“…I am in blood
Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more
Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”
After visiting the witches once more, he returns to his castle, where “he is so hardened to horror” that when his beloved wife died he is hardly touched by her death. He then reveals his thoughts in another soliloquy and probably the most recognized speech out of the whole play,
“She should have died hereafter;
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”
He then loses faith in life itself,
“…It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.”
Macbeth now deludes himself into believing that he can have all the power he wishes through murder, deceit and lies but then discovers that the consequences of evil actions cannot be controlled. The witches’ prophecies came true but what happened after those incidents was all dependant on what Macbeth did while he was the king. Upon visiting the witches he is shown three apparitions about his future, one of them is about how he cannot be harmed by any born man apart from those “untimely ripped from their mother’s womb”. Death was his final penalty killed by Macduff. Macduff, to Macbeth’s horror, was born from his mother’s womb “untimely ripped”, therefore leaving Macbeth stranded with his fate.
Lady Macbeth could be considered as ruthless as Macbeth in some ways, as she also took part in some scenes of complete evil. Her response to Macbeth’s letter for example was “evil”,
“…Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here
And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull
Of direst cruelty…”
Here Lady Macbeth is calling upon herself the evil spirits that are waiting to enter any human mind that is willing to receive them. When Macbeth returns to his castle, Lady Macbeth, having read his previous letter, starts to tempt Macbeth into doing this evil deed. To a Jacobean audience Lady Macbeth would be seen as Eve trying to tempt her Adam, Macbeth. Lady Macbeth succeeds having used evil images in her arguments,
“How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me-
I would while it was smiling in my face
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.”
After the murder was committed Lady Macbeth’s attitude towards evil starts to decline. She expresses contempt for Macbeth’s remorse by telling him “A little water clears us of this deed.” The reason I have highlighted the word “little” is because Lady Macbeth uses this word many times during the course of the play. She also means that no-one could find out about what they had done as it was so easy to try and hide all the visible evidence. At the end of the play it is obvious that Lady Macbeth begins to realise that she has been wrong about sin and responsibility. Her nightmares and sleepwalking refer to the demonic possession or infection taking over her mind; they are also about the joint crime between herself and her husband. She keeps on recalling the event of Duncan’s death,
“…Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood on him? … Here’s the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” Notice the repetition, “little”. Lady Macbeth dies off stage and the cause of her death is unknown, but from what we know she was driven mad and probably died because of her guilty conscience. It is also suggested that she killed herself which is another mortal sin, therefore guaranteeing “damnation”.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are not that different, as they were certainly both partners in crime committing the murder of Duncan together (husband and wife killers). But as the play develops you can see that Macbeth gains ruthlessness throughout the play, whereas Lady Macbeth does the opposite and slowly diminishes succumbing to the terrors of a bad conscience.
This is all being influenced by just three witches. The witches play an important role in this play, as they are fundamentally the centre of all evil that is manifested in the play. In Macbeth's time witches and witchcraft "were the object of morbid and fevered fascination". And persecution was at an alarming rate with hundreds being prosecuted a week (mostly all women). Most of these women or men weren't even witches but the persecutors always found an excuse for a witch’s guilty verdict and they could prove their point as well. Witches were nearly always burned to death at the stake as people thought that they were so evil that their sins had to be burnt out of the occupant. This explained why witches could not say a prayer or do anything of a religious aspect. Holy water could not cleanse them of their sins, as instead it would harm them. Witches were credited for their diabolical powers and how they could perform mystic spells in their favour against their enemies. Witches could also raise the spirits of the dead by concocting a brew consisting of some gruesome ingredients,
"In the poisoned entrails throw...
...Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake:
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog...
...Finger of a birth strangled babe,
Ditch delivered by a drab."
Upon hearing these words of complete "evil" about a baby being strangled at birth by its own mother and then "ditch delivered by a drab" (a drab was a sort of prostitute) it immediately explains why and how these three witches are the centre of all evil manifested in the play. Witches were also thought to have a familiar: a bird, reptile or a beast as an evil servant from which the devil could suck the witch’s blood. If a witch was caught or found then the prosecutors would search the body for the Devil’s spot; this was sometimes mistaken for a “birthmark”. The witches appear right at the beginning, showing how powerful and ruthless they are. They tell us that they can see the future and predict what will happen,
“When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When hurly-burly’s done,
When battle’s lost, and won.
Where the place? …
…There to meet with Macbeth…
…Fair is foul, and foul is fair,
Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
The next time we hear about them is when they predicted, correctly, that Macbeth had won a noble battle and he was making his journey home together with Banquo. Immediately as Macbeth and Banquo enter the heath there is an eerie sense of evil, there is also a sort of echo going on throughout this play, as Macbeth’s first words were a repeat of what the witches said in their beginning scene. This could also be related to how Macbeth could be seen as evil as the witches,
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen…
…What are these,
So withered and so wild in their attire,
That look not like th’inhabitants o’th’ earth.”
