After meeting with the three witches, Macbeth becomes driven with a new ambition; this is a definite change from his previous loyal, compliant character. The first witch greets Macbeth ‘All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis.’ this is Macbeth’s current title, so will instil some confidence in him that the witches are talking sense. This appears not to have much effect upon Macbeth, but it keeps him listening. The second witch greets him with ‘All hail Macbeth, hail to the, Thane of Cawdor.’ This is a title which Macbeth does not yet know he has received, this holds Macbeth's interest as it administers a small amount of ambition in Macbeth, showing him what could be. When he learns that he has been named Thane of Cawdor, the two correct predictions will give him a burning ambition for the third, the greatest prediction. This prediction is uttered by the third witch ‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter.’ The use of ‘hereafter’ registers with Macbeth as meaning in the near future. This is perhaps the most important part of the witches’ predictions for driving Macbeth's new-found ambition. Whilst reflecting, Macbeth’s increased ambition is illustrated in his reflection ‘Glamis and Thane of Cawdor, the greatest is behind’. This ponderous statement can be interpreted in two ways; the first way is that the greatest achievement, Macbeth’s becoming king, has not taken place yet. The other is that both of his previous achievements were made using positive attributes of his character and the final one must be achieved by committing a terrible crime. This shows that he is seriously considering taking the necessary steps to become king but that he knows he shouldn’t. His unwillingness to admit to himself that he wants to become king, and his use of ‘the greatest’ to signify his becoming king, shows that he has at least some reservations about what would need to be done. This reluctance to admit to himself what would have to be done is also shown in Macbeth’s soliloquy at the end of Act 1: Scene 3 in which he speaks of “horrible imaginings.” The use of a euphemism instead of simply admitting to himself that he must murder Duncan enforces the audiences’ knowledge of his reservations.
Macbeth does not wish to kill Duncan as he is his ‘…kinsman and his subject’, be believes that if he does kill Duncan, he will be marked for death himself. Lady Macbeth tells her husband to ‘Look like th’innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t’ this use of imagery shows that she does not wish to speak of murder, as her husband will understand the implication. The use of the simile “innocent flower” partially reflects Macbeth’s former character, a law abiding and loyal citizen. The reference to a “serpent” shows the venom and malice that Macbeth’s character is to adopt later in the play. Macbeth tells her that ‘We will speak further’ and later asks her what will happen ‘If we should fail?’ Twice Macbeth refers to himself and Lady Macbeth using the personal pronoun ‘we’. In modern times this is considered completely normal, but in Shakespearian times this would be very uncommon as women were seen as property of their husbands, and this shows that Macbeth views his wife as an equal, not an object. It is because of this special bond between the Macbeths that Lady Macbeth is able to persuade her husband ‘To be the same in thine own act and valour, as though art in desire…’ Lady Macbeth undeniably knows what is going on in her husband’s mind; this is yet more proof that Macbeth tells her everything, and so respects and trusts her. Lady Macbeth accuses her husband of having a ‘Heart so pale,’ as Kings were elected in Shakespeare’s times, Macbeth’s reputation is key to his becoming king. For a soldier, being accused of having a ‘pale’ heart is a great insult and nobody would think to elect a king who is cowardly and weak. Because of this, Macbeth takes the insult to heart and decides that he must murder Duncan to prove to himself, as much as to his wife, that he doesn’t have a ‘pale’ heart.
Whilst Macbeth is trying to summon the courage to kill King Duncan, he appears to be quite deranged. He thinks he sees a dagger floating in front of him ‘Is this a dagger I see before me…?’ His hallucination shows that his subconscious thoughts are of murder and deceit. He knows he must kill Duncan, he is just frantically trying to find a loophole that will allow him to become king without murdering his cousin. His self-questioning is proof of his tortured soul, driven by ambition and love for his wife.
