Shakespeare 3.1.113b-114a). This quote from the play shows how Macbeth lied to the murderers so that they would kill Banquo. Macbeth wanted Banquo killed because he thought that he would be a threat towards Macbeth becoming king. To add, Macbeth killed Duncan out of greed solely because he wanted to be king.
Due to his actions, he lost all things that make life with living, and this metaphor that he uses demonstrates his recognition of his actions and a level of regret for his actions. Furthermore, Macbeth demonstrates anagnorisis prior to his conflict with Macduff. He states that he does not want to kill Macduff because he already has enough of his family’s blood on his hands due to his actions of murdering Macduff’s family and servants. His hesitation in killing Macduff demonstrates his recognition of his actions- he knows that his murders were wrong and he does not want to repeat them, proving that he has developed anagnorisis. He urges Macduff to leave so that he does not have to carry through with the action that he clearly recognizes is wrong.
Throughout the play, the guilt leads him to kill more and more people because he needs reassurance that he is safe. Because of this constant reassurance, he would end up killing Banquo. As he says, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep.” This quote shows that Macbeth was worried over the fact Banquo was the only one who knew about his prophecy. He needed reassurance because he needed to be sure that Banquo could never find out that he killed King Duncan otherwise his position would be put under threat which could’ve led to his downfall much sooner.
Macbeth is trying to manipulate others to bury the past. Macbeth manipulates the murderers to carry out his wicked deeds in Killing Banquo and Fleance and accepts the same rhetoric that Lady Macbeth used him to murder by questioning their manhood to make them angry. “I am one, my liege, whom the vile blows and buffets of the world, hath so incensed that I am reckless what I do to spite the world”- Second Murderer (3.1.109-11). The murderers claimed to be men to Macbeth and expressed their rage at his anger, which Macbeth wanted to
Macbeth is a famous play written by Shakespeare. In this tragedy, a Scottish general is told that he will be king by 3 witches. With this new information and a little motivation from his wife Macbeth kills the king and takes his place. Due to his lack of sleep macbeth becomes extremely paranoid and commits more unnecessary murders resulting in a war and his death. This play shows the destruction that ambition can cause if morals are not present.
Macbeth stated, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep,/ And in his royalty of nature reigns/ That which would be feared” (3.1.55-57). He was afraid of Banquo, and it drove Macbeth to get rid of him and his son who was prophesied to be a king as well, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”(1.3.69), is the prophecy Banquo had received. So Macbeth sent out murderers after them.
First, Macbeth expresses fear when it comes to Banquo’s prophecy. “Then, prophet-like, they hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, and put a barren scepter in my gripe, thence to be wretched with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding” (Shakespeare 3. 1. 57-61). This shows that in Banquo’s prophecy he will heir kings and Macbeth will not. This proves that Macbeth killed Duncan for no reason and Banquo is making him look like a fool for doing so.
His desire for the crown outweighed his conscience to do what was morally right. Now, void of morality, he kills the guards to cover up and divert any suspicion from himself. And, as his thrust for power grows, he kills his friend Banquo to eliminate all threats that would stand in his way. His tyranny did not stop there; not only was he a lying murderer, but he now personified evil as he set eye on “The castle of Macduff” by ordering the killing of everyone in the household (4.1.151). Macbeth reigned with fear, berating those around him or killing them to maintain control.
In act 4, Macbeth visits the witches for a second time, and after learning that he should fear Macduff. Upon hearing this and learning that Macduff has fled to England, Macbeth says, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.”. In the 2015 film version of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth hears this and tries to stop Macbeth, but he simply brushes her aside and sets out to kill Macduff’s family. By this point, Macbeth has lost all relationship with his wife and is losing the trust and support of his soldiers and noblemen. By act 5, Everything is falling apart for Macbeth, his wife has commited suicide, many of his noblemen now march agaisnt him, and he is loosing the suppoort of his soldiers.
She told him to kill King Duncan so he could take his place, but Macbeth said he felt guilty because Duncan was a good man and deserved better. Eventually he does kill Duncan but immediately feels remorse, guilt, and even hallucinates. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth kills the guards as to not have any witnesses. The he begins focusing on killing Banquo because the prophecy said that his sons would one day be kings. He persuades some assassins to kill Banquo and his son by blaming their problems on Banquo.
The mental state of King Macbeth quickly declined. He became fearful that Banquo might try to take the throne from him for his sons. In order to protect the throne, Macbeth believed he must also kill Banquo. Although this time, he was not going to commit the crime with his own hands. Macbeth hired three murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.
At first, Macbeth believes that fate will make him king and he will not have to do anything. However, his ambition leads him to decide to kill Duncan and ????? to protect the crown. In order to keep the crown, he sent people to kill Banquo and his son so Banquo 's descendants will no longer become king. His fear of people taking his power and crown fueled his ambition to kill the people who used to be closet to him.
It all started with three characters; the witches. The witches are eccentric looking women who are able to see into the past, present, and future. The witches told Macbeth that he would become the king of Scotland. From this meeting, Macbeth presumed that he would have to commit a bunch of cruel acts, such as murder, in order to become king. When Macbeth started these killings, the people
Even after Macbeth became the thane of cawdor he still wanted more power “Now I’m the thane of Cawdor, just like they said I would be. But if this is a good thing, why do I find myself thinking about murdering King Duncan” (Act 1, Scene 3). Macbeth is so obsessed with power he is willing to kill the king. Macbeth is willing to do whatever it takes to abstain more power even if it means hurting someone that is innocent. This power that he has will only lead him to more