There are many points in the play where Shakespeare creates sympathy for Macbeth. I felt that most sympathy was created in scene 5. Macbeth has, with the aid of his wife, killed the king Duncan and has claimed the throne as a result of this murder. At the beginning of Act 5, the audience loses all their respect for Macbeth, as he becomes heartless. The play is a tragedy, therefore there has to be a sense created and because of Macbeth’s poor judgement, for example trusting the witches and because of these poor judgements he has ruined his life. The fact that Macbeth’s ambition has led him to destroying his own life means the audience feels sympathy for him.
The witches are also a cause of the sympathy that is created towards Macbeth. We start the play when the witches are coming to the end of a meeting. On a film production, this scene would be set in a foggy, dark and filthy area. Shakespeare begins the play with the witches as it sets the scene for the whole play, the theme of evilness, because this is what people related with witches. At the very start of the play we feel sympathy for Macbeth as he is tempted by the witches despite being warned by Banquo. The witches give Macbeth three prophecies. Macbeth begins to wander how he will ever become the king if Scotland. He firstly thinks that he would have to kill Duncan to become king, but quickly talks himself out of this.
“If chance will have me king, why, chance
may crown me,”
We feel sympathy for Macbeth at this point because we notice that he is contemplating killing the king because of what the witches said. They did not directly tell him to kill the king, yet Macbeths mind has got carried away with his ambition. People at the time of Shakespeare believed that witches were evil, meddling with super natural. Therefore, they would feel sympathy for him, as they believed that witches were not something to put your trust in.
The technique used to create most sympathy for Macbeth is through the soliloquies. This helps to let the audience know what he is feeling inside his head rather than just understanding what is happening from an outside point of view. This exactly why Malcolm described him as a butcher, because he doesn’t understand how much Macbeth is regretting and suffering. For example, in Act 2 Scene 1, the audience feels sympathy for Macbeth through his soliloquy. He is seeing an imaginary dagger in front of him.
“Is this a dagger which I see before me,
the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch
thee.”
The audience feel sympathy for Macbeth as it is noticeable that is he mentally unstable and is seriously contemplating the killing of the king. These soliloquies are the key to the understanding of Macbeth, therefor allowing the audience to feel more sympathy as they can experience his ups and downs throughout the play. In one of Macbeth’s soliloquies he thinks
“I have liv’d long enough: my way of life
Is fall’n into the sere.”
This part of one of his soliloquies makes the audience feel much sympathy as we feel that Macbeth has destroyed his own life and feels no need to go on as he has nothing. The soliloquies are the key to creating sympathy for Macbeth as it lets the audience know about his doubts, his fears and his joys. We have a different perspective of Macbeth than the characters such as Malcolm, which therefor gives us a different view on Macbeth’s situation, and we can draw our own conclusions.
Shakespeare also uses imagery to create sympathy for Macbeth in the play. The “Yellow leaf” conveys that Macbeth is coming to the end of his life and it will soon be over. He has served his time and cannot fight the inevitable, that he will die. This makes the audience feel as though Macbeth is going in up on life which again creates sympathy for him. Macbeth begins to lose his mental stability. His language reflects his mental situation. When talking to Banquo he replies in only few words answers and then when he is alone his feelings become clear. However at the end of the scene it conveys that Macbeth has a grim humour and is almost enjoying the horror.
“The bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven, or to hell”
Shakespeare uses rhyming in this speech, as it cleverly bodes body to death with the rhyming “knell” and “hell”.
The audience expects Macbeth to die in the play as he has committed the worst act possible, the killing of the King. This crime is called regicide and was considered so terrible because the audience of Shakespeare’s time believed that God appointed the kings and so the king ruled by Divine Right.
Overall, Shakespeare uses a variety of different techniques to create sympathy for the villain in the story, Macbeth. He creates sympathy through other characters, through imagery but most of all, through Macbeth himself. Macbeth’s soliloquies are the key to the audience feeling sympathy for Macbeth because it gives you an insight into what he is really feeling rather than how he appears from an outside view. We experience his doubts, his ideas and his fears throughout the play. We see how he really feels when on the outside he gives a different impression.
