Before the death of Duncan we are made to feel sympathetic for Macbeth as he considers his loyalty to the king. “As I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed” he shows that he is good-natured and that the king “hath honoured me of late”. Though ambition being a major theme in this play overpowers his loyalty “but only vaulting ambition, which o’er-leaps itself” when ambition makes its impact we begin to apprehend Macbeths evil mind, at this point no real remorse can be shown towards this soldier once known as a “Bellona’s bridegroom”.
“Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself” lady Macbeth clearly throughout the play shows no remorse but shows her devilish and hateful minds ambitions. Lady Macbeth’s ambitions tempt Macbeth to do these evil deeds though we are reassured when Macbeth “will proceed no further in this business”. Lady Macbeth herself realises that Macbeth “is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” to kill king Duncan. Nothing can stop her determined ambition to kill Duncan “that I may pour my spirits in thine ear”. It is clear that virtuous Macbeth is being lead to evil by his ambitious wife and the supernatural witches.
There were two main events in the play that were critical to deciding whether Macbeth was that true “valiant cousin” or that ruthless man who knew no good. The first was the death of his friend Banquo, no mercy will be show to those who step in the way of Macbeth “I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked” he chooses to kill his friend as he feels “his royalty of nature reigns that which would be fear’d.” This is the first sign of Macbeths ruthless acts, he chooses to kill Banquo and to leave “no rubs nor botches in the work” not just does he kill Banquo but his son Fleance who according to the witches was destined hereafter to become king. The murder scene is set in a “lonely place near Forres” to add to the tension and the irony of what the audience knows is about to happen.
“The castle of Macduff I will surprise” “give the edge of the sword his wife, his babes and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line” this speech by Macbeth is reassuring us his ruthless attempts to kill anyone that poses a threat to his tyrannical reign as king of Scotland. We know he has no real reason to kill Macduffs family, it is almost impossible to imagine forgiving him the cruel slaughter of Macduffs wife and innocent children. “I am in blood stepp’d in so far” Macbeth realises that he has carried out such treacherous murders but refuses to show any remorse towards his evil credentials, “till thou applaud the deed”.
“Life’s but a walking shadow” there are times in the play when Macbeth confesses guilt. In act 5 scene 5 Macbeth makes a speech on his pointless life and how one mans life is like a “brief candle”. “The way to dusty death” some of Macbeth’s words in this speech symbolise his guilt and his life coming to an end. On the other hand he begins the speech by showing no reaction to his wife’s death, it was almost as if he knew it was happening. “There would have been a time for such a word” we also feel a bit of sympathy as this speech reflects his feelings on life and how he knows the end is imminent.
Towards the end of the play we are shown “a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more”. Macbeth described how his life at this point is futile, we begin to see the courageous Macbeth who will “fight till from bones my flesh be hacked.” He reflects on his bleak future. We see a sense of sympathy for Macbeth as he is left as a lone soldier fighting till death without an army or the support of a wife. We are shown the devoted Macbeth who will not hive up his life as easy as Malcolm and his army think.
There is the reflection on Macbeth himself “Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen” Macbeth and his wife created havoc throughout the country and without him the country is a far better place. The play is left with a sense of relief, that because of the divine right of kings all is good again. However there is a sense of waste created as well, that things didn’t have to turn out like they have done, Macbeth deserved to die but it is a pity that he has. Through Act 5 Shakespeare builds up pity and sympathy for Macbeth because of the way in which Macbeth is coping with his life. He creates a feeling of waste and loss for Macbeth. The audience have been reintroduced to the real Macbeth slightly towards the end of Act 5, which reminds us that he was not always uncontrolled and he only ended up in the situation he was in because of mistakes that he made. The audience sees how Macbeth has been wrapped up in the world of evil and hence how this has led to his eventual downfall.
“Before my body I throw my warlike shield” Macbeth is a strong character and is fully aware of the good he has rejected. It is possible to feel repelled by the evil in Macbeth and at the same time to feel sorry for the waste of all the good things in his character. Macbeth has stopped thinking about the future and now looks back, perhaps with regret, into his past and thinks about the way things could have been. The great tragedy of the play is the loss of the kind of man Macbeth could have been and almost was, his contradictions in his character and his fatal mistake in giving in to his ambition lead him to an unfortunate death. At the beginning of the play Malcolm reports that the thane of Cawdor died a repentant and dignified death. This speech almost foreshadows the death of Macbeth at the end of the play. “He died as one that had been studied in his death, to throw away the dearest thing he owed as ‘twere a careless trifle.”
RCP MIL H
