When Macbeth is told by the witches that he will become the new king, he does not immediately think of murdering Duncan because he feels he does not need to
“If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.”
Macbeth feels time will let him become king by rejecting his first impulse to kill Duncan, thinking that it will happen if its going to happen. Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as honest but also foolish as he later discovers Malcolm is established as heir to the throne and this is when he realises he needs to think of a plan to get the title of king. There is a sudden change in Macbeth’s personality as he plots the murder in his mind but Shakespeare has shown the audience that Macbeth is still trying to be honest and respected as he does not want anyone to discover his feelings.
“Let not light see my black and deep desires”
Macbeth is largely influenced and put under pressure by Lady Macbeth as she urges him on in this deed. Lady Macbeth dominates their relationship at this stage in the play but this can also be portrayed as selfishness as she is letting Macbeth commit the murder so that she can become Queen. He feels unsure about this and struggles with the idea of murder as he knows that it will fall back on him in the end.
Macbeth begins to feel guilty as Duncan has given him a lot and trusts him and thoughts of reasons to prevent his murder cross his mind.
“He’s here in double trust:
First, I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed;”
Macbeth tells his wife he will not continue with the murder and she pushes him in to it by calling him a coward and implying that he isn’t a man until he kills Duncan and that he needs to make an effort to prove that he is.
This is where we see the valiant and honourable side to Macbeth as he becomes afraid to murder and Lady Macbeth’s influence portrays him as evil.
Once Macbeth has agreed to go on with the murder it is constantly on his mind and it begins to affect his thoughts. His conscience begins to take over as he sees a vision of a dagger dripping with blood. Macbeth cant tell if he sees the dagger or he is imagining it.
“or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?”
At the end of this vision, a bell rings, which is known as the funeral bell and this is what summons him to kill Duncan.
After Duncan has been killed, Macbeth returns to his wife with the blood on his hands and says now he won’t be able to sleep coming across as weak to his wife but Lady Macbeth uses her power over him to convince him not to think about it or they will go mad.
“These deeds must not be though
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.”
The quote shows Lady Macbeth telling her husband what to do because he feels guilty of what he has done. Macbeth wants to turn back the clock and wake Duncan up because he is in regret.
“Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!”
Macbeth appears as unsafe as he knows he will be found out and tries to make it look as if the guards have killed Duncan but tries too hard as people become suspicious of him. The night of the murder there is a storm. This represents how something really bad has happened. On Macbeth finds out he is going to be king and celebrates with a banquet. Macbeth feels so guilty and can see that Banquo is a threat to him as he is suspicious. Macbeth now plots to murder Banquo so that his path to kingship is clear. On the way to the banquet, Banquo is killed but Macbeth still needs to kill Fleance as he has escaped from his death. There is now a possibility that Fleance could follow the witches prophecies and become king which worries Macbeth.
During the Banquet Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and begins to act strangely. Macbeth acts like he has gone insane but nobody can understand why. Lady Macbeth tells the guests that he is often like it and is embarrassed by his behaviour. To create a diversion away from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth faints so it would draw attention away from him. Macbeth is becoming weaker as the pressure of the murders begins to catch up with him
“it will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.”
Macbeth is saying that murder to be treated with the death of a murderer. Macbeth now decides that he needs to see the witches to boost his confidence and he sees three apparitions. These are the life of Banquo as a king, a child with a crown on his head and wood moving from Great Birnan wood to high Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth is at first comforted by these apparitions and then alarmed. Macbeth hires murderers but innocent people are killed so Macduff left Scotland to get Malcolm so they can defeat Macbeth. The English army get prepared to fight against macbeth’s forces Lady Macduff and her son are massacred and here is where we see Macbeths cruelty in action as he will kill even the most innocent child to stay on the throne.
Scotland is suffering because of Macbeth’s rules and Macduff tells Malcolm of it. He must prove his loyalty to Malcolm as, he does not trust him at first. Macbeth has to reflect on what he has achieved through his life, he needs to think if he had won his honours fairly. Meanwhile back in Scotland Lady Macbeth is suffering from a guilty conscience and she walks in her sleep dreaming that she and her husband are murdering. Lady Macbeth is disturbed commiting suicide illustrating not as strong a personality as we first thought perhaps. Macbeth loses all feeling of fear and grief as he doesn’t react to his wife death or the fact the wood is moving towards the castle; he feels life is meaningless. In Act five Scene Five he speaks the most disillusioned speech Shakespeare ever wrote contemplating life’s slow pace from day to day. Macbeth meets Macduff and chooses to die in battle, he doesn’t want to fight him as his conscious is constantly getting to him. We respect Macbeth for this.
Macbeth was corrupted through ambition. He wanted to be king so badly that he did not take into consideration anything or anyone else. He was easily influenced by Lady Macbeth and the witches but I feel he was an honest man.
