“All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter.”
(Act 1 scene 3 lines 48-51)
As two of these predictions came true he is preoccupied by thoughts of kingship. Macbeth had written a letter to Lady Macbeth saying that he believes the predictions and he thinks that the witches predictions are reliable evidence:
“They met me on the day of success; and I have learnt by the perfect’st report, they have mortal knowledge…”
(Act 1 scene 5 lines 1-3)
Lady Macbeth is delighted at the idea of him becoming King and started to plan the killing when she found out that the king was coming to stay in their castle that night. When planning the murder Lady Macbeth is in control. This is a turning point for Lady Macbeth as we see a different side to her and she determines she will assist him becoming king whatever the cost, she exults and invokes demonic spirits to harden her own resolve and to destroy any weakness of pity. Her ambition for power leads her into an unnatural, phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, insomnia and madness:
“That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood……”
(Act 1 scene 5 lines 40-43)
When King Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle Macbeth starts to debate about killing Duncan because he cannot dismiss the fact that Duncan has been such a good king but Lady Macbeth persuades him by accusing him of being a coward and questioning his manly hood:
“When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.”
(Act 1 scene 7 lines 49-51)
When Macbeth decides to go through with the murder Lady Macbeth finishes of the plans and Macbeth leaves to go do the deed. Banquo has a feeling that something is wrong. Macbeth and Banquo meet and discuss what the witches had said; after Banquo retires Macbeth who is alone imagines he sees a blood-stained dagger leading him to Duncan’s chamber. He talks to the dagger and then the bell rings and he goes through with the murder. Although Lady Macbeth doesn’t commit the murder she panics and is excited at the same time but still stays in control. The reason in which Lady Macbeth cannot commit the murder is that the king asleep made her think of her father. Lady Macbeth has more presence of mind than Macbeth, and she manages to faint at the discovery of the king been murdered. Lady Macbeth’s conscience prays upon her mind as she starts to sleepwalk. Lady Macbeth ambition for power leads her into an unnatural, phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, insomnia and madness.
These two acts by Lady Macbeth create dramatic tension in the play along with other acts like the witches, which the Elizabethans would have had a big reaction to. There are other scenes of dramatic tension including:
- the dagger (act 2 scene 1)
- the ghost of Banquo (act 3 scene 4)
Shakespeare so searches the crevices of the conscience, the sense of guilt in every heart, such as Lady Macbeth’s guilt drove her to sleepwalk and commit suicide. He also is in keeping with the findings of modern psychology, as in many of shakesphere’s plays, its sustained evil and violence, is balanced by its study of the minds of its main characters. Macbeth and his wife are repulsed and torn by their own behavior, and they both seem to verge on hallucination and madness as they recoil from the mayhem they have created around them. But the lust for ambition proves the overwhelming force.
The Elizabethan audience would have been very nervous when watching this play as the thought of killing a king, the Elizabethans believed that killing a king was like offending god so they would have disliked Macbeth and seen him as evil. They also believed nature seemed to do odd things and they would think of it as god showing his displeasure e.g.: the screaming of the owl and the crickets crying:
“I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry.”
(Act 2 scene 2 line 15)
The play has many different types of language such as rhyme, similes, imagery and the characters language.
The witches use a ranting type of rhyme:
“A drum! A drum!
Macbeth doth come.” (Act 1 scene 3)
They also use alliteration:
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air” (Act 1 scene 1)
Some characters use simile such as Banquo:
“The earth hath bubbles, as the water has…” (Act 1 scene 3)
Many of the characters language stay the same. Although I think that Macbeth has the best language once he has committed the murder his language started to deteriorate.
Lady Macbeth uses imagery when persuading Macbeth to kill King Duncan creates a sinister, evil atmosphere.
“I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dashed the brains out…”
I think that Macbeth is driven by other forces beyond his control and had the opportunity not risen I don’t think Macbeth would have killed King Duncan. I also think that Lady Macbeth only saw what would be in it for her and not the actual realisation of the murder it’s self. If Macbeth hadn’t seen the witches or if Lady Macbeth hadn’t been told about the witches prophecies the murder wouldn’t have happened. So I think that Lady Macbeth was the driving force but the witches also played a part in influencing Macbeth.
