Trace the degeneration of Macbeth by close analysis of his soliloquies

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                            Trace the degeneration of Macbeth by close analysis of his soliloquies

              Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. It revolves around the main character Macbeth who is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a person who begins being praised for their brave and heroic actions, but then by an error of judgement or a flaw they bring about their own destruction or degeneration. In the play this is exactly what happens to Macbeth. One of the reasons the play ends in tragedy for him is he becomes too dependent on the witches predictions. The witches tell Macbeth he will be king. However, they do not tell him to murder the king to get there. Macbeth eventually becomes desperate to know more and more predictions. On the other hand, he does have the potential to be great, and starts of as being great, but he has one flaw: ambition. Because of this flaw, Macbeth degenerates from being a noble soldier to eventually being a murdering tyrant.

              Soliloquies are dramatic speeches which are spoken aloud by one character while they are alone (or while under the impression of being alone) on stage.  Macbeth uses soliloquies in most of the important parts of the play. Soliloquies are very important in the play, because before Macbeth’s first murder he says

False face must hide what the false heart doth know

                                     Act 1 Scene 7.

 This means he is putting on a mask; not showing his true feelings to anyone. Therefore, we do not know when or if he is telling the truth. Consequently, his soliloquies are very important points in the play where we can see what his true motives and thoughts are.

            Macbeth’s soliloquies enable us to plot his degeneration systematically. We can see how far he has fallen from one soliloquy to the next. Near the start of the play, Macbeth considers reasons whether or not to kill the king, and decides not to. In the next soliloquy, he has changed and is ready to kill Duncan. Therefore, we can see that in the gap between these two early soliloquies Macbeth has already declined distinctly. Macbeth’s soliloquies get shorter and shorter throughout the play (eventually being called asides), because he is no longer seeking reasons not to kill the person, but why he should kill later on in the play. He says

“The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand” 

                                     Act 4 Scene 1.

This means whatever his first thought is he will do it. This shows we can trace his downfall by analysing his soliloquies. This quote is parallel syntax, because the grammatical structure “The firstlings of my...” is repeated.

         At the start of the play we hear about Macbeth long before we see him. Throughout the first two scenes Shakespeare positively modifies the word ‘Macbeth’.  Consequently we immediately think of Macbeth as a hero, and a good soldier. The play opens with the three witches planning to meet Macbeth. In scene 2  a wounded captain tells the king Duncan how Macbeth and Banquo valiantly fought Macdonald, and how Macbeth cut the enemy Macdonald’s head off.

“Like Valour’s minion carved out his passage

Till he faced the slave,”

         Act 1 Scene 2

This simile is saying Macbeth carved his way to the enemy. The captain says Macbeth is like bravery’s favourite.

 Also the captain praises Macbeth saying:

“For brave Macbeth –well he deserves that name-“Act 1 Scene 2

Next Duncan finds out the Thane of Cawdor is a traitor, and sentences him to death. He decides that he will give the title of Thane of Cawdor to Macbeth In the next scene (scene 3). This means that we  the audience , know that Macbeth is going to be given the title of Thane of Cawdor before the witches make their prophecy , or before Ross and Angus tell Macbeth the news. This is dramatic irony, as the audience know what is going to happen before the characters do. The witches await Macbeth and chant a spell to prepare for him coming. When Macbeth and Banquo arrive, the witches greet him by saying:

All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis.

 All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor.

All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter.”

                   Act 1 Scene 3

This is an escalating triplet, because it starts with Glamis, then Cawdor then finally ascends to king. This quote also is an example of parallel syntax, because the grammatical structure is repeated in all three lines. The witches therefore predict, Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor, and be king in the future. This is an example of foreshadowing; Shakespeare gives the audience clues of things that will happen later on in the story.

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         Banquo asks to know his future and the witches tell him that although he won’t become king his descendants will. The witches disappear and then Ross and Angus tell Macbeth that he is now to become Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth reveals some of his thoughts in an aside. He weighs up the implications of the witches predictions, and is horrified at the thought of killing the king. In the end he decides to accept whatever happens. He says that:

 If good why do I yield to that suggestion,  Whose murder yet is but fantastical ...

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