“If Chance will have me king, why, Chance may crown me,
Without my stir.”
Macbeth decides that he will leave these matters to chance, although the prophecy disturbs him.
“Come what come may,
Time and hour runs throughout the roughest day.”
His thoughts and actions at this time in the play show that he was not born evil, but a metaphorical ‘evil seed’ was planted in his mind by the witches and it is cultivated by his wife and ambition, from now on in the play his evil thoughts and deeds grow.
In scene four Duncan reveals that his son Malcolm will be his heir to the throne. This revelation causes Macbeth to suggest plotting against the king and his heir, in an attempt to overthrow them.
“The Prince of Cumberland! – That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies…”
Macbeth writes home to his wife, telling her of the battle, the three “weird sisters” and the prophecy of him becoming king. She fears that he “is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” in order to become king. She decides to use all her power to persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan to become the reigning monarch.
She is informed that Duncan will be staying in Macbeth’s castle that night and calls upon evil spirits to strengthen her for the impending murder.
“…Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty!..”
Here the play shows how evil Lady Macbeth really is, before she has even consulted with her husband, she has chosen for him that he will murder the king.
Macbeth enters and she presses him to agree to the plan even though he is doubtful. In scene seven he contemplates the deed and decides against it.
“We will proceed no further in this business”
Lady Macbeth presses him further, questioning his conviction and using emotional blackmail, forcing him to agree to the deed, even though he still fears failure and retribution.
“Pr’ythee, peace.
I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.”
This scene maybe emphasises Lady Macbeth’s evil the most, after he husband refuses to murder the king, she blackmails him, forcing him to accept her plan.
During the first scene of the second act, Macbeth is left alone after conversing with Banquo, he has a vision of a bloodstained dagger and once again considers going against his wife’s wishes for the murder. However, in the end, he resolves to go through with the murder, and in his soliloquy he allies himself with witchcraft and secrecy.
“…Now o’er the one half world
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtained sleep: witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate’s offerings; and withered Murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost…”
As Macbeth returns from the deed Lady Macbeth is worrying whether Macbeth will have performed the murder correctly, during her speech she reveals that “…had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t…” This suggests that she has some sort of conscience, however evil she is, she couldn’t murder her own father.
As the play progresses Macbeth is made king and begins to think that he will be discovered. In order to stop the truth being revealed Macbeth orders Banquo and his son Fleance killed. This may just be to stop Banquo’s suspicions or to stop the prophecy that the witches made to Banquo, that his sons will be kings. Macbeth does not want to perform the deed himself so he hires three murderers to do it.
Banquo is slain in the ensuing attack and at the banquet that night, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth is hysterical with the guilt and fear instilled in him, this suggests he feels remorse for the actions he has taken, but he carries on so that he is not discovered.
Further on in the play the net is closing in on Macbeth and he suspects Macduff will be the one to discover him, for this he orders Macduff’s family slaughtered. This action, I do not think is to cover his tracks, but he does this as an act of tyranny, this is a point in the play where the true evil side of Macbeth is shown.
The final act is where all the true thoughts of the characters are revealed. The first act shows Lady Macbeth sleepwalking. She reveals her guilt and remorse from the time of Duncan’s murder. This is the first stage of her madness, which is caused by the immense guilt she possesses. It is believed she commits suicide later in the play, unable to keep her feelings to herself any more.
As Macbeth’s enemies close on his castle, he decides to give one final stand. This could be perceived as madness or just valiant fury, but Macbeth believes there is no other way out of his predicament then death. He resolves not to “play the Roman fool, and die on mine own sword” He would rather die in a fight than commit suicide like his late wife. Macduff meets Macbeth and Macbeth is slain in the ensuing fight.
To conclude, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were evil to some degree. Macbeth was not born evil but turned that way by the witches influence, but when the net started tightening on him he ordered his rivals murdered, although he felt guilt. Lady Macbeth forced her husband to murder the king even though he was against it, this was the major evil in her life, and she too felt guilt though she went mad from it.
I believe that Lady Macbeth was the more evil character in the play, this is mainly because if she hadn’t forced Macbeth to murder the king the ordeal that they went through would never have started.