The witches then tell Macbeth that he will be the king of Scotland. This has quite a big impact on Macbeth and his reaction is rather revealing, Banquo notices this. However the witches would not be able to work their evil powers unless Macbeth responded to them in some sort of psychic way (the witches’ prophecies give Macbeth evil thoughts about murdering Duncan). The last time we hear about the witches is when Macbeth under the torture of his own guilt goes back in search of them. Macbeth wants to find out what will happen in the future. This scene is very important as it consists of the three apparitions. Once again the witches brew up another revolting concoction. Macbeth then drinks this in order to see his apparitions. It seems that the witches have almost turned Macbeth totally evil, Macbeth does not even think twice about drinking this concoction consisting of “evil”, therefore becoming a sort of witch himself. This was portrayed in the Polanski film. To the Jacobean audience it would seem that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth would have finally died (or killed in Macbeth’s case) after being plagued with this “demonic infection” almost like being possessed by the devil itself. For example Macbeth’s inability to say “Amen” to the prayers he overhears or Lady Macbeth’s “damned spot” which would be seen as the Devil’s mark, which would suggest that Lady Macbeth must have been a witch herself.
The language and imagery of the play mostly concentrate on the Darkness and Light (good and evil). The good and evil seem not only to have an affect on the person but also in the surroundings (nature and the rest of the universe) as in Jacobean times people thought that God had created things for a purpose and that the universe was divinely split into “degrees”. Stability in the universe or “macrocosm” was also a factor. Correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm (man) was often. The first signs of setting are with the witches with the weather. The witches’ presence always seems to have an effect on the atmosphere (thunder, lightening and rain). Another example is when Duncan has been murdered and the whole of Scotland seem to answer this murder,
“And Duncan’s horses, a thing most strange and certain,
Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,
Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,
Contending ‘gainst obedience as they would
Make war with mankind.”
These images of chaos reflect on how the death of the king or “father of the country” causes distress to nature. So the evil in humans is projected onto nature. There are also a lot of images of blood mostly circulating around the murderers, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, who experience nightmares which consist of Duncan’s blood ( or in Macbeth’s case, Banquo’s corpse),
“Out damned spot! Out I say!”
In this scene her language changes from being confident and aggressive to restless terror. Another point is that Lady Macbeth starts the play in verse and then during her madness she changes her form of language to prose. Lady Macbeth was embraced with evil as her sleepwalking was at night, which has a connection with darkness and death. The main imagery of sickness was connected with Macbeth himself. When Duncan was king everything was peaceful but after Macbeth came to power the world seemed to turn upside down and chaos broke out. It is ironic that Macbeth was the illness himself. It was supposed that if the king touched someone it would be an act of healing for the person who was touched.
However, with Macbeth it was the opposite, maybe because of how evil he was. Macbeth is called many names in this play such as “hell-hound” or hell-kite and even “devilish Macbeth”. All of these names reflect on Macbeth’s connection with Satan (the Devil) or hell. Edward was the only other sign of healing. There are scenes in the English court telling of Edward the Confessor (Act Four, Scene Three) showing that he had the power to heal the sick and cure evil. Edward, the king of England was the person who went to war with Scotland and drove Macbeth off the throne restoring peace throughout the country. Once again everything would be back to normal.
The good in the play is balanced out by Macbeth’s tyranny. Characters like Banquo and Fleance, Macduff’s family and King Edward seem to be pure good fighting against Macbeth who turns out to be pure evil. Banquo and Fleance show the goodness within them as Banquo dies thinking of his son’s safety while Lady Macduff and her son represent family loyalty. It is strange that Macbeth starts off in the play as a noble, loyal and “good” soldier serving his king and country. But as soon as he meets the witches this all changes because the witches tempt him into fulfilling his ambitions. It is also strange that Macbeth, before he kills Duncan, refers to images of holiness,
“…Will pleade like angels, trumpet-tongued against
The deep damnation of his taking off.
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin, horsed…”
Although the witches influenced Macbeth into committing the crime, it was Macbeth’s own choice not to carry out the ruthlessness and killing. But after this incident murder and nightmares were going to prevent Macbeth to turn back to the good person that he was before. Lady Macbeth also played an important role in Macbeth’s “journey to hell”. She was the one who also persuaded him to kill Duncan and fulfil their ambitions.
Overall I think this play was a powerful representation of good and evil. It shows that people in Jacobean times would have thought of such things as the king being known as a sort of God therefore able to heal anything he touches. This runs parallel to the characters of King Edward and Duncan. The human minds in those times were susceptible to “evil spirits or thought” if the mind was ready and willing to receive them. In doing so it would make the person do whatever actions they pleased in order to make themselves content. These actions sum up the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The witches, in Jacobean times, were seen as a “walking plague” or “Satan’s minions” ready to lure any weak human mind into their evil clutches.
By Michael Cook