'Macbeth' is a play written by William Shakespere in the 15 century.

Macbeth Essay Tim Cook

‘Macbeth’ is a play written by William Shakespere in the 15 century. Macbeth is a loyal and brave captain in the Kings army who throughout the play is influenced by many things, one of which are the three witches. Macbeth is deceived again and again by visions shown to him by the witches and the theme of deceit is an underlying factor in the play, either used or experienced by everybody.

In the 15-century, wars were common. People always wanted more land than they had because land was power. Many men of the right age would either join up or be called up into the army. It was the expectation to be loyal to their King and country and to be brave in battle. For a man to show emotion was unheard of and crying was considered womanly. We see this when Macduff is embarrassed and later apologises for weeping after hearing about the massacre of his family ‘O I could play a woman with mine eyes’.

In contrast, the stereotypical woman was supposed to be emotional. They were kind, gentle and very emotional. They were the keepers of the house, a mother to the children and a cook for the family and this was the way they were portrayed and the image they conformed to at this time. Girls were married off as soon as they were found a suitable husband as they were seen as unimportant and not able to carry on the family line. The only way they could get any sort of power was through their husband and their social status. They had no rights or legal powers themselves.

Frequently there were woman who were accused of witchcraft. These accusations were unfounded such as they lived alone or had a black cat. This shows how insecure easily led and vunerable people could be at this time. Similar to Macbeth, these were the three things that were exploited in him in the play. The witches had a great influence over Macbeth, as at the time he was easy to interest. They seemed to speak his thoughts and know how to tempt him with these thoughts. Their effect on Macbeth is notable because of this.

Around the time that ...

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Around the time that William Shakespeare was alive, theatres were not like they are today. People stood to watch the plays and the theatres themselves were quite small with few props. Because of the lack of visual aids, the actors had to convey their surroundings through spoken descriptions. An

Tim Cook

excellent example of this is during the speech given by Lady Macbeth who is asking spirits to give her the strength to kill Duncan. She invites these evil spirits to enter her ‘ Come you spirits…..fill me from crown to foot top full of direst cruelty’. She is not naturally evil she is just blinded by her ambition for her and her husband to succeed. Lady Macbeth sets the scene ‘the fatal entrance…..under my battlements. In the speech she is trying to get rid of all the qualities that make her a woman ‘ take my milk for gall’. In this example she is trying to rid herself of the stereotypical as well as the physical qualities. Ridding herself of emotion ‘stop up th’ access and passage to remorse’. Insecurity- ‘that no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose and as the mother of her children ‘take my milk for gall’. This is so Shakespeare can illustrate the social status of a woman at that period, that woman weren’t capable and couldn’t kill people. To do so Lady Macbeth had to become a man and get rid of her female characteristics.

No one as much as by Macbeth makes the underlying tone of murderous deceit true. At the beginning, Macbeth is fighting a war against the Norwegians. He is said to be brave, ‘..brave Macbeth (for he deserves that name)’ so from the start the role of the man is described to us as Macbeth is brave, courageous, loyal and trusted by his king.

The prophecies of the witches are what initiate the murder and the lies. Banquo and Macbeth do not believe the witches although Macbeth has began to be persuaded by them. They seem to have a different effect on Macbeth despite Macbeth and Banquo hearing the same words. He is told that he will be king ‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter. This is what Macbeth want underneath so they seem to speak his mind. This is why Macbeth and Banquo act on the words in different ways. When he is told he will be thane of Cawdor, he believes in the witches and they then have a power over him. As this sinks in he believes the only way to become king is to kill Duncan. This act shows Macbeths weaknesses. He is gullible and easily led as well as ambitious and impatient. He could have waited for the king to die but he had to have everything immediately. It also shows us that however deceptive and powerful Macbeth gets he is still weak enough to be deceived by the witches. He begins to trust the witched and their ambiguous prophecies and hears only what he wants to. This makes him believe he is invincible as he is told ‘ The power of man: for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. This supposed immortality feeds Macbeths amitious

Tim Cook

Nature and makes him complacent. It is this complacency which finally brings about his downfall.

In this play we see how the characters disguise and conceal the truth to help their own ambitions. At the start of the play we are shown a powerful, strong warrior, but his murderous campaigns leave him weak and plagued with guilt. The people of the 15th and 16th centuries believed that God had chosen the King/Queen. It was the Divine right. If anyone killed a king it was seen as a violation against god and a disruption of the natural order. Macbeth destroyed this natural order and this bought about his end.

The play also shows us the stereotypical roles of men and women as seen through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, including how a woman is not supposed to be able to kill as it is not in her nature. Another example of this is Joan of Arc who lived at the same time. She is another example of a woman who took on the stereotypical male role and how it also ended her life. ‘Macbeth’ is showing us that men should remain men and women should remain women. It helps illustrate that these were the roles of men and women at this point in history and how trying to deny them was to lead to deception lies and tragedy.