Macbeth Characters Essay Example For Students

Macbeth Characters Essay In the play Macbeth the characters are using certain prophesies to try and helpthemselves in gaining confidence and self-assurance in achieving their ultimategoals. This is especially true in the character of Macbeth. He believes thatthroughout this story he is able to control his destiny and also change thingshe can not. He thinks that the actions he takes and the decisions that he makeswill allow him to control the future and further himself. In the beginning ofthis play, Macbeth is encountered by three witches, which give him the news ofhim becoming the king. He does not allow this to get to him initially but whentheir prophesy of him becoming the Thane of Cawdor comes true, he takes theirother words a lot more seriously. He then puts into action the killing of KingDuncan. By this move, he is able to take the throne. This finalizes the witchesinitial prediction of Macbeth becoming the king. His rule of Scotland is verytumultuous and questions arise of his ability of being able to rule properly andhis previous actions. He then murders his friend Banquo and then again consultsthe witches. They provide him with three more prophesies. One to beware ofMacduff, one that he cannot be killed by any man born of woman, and the finalsaying he cant be killed until Birnam Wood moves. Delighted by this news,Macbeth is filled with more false hopes and confidence. But inevitably hisbelief and trust in his ability to know the future and be filled with suchconfidence catches up to him. He is overwhelmed by all the true prophesies givenby the witches and his eventual overthrow by Macduff. The story of Macbeth isbasically a story of one mans attempts to control the future. Macbeth usesall his abilities and all his resources to try and accomplish this, but in theend it fails him. He bases all of his actions on his knowledge of the future andhis attempts to change it. The whole story is based around the idea of hisknowledge of what is to happen, and his attempts to change that to wards his ownbenefit. It provides him with the false hopes that were an eventual contributorto his downfall. Though her Lord was still having doubts, she was, in the most literal sense, ready to go in for the kill. Clearly demonstrating another villainous characteristic other than self- gain, Lady Macbeth shows the fear of getting caught when she unintentionally gives herself away in her sleep (V. i. 33, 37-42, 44-47, 53-55, 65-67, 69-72). Though her fear can suppress itself during a conscious state of being, she can do nothing about it when she is asleep. Throughout the play and leading up to her eventual suicide, Lady Macbeth slowly weakens. Yet, in the beginning of the play, she acts as if she is nstoppable. When Macbeth has his doubts and fears about murdering the loyal Duncan, Lady Macbeth chastises him, calling him everything from a coward to a helpless baby (I. vii. 39-49, 53-67). She even offers to do it herself, possibly to make Macbeth feel that hes even more cowardly because a woman is offering to do his job. This pushes Macbeth to kill, though these are the actions that will eventually lead to both of their demises later in the play. Macbeth tries to convince Lady Macbeth, as well as himself, that she is wrong: 3 Prithee, peace. I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none. (I. vii. 50-52) However, Macbeth does not seem to fully convince her, because he is still mocked by his wife. Whether he failed to convince himself or to convince his Lady is irrelevant; he went through with the murder anyhow. Not only does Lady Macbeth push her husband to do things he does not want to, but she also informs him that his face is too easy to read. Of course, she does not want her husband or herself to get caught, so she gives him advice in the area of deceptiveness. When she tells him to look like th innocent flower,/ But be the serpent under t (I. vi. -78), not only is she doing this so that Macbeth will not give himself away, but so that he will not give her away in the meantime. Even before that early point in the play, Lady Macbeth has already demonstrated that she is two-faced. When Duncan first arrives at the castle, Lady Macbeth acts as a welcome hostess, when in reality she has different plans for Duncan than she lets on. Through the careful use of chastisement, Lady Macbeth manages to manipulate her Lord so that she may get what she wants: a dead King Duncan in her house. Indeed, Lady Macbeth does get what she wants, and ultimately what she eserves, as the play progresses. Usually, though she has to nudge her husband a bit before he takes action, Macbeth is relatively obedient. Lady Macbeth seems to realize that her husband probably will not go through with the murder of Duncan until she pushes him to the point of no return, so she prepares everything in advance. All Macbeth has to do for 4 his part in the murder is actually kill Duncan; Lady Macbeth sets out the daggers and gives the guards enough alcohol so that they pass out. She was so eager to have Duncan dead that she almost killed him herself. .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 , .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .postImageUrl , .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 , .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3:hover , .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3:visited , .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3:active { border:0!important; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3:active , .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3 .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u5ef0a0c01a0133e0dfc6ca269f42b4c3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: JB Priestly's An inspector calls EssayHad he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done t (II. i. 16-17). Yet she still had her husband commit the crime, whether it was because she was actually scared to do so, or because she wanted him to feel empowered. Either way, Lady Macbeth was definitely ready for Duncan to die. Despite her eagerness earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth seems a bit afraid that she might get caught later in the play. When she sleepwalks and talks in her sleep, she demonstrates a fear that clearly represents the fact that she is scared of being caught. She talks of going to bed and washing her ands with the famous Out, damned spot, out, I say! V. i . 37) phrase. When she yells about ridding herself of Duncans blood, she is presenting a metaphor: she does not truly want to be rid of Duncans blood itself, but rather the fear and guilt that his murder has forced upon her. The constant nightmares she has and the fear and guilt she must live will become too much; she commits suicide, proving once again that she is a tyrannical villain because she cannot deal with the repercussions of her actions. As a result of her actions and the actions of her husband, Lady Macbeth meets an untimely demise at he end of the play. Yet most of what happened was due to Lady Macbeths doings. If she had not pushed Lord Macbeth so hard to do something that he did not originally want to do, then Duncan would have lived and Lady Macbeth would not have gone through such anguish. She was too eager to kill; she seemed to be only interested in her own personal gain and possibly her husbands gain, because she couldnt 5 have had one without the other. All in all, Lady Macbeth is the quintessential tyrannical villain who was bent on winning, but in the end she ultimately lost.