“…then you were a man. And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.”
Lady Macbeth’s tongue is evil and vicious she taunts and provokes him continually. She belittles and dominates Macbeth’s masculinity
“And live a coward in thine own esteem”
All the way through the play she renounces her femininity and is constantly trying to call upon evil spirits to turn her into a man.
“ Unsex me here and fill me from the crown to the topfull of direst cruelty; make thick my blood, stop up th’ access and passage to remorse “
She feels restricted by her female body wanting all the status and power of a man
The witches also contribute to the dark forces of the play by inciting evil in other characters. They also cleverly insinuate murder and tyranny in the play.
They most influence Macbeth from the third scene by putting ideas into his head with them pronouncing him King to be.
“ All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis”
“ All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cowdor”
“ All hail Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter”
They cleverly influence Macbeth with the desires of his mind. This is done by them saying what Macbeth wants to hear which easily confuses him by the evil disorder created and by doing this they bring out the worst of Macbeth’s nature.
There is a small argument that the ex Thain of Cawdor is the greatest villain due to his betrail of the King and starting off all the bad happenings of the play. This is because if the tTane of cawdor hadn’t have been killed due to his betrail, then maybe Macbeth would not have taken his place and got the sudden urge of power. However I do not believe that he is the true villain, as he didn’t actually take any part in the overall murders and deceit in Macbeth.
The murders that are paid to kill Banquo and his son Fleance in the play should be classed as villains, however they are only pawns in Macbeths strive for glory and overall dominance. You could also say that they only do the deadly deeds to support their way of life and are only “in it for the money”. Which would rule them out as the greatest villains. There is also no overall relationship between the characters in Macbeth as they are outcasts of life and I do not believe they would let people get close to them as they feel that they have been hard done to by the world. They don’t seem to take any responsibility for their crimes but that seems the way that people who kill people seem to think and probably take refuge in blaming the people who paid them.
I feel Macbeth however is the greatest villain of the play because he is in overall control of his actions and emotions. Particularly as a soldier he should be honourable and trustworthy. It however appears, that he is weak and dominated by his wife (Like all Men my Dad included), and witches. He is full of greed and selfishness and his ease of murder with little remorse does not deter him from committing further murders..
Even though the witches probably created the mess they still did not technically do anything. Also even though Lady Macbeth almost drove Macbeth do the dreadful deeds she still did nothing physically herself.. Thus leaving Macbeth who is ultimately in control, as the greatest killer and tyrant consumed by the greed for power and status, stopping for no one and completely lacking mercy , as a true villain would.