Once Macbeth has killed King Duncan, he appears to be in a state of shock, in modern times this would be understandable, but seventeenth century Scotland was a very violent place where murder was seen as a way of life. He dwells deeply on the fact that he cannot say ‘Amen’ when a drunk guard says ‘God bless us’. He believes that this is because he has done something so unholy that God has forsaken him, and left his soul devoid of religion and faith. An Elizabethan audience would have understood this and it would have worried them greatly; their fear of witches was second only to their phobia of the almighty. They would have sympathised with Macbeth as they would share his fear of Hell. Macbeth explains that he heard a voice cry ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more.’ As sleep is commonly associated with pleasant dreams and peacefulness, this quote shows that Macbeth knows that Duncan was a good king and thinks that he himself is not fit to rule the country. The use of Macbeth’s titles instead of his name being used show that he is still driven by what the witches predicted. When Lady Macbeth tells her husband to plant the daggers on Duncan’s guards, so to implicate them and not himself, he says that he cannot ‘I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not.’ He is in shock and denial about what he has done, and he believes that looking at what he has done will make the grief worse.
Macbeth, now king, decides that he will have to have Banquo and his son Fleance murdered because the witches predicted that Banquo’s sons would be kings. The murder of Banquo is much more distressing to Macbeth than the murder of Duncan as Banquo is his best friend and he was there when the predictions were made. A modern audience would be appalled to see Macbeth ordering his best friend’s murder; the butchery of a child is even more shocking to a modern audience as it shows a complete lack of conscience and principals in the murderer. ‘There is none but he, whose being I do fear.’ Macbeth has a false sense of security and he believes that Fleance is the only person who can vanquish him. At a banquet celebrating Macbeth’s becoming king, Macbeth imagines that he sees the ghost of Banquo in his place at the table. ‘Prithee, see there! Behold, look, lo! How say you?’ this disordered speech resembles Macbeth’s current confused state of mind and demonstrates how fragile the witches have made him.
In Macbeth’s second meeting with the witches, he is made to drink a foul hallucinogenic concoction, which shows him three apparitions. The first is an armed head, which tells Macbeth to ‘Beware Macduff, beware the Thane of Fife.’ The second, a bloody child, tells Macbeth that ‘…none of women born, shall harm Macbeth.’ The third apparition, a crowned child, holding a tree, assures him that ‘Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until, Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill, shall come against him.’ These apparitions strengthen Macbeth’s false sense of security, as he knows of no man not born from a woman. I believe that the eight kings he is shown are descendants of Banquo; the monarchy, after eight generations is passed on to James I. As Banquo is a noble character in the play, King James would have liked to believe that he was distantly descended from him. Macbeth decides that Macduff and all of his family will have to be slain ‘Seize upon fife; give th’edge o’th’sword, his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls…’ he believes that killing Macduff and his family will make his hold on the monarchy invincible. The use of emotive language shows how rough and violent his character has become and the cold indifference with which he gives orders to kill.
At the end of the play, Macbeth is shown to be an unstable and deranged ruler who is not respected by his people and who is likely to be conquered. This is a very dramatic change since the beginning of the play when he was greatly admired and much more humble than he is now. When he hears that his wife has died, he exclaims ‘She should have died hereafter,’ he does not feel grief, just annoyance that it happened at such an inconvenient time. This stark contrast between the grief he would have felt at the beginning of the play, and the callous nature he uses to dismiss his wife’s death further strengthens the impression of his as man changed for the worse. When Macbeth sees the Birnam wood moving towards Dunsinane he stops musing about the futile nothingness of life and arms his soldiers. He tells them to wait in the castle and that they will fight to the death. An Elizabethan audience would have held respect for him as he stood his ground, but they would understand that the battle was hopeless so would know he was wrong for forcing his army to stay with him. Whilst fighting Macduff, Macbeth is angry that the prophecy has come true; he is arrogant enough to believe that he can still believe that he can still defeat Macduff.
Macbeth started out as a well-respected battle hero who kept his head down and did what he was told. He did not have great ambitions and he was loyal to his king. After he meets the witches he is possessed by a driving ambition, which motivates him to kill his king, his best friend, and the wife and children of a former acquaintance. At the end of the play he is shown to be an arrogant, uncaring man who found it inconvenient that his wife died at a certain time. I believe that this change can be directly attributed to the witches as he would not have had any real ambition of becoming king before he met them. His wife had a lot of influence over him, but I don’t think she would have dared suggest murdering the king, had Macbeth not implied that it could be done. This idea of Lady Macbeth being portrayed as the evil temptress dates back to the story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. I think the play is suggesting that witches are an unnecessary evil which man has the power to vanquish. This idea would have greatly pleased James I as he himself hated witches and organised unfair trials for them.
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