The importance of honour and loyalty is another prominent theme throughout the play. Shakespeare often uses the characters and events in Macbeth to show us what good and evil are. For example, he uses honour and loyalty as defining characteristics of an admirable character, while illogical passion and unchecked ambition are shown as characteristics of a disgraceful character. We first hear of Macbeth from a sergeant who has fought with Macbeth against the invading Norwegian army, and the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. The sergeant gives Macbeth a worthy report that highlights Macbeth’s bravery and courage: “But all’s too weak, For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name— Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valor’s minion carved out his passage” (Act I, Scene ii, Line 15-20). The honour and loyalty that Macbeth shows to his king result in a large reward, which highlights the importance of honour and loyalty in society. As the play develops, however, Macbeth starts to lose much of his original honour and loyalty. When he kills Duncan, Banquo, and the family of Macduff, he sinks to his lowest point of the play, wracked with guilt and remorse and sinking into a slow spiral of depression and madness. At the conclusion of the play, Macbeth is killed by Macduff in revenge for his act of utter betrayal, Macbeth ultimately paying the highest price for his loss of honour and loyalty. The murder also explores the theme of honour through the character of Macduff, the act serving to keep his own honour intact. Lady Macbeth shows nothing except feigned loyalty to the crown throughout the play, plotting to kill Duncan whilst pretending that she is loyal him. Her lack of loyalty results in the death of Duncan, and this death plagues her for the rest of her life. She feels so incredibly guilty that she goes crazy, and finally commits suicide. The couples’ lack of loyalty and honour results in both of their deaths. Shakespeare uses the death of the couple to show what can happen when someone loses all of their honour and loyalty, which in turn shows the importance of keeping your honour and loyalty intact. Loyalty and honour are important in any functioning society, and when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lose theirs, the kingdom is thrown into turmoil.
The battle between good and evil is a very prominent theme in Macbeth and is shown primarily on two fronts. The first is the observable battle between the invading Norwegian army and the traitorous Thane of Cawdor at the beginning of the play, as well as that between Macbeth and the army of Malcolm and Macduff at the end. At the start of the play, we see the good side of Macbeth when he is battling the invading armies, which is reversed at the end of the play when Macbeth is portrayed as evil and the invading armies of Malcolm and Macduff are depicted as good. The second and possibly more important battle is the ongoing one within Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as they make their choices and decisions throughout the play. For example when Macbeth is deciding whether he should kill Duncan, he has to battle with the good inside of him that tells him not to kill him and the evil that tells him that he should: (If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly. If the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success,” (Act 1, Scene vii, Line 1) In the end, the evil within Macbeth wins, and he decides to kill Duncan. As the play develops, the conflict within Macbeth becomes less and less apparent as the evil in him continues to grow, this evil coming to a peak when he orders the murder of Macduff’s family. Lady Macbeth also has to battle within herself with the forces of good and evil. At one point in the play, Lady Macbeth calls upon the spirits to take away all that is good within her so that she can continue her quest of making Macbeth and herself the rulers of Scotland: “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty” (Act I, Scene v, Line 39). These conflicts show the battle between good and evil in the play.
Finally, the influence of fate and the power it has to shape people lives is a major theme in the play Macbeth. The theme of fate is introduced very early in the play when Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches for the first time, the witches telling them a prophecy about their fate. Both Macbeth and Banquo are initially doubtful of the prophecy and believe that it is just the rambling of three mad women; however, within a day of the witches voicing the prophecy, it begins to be fulfilled as Macbeth is made the Thane of Cawdor. This makes Macbeth start to ponder on the truth of the prophecy, questioning whether he will have to actively fulfill it or whether it will fulfill itself without him doing anything: “The prince of Cumberland! That is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires,” (Act 1 Scene IV, Line 50). These ponderings present an intriguing aspect on the overall theme through questions of whether the prophecy would have fulfilled itself through some magical power or only through Macbeth’s firm belief that it was inevitable. Would Macduff have been able to slay Macbeth if Macbeth had not believed that he was going to die, or would the prophecy have come true if Macbeth had not actively sought after it? More importantly, was there anything Macbeth could have done that would have led to the prophecy not being fulfilled. Could Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become King and Queen, but then not have been dethroned immediately after? Shakespeare uses the prophecy to emphasize the power and influence that the idea of fate has on people’s minds, and how such power can lead to obsession and shape people’s lives. As much as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth believed the prophecy was inevitable, Shakespeare implies it was only this belief that guaranteed that the prophecy would be fulfilled. As soon as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth heard the prophecy, their ambition began to grow, making it impossible for them not to actively seek out the throne. This process made the prophecy come true, from Birnam Wood marching to fight Macbeth at Dunsinane Hill, to Macbeth being killed by someone not of woman born.
As is shown through the examples above, Shakespeare uses the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to develop the major themes throughout the play. We see the corrupting effects of ambition in the slow and fatal downfall of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth; the importance of loyalty and honour in the disastrous results that occur when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lose all of theirs, and the battle between good and evil within Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and between the good and evil armies. Finally, we see the influence of fate and the power it has to shape peoples lives. Shakespeare uses the characters in his plays to differentiate between what is good and bad, and in doing this he defines and develops his major themes.
