‘Upon my head they plac’d a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my gripe.’
He expresses his feelings in a soliloquy. Here Macbeth has mixed emotions, as a murder is on his mind however he is extremely frightened. Here is an example when Macbeth is struggling between good and evil, he tries to reject the impulse of committing the murder, as he believes he can leave everything to chance.
‘If chance will have me King, why chance may crown me without my stir.’
Shakespeare’s language is strong to convey the image of intense emotions here in Macbeth’s soliloquy. There are examples of alliteration ‘supernatural soliciting’ and an example of a paradox ‘cannot be ill, cannot be good.’ This helps to explain his feelings on his struggles, his uncertainty and his doubts clearly and this develops throughout the play. Shakespeare uses this language to help create a more dramatic effect of what the characters are feeling and experiencing. Uses of light and dark imagery are used, for example Macbeth says ‘Let not light see my black and deep desires.’ From this quote it shows that he feels great guilt in what he has done. Many scenes are in the dark; this helps create a sense of immorality and wickedness. (He also uses many references to nature and wildlife when the captain says, ‘Sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion.’ Shakespeare uses these images to deepen the impact of the emotions and also our imaginations. Shakespeare also uses the weather to convey images of wickedness. ‘Unruly night’ this helps makes the play more exciting.)
Macbeth’s wife Lady Macbeth is an extremely strong and passionate character, however she manipulates Macbeth, as her perception of him is that he is too weak,
‘It is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness’
Her role is to instruct Macbeth of what to do and she will have to urge him onto becoming king. She calls for evil spirits to help her and she takes full control of the situation. Macbeth here seems glad to let her have the responsibility. However he continues to struggle on whether he should murder the king or not, he cannot commit the deed, as he cannot bring himself to kill anybody though he desperately wants to.
‘I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’other.’
In act 1 scene 7 Macbeth changes his mind as he tells his wife, ‘We will proceed no further in this business.’ From here we can describe Macbeth as wanting to be good and actually trying not to be evil. However once his wife hears, she is outraged, she calls him a coward and insults him, from this Macbeth suddenly changes his decision and agrees to murder the king. This shows us that to a certain extent Macbeth is struggling between good and evil due to his wife Lady Macbeth. This is because he cannot stand up to her accusations and in order to prove to her that he is a man and is strong the only way is to agree and actually murder the King Duncan.
After the murder Macbeth is horrified to think of what he has done. He is being consumed by guilt as he has a guilty conscious, which he believes that will remain with him until his death. This guilty conscious also makes him struggle between good and evil however his ambition to become king overcomes his good characteristic. Macbeth panics when the attendants find King Duncan dead, he acts hastily and kills them also, and Macbeth’s evil aspect arises once again.
After the murder, Lady Macbeth is troubled by feelings of guilt also; this makes her sleep disturbed and uncomfortable.
"Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One- two -why then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie!’
Lady Macbeth is suffering from an illness of her own cause. The power brought a lot suffering and trouble.
Later on in the play Banquo, Macbeth’s friend becomes suspicious; here is where there is a role reversal in both character with Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth becomes confident and determined and wants to kill Banquo however Lady Macbeth has become uneasy and her strength has retreated, she also realises he must not kill Banquo himself.
As Duncan has been murdered and his two sons have fled, Macbeth finally has his wish, he has been chosen to be the next king.
Throughout the play, Macbeth’s character changes and fluctuates as he struggles between good and evil. There have been more evil aspects than good when Macbeth murders
people to meet his ambition of being King of Scotland. However, this sadly kills Macbeth at the end of the play by Malcolm. Shakespeare returns the throne to the rightful person meaning harmony is restored.
‘My thanes and kinsmen, henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland in such an honour nam’d.’
Banquo also was told about his son’s prophecies by the three witches, however he did not make any actions to turn this prophecy true. This represents Macbeth if he took the path of being good and not resolving to any murders, then maybe he would still be alive. Therefore to some extent I believe that this is an adequate description of the play Macbeth.
