After lady Macbeth read her husbands letter, she reveals her husbands qualities to the audience. In addition she says “he is too full of the milk of human kindness I to catch the nearest way (Assassinate Duncan), he is too compassionate to take immoral shortcuts (he will not kill any man unless he had carried out an evil deed) to get what he wants. He aspires to become King, but by honest means.” When Macbeth returns home, Lady M insists he must take Duncan’s life tonight, but Macbeth refuses. Also Macbeth`s marriage to Lady M is rather unusual for that period when women were considered unequal to men. However Macbeth and Lady M regarded each other equal and she could exert powerful, psychological influences on their relationship.
In the next scene Macbeth starts with a good intentions, as we know that his conscience is strong, but he also wants to become King. Furthermore Macbeth lists the reasons why the King should be spared, “He is a relative, King and guest, as well as an honest man.” However Macbeth`s ‘evil’ motives arise through his vaulting ambition to the throne. Note also Macbeth is careful to avoid uttering the word ‘murder’ and to cover up his sinister intentions, as if anyone was to find out, he would certainly be tortured for treason. Macbeth briefly changes his mind, and decides not to kill Duncan, which demonstrates that Macbeth has a conscience, illustrating his good qualities. But, Lady M pressurises Macbeth into changing his mind, using emotional blackmail to get him to carry out her wishes. Lady M is mentally strong and uses her sexuality to coax Macbeth into killing Duncan, she questions Macbeth`s courage, sexuality and love for her. ‘I have given suck, and know 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 his brains out, had I sworn as you, Have done to this.’ (Lady M would even kill her own baby, if she had sworn to). At this time Lady M is certainly influenced by evil forces, as she is normally loving and wouldn’t harm her own baby, but, this all changes when she called out to ‘evil’ presences to ‘unsex’ her just after she reads Macbeth`s letter near the beginning of the play.
The few minutes before Macbeth kills Duncan, he hallucinates a dagger in front of him, this shows Macbeth is very nervous and is aware of what he is about to do is sinful. Macbeth`s evil manifests itself when he cunningly, cold-bloodingly, kills the King. However he feels ashamed of what he has just done, he knows he has compromised his soul by carrying out this immoral act.
Macbeth villainy is demonstrated in the next scene, he is filled with hunger to spill innocent blood. Not only has he killed the King and his guards, he also realises that he will have to kill the Kings two sons and Banquo and Fleance, as they are a threat to his dastardly plan to become King of Scotland, therefore fulfilling the third prophecy of the ‘weird women’. Macbeth finds out the sons have fled to England and Ireland, making him heir to the Scottish throne. However, Macbeth begins to get trapped in a circle of evil succumbing to emotions of anger and jealousy. Banquo’s sons will become King and not his own. He must kill Banquo and Fleance, in order for him and his sons to keep the throne. ‘We have only stunned the snake, not killed it.’ (The snake represents people who could threaten his successful reign and he must kill it if his family is to succeed him).
He persuades two men that were prisoners, to kill Banquo and Fleance, as he tricks them into believing that Banquo wrongfully kept them in prison. Using emotional blackmail he learnt from Lady M, he suggests that the only way they could be ‘real men’ is if they killed Banquo and his son Fleance. Macbeth`s moral decline has begun.
In Act 2 scene 3, Macbeth`s villainy is demonstrated by Macbeth chasing an evil path, he will make himself stronger by becoming more and more evil. In Act 3 scene 4 after Banquo’s death, Banquo’s ghost ‘appears’, he’s afraid of it and starts to shout at it. ‘Thou canst not say I did it: never shake/ thy gory locks at me’.
In Act 4 he goes back to the witches to seek reassurance. They say ‘Macbeth shall never be vanquished be, until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Shall come against him’ (this means Macbeth will not die unless Birnam wood ‘moves’ to Dunsinane). From this point, Macbeth is haunted with images of Banquo’s children on the throne. Also because of his wife’s sudden madness, Macbeth loses all his morality and acts impulsively becoming a tyrant. When he hears that Macduff has abandoned him and joined the English forces, he decides to kill anyone dear to his old friend. Macbeth also makes known, that if anyone abandons or betrays him, they will suffer the cruel, compassionless, consequences.
In the next scene Macbeth is told that his wife has committed suicide. Lady M has ‘buckled’ over the evilness that’s surrounds her and her husband, and couldn’t live on. Macbeth`s emotions are non-existent, life has no meaning to him. ‘I have supp’d full with horrors’ and comments about his ‘beloved’ wife ‘She would have died hereafter’. Macbeth doesn’t care if he lives or dies.
When Macbeth is told Birnam wood appears to be moving towards the castle – he makes a foolish decision to leave it’s safety. He puts on his armour, determined to die as a soldier (his good qualities are re-emerging) ‘At least we’ll die with a harness on our back’. However he still believes that he can’t die as the weird women told him a man, who was born from a woman naturally, couldn’t kill him. ‘No man of woman can kill him’.
When Macbeth confronts Macduff, there is a suggestion that Macbeth feels guilty ‘my soul is too charg’d I With blood already’. When Macduff says he was born by caesarean, Macbeth realises that the witches (these juggling friends) have cheated him. He knows he is going to perish. Macbeth`s tragedy is that he never knew when to stop.
In conclusion, I feel Macbeth was a good, honest and moralistic person, who grew up to be a brave, well-respected warrior. However, his stature was tarnished by his acquaintances and exposure to superstition from witches. He was further subjected to emotional and psychological blackmail from his relationship with his wife.
Eventually his obsession to become King, coupled with these evil forces, drove him to commit murder and treason, turning him into a tyrant.
