Natasha French 10H Page
GCSE Coursework Assignment- Macbeth
King Duncan’s Murder Marks the Beginning of Macbeth’s Downfall. Who Can Be Held Mostly Responsible For This?
In this essay I will be stating how the main characters could in some ways be held responsible for Macbeth’s downfall and also why they did this. I shall also discuss how Macbeth’s own ambition and certain events in the play assist in his downfall throughout the progress of the play. This play that Shakespeare has written, was firstly performed for King James I. James I would have enjoyed this play because it was all about murder, treason and witchcraft. He would have been interested in witchcraft because in Shakespearian times people believed in witches and also King James I wrote a book all about the subject called Demonology. At the time of Shakespeare, people would have believed in witches and witchcraft. James himself believed he had an experience with witchcraft after he was at sea and there was a terrible storm, which had, supposedly, been conjured by witches. In my view the main characters that can be held responsible for Macbeth’s downfall are Lady Macbeth , Macbeth himself, the three witches, Macduff, Banquo and Duncan. This play was written to entertain King James I, who was interested in the main aspects of the play because it involved witchcraft, treason and murder. Shakespeare also included some a character that was one of his ancestors and this character was Banquo. I will now discuss how Lady Macbeth, the three witches and Macbeth himself contribute to his downfall and first I will begin with Lady Macbeth.
Now I will discuss how Lady Macbeth can be held responsible for her husband’s downfall and also how she does this. In this play Lady Macbeth is a strong character and also at times she is seen as being very bossy. Also Lady Macbeth can be seen as dominant, determined, and powerful and in some ways she is seen as being frightening. Lady Macbeth seems to be interested in the supernatural in the play because in the first forty lines when we first meet her she is summoning the supernatural into her body. In the play Lady Macbeth is able to tempt Macbeth into murdering Duncan because Macbeth trusts and loves her and this is how she is able to get him to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth is not a typical woman of Shakespearean time in this play. In that time a woman would just be at home cooking, cleaning and looking after the children. They wouldn't have an active role in public life. However Shakespeare has created Lady Macbeth to be quite the opposite. She talks to Macbeth about his problems, insults him, doubts his honour and courage. A woman might have been badly beaten for saying something like it but Shakespeare has made Macbeth tolerate that and actually it has some effect on him. It can be argued therefore that Lady Macbeth is responsible for his downfall. Her actions certainly help him decide on his deeds. In the first soliloquy, “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be…….” Suggests that the dramatic effect is striking because in Shakespearian times everyone would have believed in witchcraft and they would have thought it was weird because she was summoning spirits into her body. This would have seemed weird to many people in the audience because when the play was written many people believed in witchcraft and it can also be seen as weird because most people would want to get rid of spirits from their body whereas Lady Macbeth is doing the opposite. The quote that shows she is summoning supernatural into her body is, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here.” This shows that she is doing this because she doesn’t want any guilt or pain from the murder of King Duncan. This also shows that she has a bit of evil inside of her, other evidence that supports this is in Act 1 Scene 7, “I would, while it was smiling on my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you have done to this.” This tells us that if Lady Macbeth had children she would have killed them in order to get a chance to be king. You can also tell that that there is some evil inside her because she speaks in verse and Shakespeare only wrote characters to speak in verse if they were evil. This is only the case in “Macbeth,” not any of the other plays written. In the play Lady Macbeth plays a big part in the murder of Duncan because she is the one that was able to persuade Macbeth into killing king Duncan and she was able to do this because Macbeth loves and cares for her and so he trusts her. After the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth contributes to Macbeth’s downfall by making up excuses for him at the banquet, this is when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo sitting in his chair. An example of her doing this is in Act 3 Scene a, “…My lord is often thus and hath been from hi youth: pray you, keep seat, the fit is momentary, upon a thought he will again be well: if much you note him, you shall offend him and extend his passion: feed, and regard him not.” This shows that Lady Macbeth is trying desperately to cover for Macbeth encase he tells everybody about the murder of Duncan and so she makes up lies, saying that he is feeling unwell. After this event people begin to think that Macbeth killed Duncan. Next I will describe how I feel the witches contributed to the downfall of Macbeth.
