"This dead Butcher"... is this a fair assessment of Macbeth?

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James Sperring English Coursework, Mr. Ginns

t“This dead Butcher”… is this a fair assessment of Macbeth?

I believe that, “this dead butcher” is not a fair assessment of Macbeth because throughout the book after all the murders which he either does himself or hires murderers to kill someone for him he argues on why he shouldn’t kill him or her and then after the person is killed he feels guilty for killing someone. This shows even though he has done something wrong, he feels bad for doing it. At the beginning Macbeth meets three witches which tell him that he will become King. This is what brings out his ambition and what makes him kill people to follow his ambition of being King, not that he is just “a dead butcher”.  You see that he is a loyal soldier fighting for his king and country.  You can also see that he is a weak husband the way he will do as he is told by Lady Macbeth. We can see this when she tells him to kill King Duncan so he can be King. Through the book you see him slowly downhill and turn into “a dead butcher” but at the end of the book it does look like he becomes the soldier he was at the beginning of the book willing to go down fighting.

At the beginning of the book you see Macbeth just coming out of a battle fighting for his King against the Thane of Cawdor. You can see he is a good and loyal soldier the way the King and Malcolm talk about him after the battle is over. They talk to him about “his recent success on the battlefield”. The King then talks to him about how the Thane of Cawdor used to be a good friend to him. This is ironic as Macbeth later becomes the Thane of Cawdor and does become a traitor to the King by killing him. After he talk to the King and Malcolm Macbeth and his friend Banquo meet the three witches who tell them what will happen in the future. They say “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor. All hail Macbeth that shalt be King here after”. They also tell Banquo that he will be the farther to a line of Kings. This brings out the ambition in Macbeth who at first does not believe it until he meets up with the King again who tells him he will be Thane of Cawdor. After this he writes a letter to his wife telling her that he will be King. After she has read it a servant comes in and tells her that the King will be staying at their house that night. She decides to help Macbeth in becoming King by becoming totally evil and getting rid of all the good inside her. She says, “Come you spirits that tend on moral thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty.

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After, the King arrives and Macbeth and his wife plot to kill the King. Lady Macbeth is the one who makes up the plan and tell Macbeth what to do as he is weak and does as he is told. Macbeth though does not want to do it and argues on why he shouldn’t kill him. He says, “First, as I am his Kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” What this means that I should not kill as he is ...

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