Evidence of Evil in Macbeth
Evidence of Evil in Macbeth
In act one scene one, the witches, atmosphere and setting depict the themes of evil that sat the contours of the play, the guidelines if you will.
From the very beginning of the play, the scene-setter, Macbeth is being absorbed into the witches' evil. Shakespeare reflects this from the echo of the witches' words. The chanting of the hags, and the absence of iambic pentameters, also communicates a supernatural presence not of human constraints like time. "When the battle has been lost and won", Shakespeare reveals the victory of Macbeth, and the fall of his future station. The evil also sows a devastating seed in his mind, and is watered with the curiosity of the witches' prophecies of his glorious rise up the ladder to the throne, which is already blocking the loyalty of this brave general. The evil has also driven Macbeth to despise Malcolm for becoming heir, yet what right has he to judge the king, even in his own mind, with the seed? Macbeth has his thoughts soliloquised to the audience, showing the seed taking root deeper, injecting its contaminating tendrils towards his heart, beginning to block out the good Macbeth, but he is not truly evil yet. Here the evil is taking root to grow.
In Act 2, Shakespeare creates the image of the dagger to show that the evil has affected Macbeth's vision. Also, this is the sign of murder and evil. This drove his mind to the narrow dark alleys of evil that lead to Duncan's murder, which would have been like killing a god in those days. And Lady Macbeth taking over at this point showed the chaos and evil at this point. The evil also affected Macbeth's sleep and eventually Lady Macbeth's sanity.
Shakespeare does not introduce Lady Macbeth overly much as the evil powering Macbeth has used her for its own obnoxious ways. In Act 3, Macbeth kills his best friend, the man who tried to stop him listening to the witches', but his son escapes. Shakespeare covers these events with the image of darkness and night. At dinner Banquo's ghost entered Macbeth's mind and sent him gibbering and mumbling (the witches' doing or guilt?). Now evil has penetrated his perception of events, and all his solutions to them derive from evil. Now Lady Macbeth cannot sleep and the role ...
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Shakespeare does not introduce Lady Macbeth overly much as the evil powering Macbeth has used her for its own obnoxious ways. In Act 3, Macbeth kills his best friend, the man who tried to stop him listening to the witches', but his son escapes. Shakespeare covers these events with the image of darkness and night. At dinner Banquo's ghost entered Macbeth's mind and sent him gibbering and mumbling (the witches' doing or guilt?). Now evil has penetrated his perception of events, and all his solutions to them derive from evil. Now Lady Macbeth cannot sleep and the role of power falls on Macbeth, the evil is feeding off of them and their marriage.
During Act 4 the image of death and disease intensifies, Macbeth returns to the witches', the seed is fed from its point of origin, and now the illusion of invincibility cloaks Macbeth, his hubris. He damns the witches', and himself, almost realising his mistake. He now acts on evil impulses, falling lower as he orders all as well as children to be slaughtered in Macduff's Palace. Macbeth is now not his own. Macduff wants revenge.
The final battle of good and evil personifies to Macduff and Macbeth as their "representatives". The last Act is also where Shakespeare places the catharsis and Macbeth's nemesis, after Lady Macbeth commits suicide from madness and Macduff is crowned king. As Macbeth's punishment for listening to evil, he realises his mistake before he puts up his fight for his life, as well as falling from heaven to hell, and losing all self respect, friends, wisdom and love. The witches' are now finished with him and throw his life away as the waste it has become.
Throughout the play, the audience is never sure exactly how far the witches' control extends. For example, was the ghost the witches' doing, and from where did the dagger and Lady Macbeth's "spot" originate? Here Shakespeare is suggesting that a mere mortal mind cannot comprehend the awesome evil transpiring before them.
William Shakespeare wrote "Macbeth" in the reign of James 1, Elizabethan times. At that particular time, suspected witches were greatly prosecuted, and James 1 is predominantly recognised in history for burning more accused witches at the stake than any other monarch who reigned in England. As most plays were performed firstly to the royal court and then to the public, the king's "obsession" with witches significantly influenced Shakespeare's script and used witches' as his controllers, pulling the strings of the show. Shakespeare used the play to convey a subtle message of warning to James 1, to make sure he can trust those in high office and beware the woman and her devilish evils. Through the image of the downfall of a great general, Shakespeare relates how much influence evil really holds. The play starts off with Macbeth defeating an army and the king himself acknowledging his loyalty and bravery, but as he listens to the witches' the seed of evil is planted in his brain and grows, affecting him and those around him. Eventually he becomes so entangled in the evil being worked that " it is as tedious to go back as it is to go on". Shakespeare proved himself an unequalled playwright by weaving the subtle warning of the fate of listening to evil into one of the best awe-inspiring classical tragedies ever written.
A number of themes related to evil run through the play, setting the parameters of the performance. These themes are introduced in act 1 scene 1, and are echoed throughout the script, showing the influence of evil. The largest and most general yet most devastating theme, that of evil itself, is introduced by the witches' themselves, their speech and the surrounding environment. Because they were the opposite of the holy trinity, the religious people of those times would have instantly recognized this as the most terrible evil they could possibly see. Because in those times, the theatres did not have anything in the way of the technology of today, they would have presented evil in people as either chanting, or not speaking in verse, which was almost like a different language or a very strong accent to the people of that time.
Conclusion
Shakespeare, the greatest play write and analyser of human nature ever to be born, wrote one of the greatest classical tragedies ever to meet paper. He subtly weaves a warning for James 1 into a performance reflecting some of man's deepest fears, and the human nature to, once in a while, make the mistake of listening to evil. His play shows us that in every one of us there is a hint or a tinge of evil just waiting to smear across the pallet. All of Shakespeare's characters are puppet roles able to fir anyone, only using the King so it relates to his situation. Shakespeare is not only warning us of witches', women and evil, but of ourselves and our temptations and desires which, if we are not careful, will consume us and bring out the evil.
