Lady Macbeth is apparent after she has read that her Husband will become Thane of Cawdor and she talks to the evil spirits to make herself evil she uses imperative verbs, "Fill me from the crown to the toe-top full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood". Shakespeare’s audience would have taken the witches and the evil sprits seriously, when Lady Macbeth calls upon the spirits to fill her with the cruelty this would have been an invitation to the sprits to possess her to do wicked and evil actions. When Lady Macbeth hears that Duncan will be coming she had no time to prepare. After the messenger has gone Lady Macbeth speaks a powerful soliloquy, and calls the spirits to take away any trace of womanly pity that might prevent her from committing murder. This is evident when she says, “Unsex me here,” In her soliloquy she calls the spirits of darkness to take her natural womanliness and to fill her with bitterness, poison and wickedness. Lady Macbeth doesn’t want any feelings left over of regret in her conscience, as this will repeatedly haunt her. Lady Macbeth indicates the sprits are invisible when she says, “Sightless substances,” which is the use of sibilance. She exerts a lot of power over Macbeth in this part of the play and even calls him a "coward" and this shows just how determined she is and how much ambition she has for her husband. It is this confidence in her and the persuasiveness on her words that makes Macbeth act on her words without hesitating. Lady Macbeth is seen as a symbol of evil, like the witches, but in the end she becomes a victim just like her own husband. The mood in Macbeth is created mostly through the weather but also through the use of the supernatural and the spirits. The world of Macbeth is one of malicious witches, hallucinations, ghosts, and visions. This creates a sense of fear and uncertainty for the audience.
The nature and the effects of evil dominate the action that takes place in the play. Shakespeare presents the form of evil very well in his play. There are many supernatural things occurring in the play there are supernatural elements that occur such as Banquo’s ghost appearing to taunt Macbeth and the dagger hallucination this is evident when Macbeth says, “Is this a dagger I see before me.” Macbeth sees a vision of a dagger covered in blood. He wonders whether if the dagger is inviting him to execute and murder. Macbeth hallucinates a dagger, which he describes as, “a dagger of the mind, a false creation/proceeding from the heat oppressed brain.” This hallucination fills Macbeth’s mind with evil thoughts and torments his mind by images of blood and the unknown. The vision of the dagger could also mean that this is the symbol of the power of the evil spirits. The apparitions occur by the Weird sisters and many unnatural events that keep occurring. The unnatural events excite the audience and the significance of the demonic possessions. The images displayed of light are linked to innocence and purity. King Duncan says the signs of nobility are “like Stars.” Light is a symbol of truth, openness and goodness. Macbeth and lady Macbeth are portrayed as the creatures of darkness and there evil deeds symbolise their cruelty and lack of emotion. Macbeth tells the stars to “hide their fires” and Lady Macbeth calls the smoke of hell to hide their dreadful actions. After Duncan has been murdered. Antithesis is used to contrast the evil deed to the good deed and to show the differences between them.
As soon as the murder of King Duncan has taken place by Macbeth he regrets it immediately. Seeing his hands he says, “A sorry sight.” He is deeply disturbed by his inability to say “Amen,” as if guilt has cut him off God. Macbeth knows that to kill a King is a terrible crime, punishable by eternal damnation. However, he says that if he could be sure that the crime would put a stop to further consequences and succeed immediately, and then he’d ignore the life to come. He sees life as a sandbank in the sea of eternity as shown in the words, “This bank the shoal of time.” Macbeth is aware that the time goes past really fast and he knows that murdering Duncan lead to him losing his immortal soul this causes him to think life in a sandbank. Pathetic Fallacy is shown when the weather in the play often mirrors the goings-on. This is because in Stuart period, people believed that the state of the universe could be disturbed by a horrible act of treason, such as the murder of a good king like King Duncan. As seen in the words, “By the clock ‘tis day, And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp.” This tries to show that the dark night and the clouds choke the sun. It should be daytime but it’s getting very dark so early. On the night of Duncan's murder, thunder and lightening storm raged outside. Ross and an old man conversed about strange goings-on they had noticed. The use of pathetic fallacy has the effect of making the scenes of fear or violence more intense. This makes audience realise the severity of the situation that will occur.
Near the end of the play, Macbeth has changed from the “Noble Macbeth” he was at the start, to a “butcher” and a “Bloody Tyrant” hated by everyone, since Macbeth has murdered the rightful king of Scotland this is evident in the quote, “I am afraid to think of what I have done.” This shows that he has successfully committed the murder but the guilt that he bears inside him causes him to have a nervous break down. Macbeth is valiant at the start of the play since he has won the battle and this leads to king Duncan to say to Macbeth that he has started to “plant” him meaning that Macbeth will get a greater reward for his service for leading the battle to victory. Macbeth is however a strong character and is fully aware of the good he has rejected. Macbeth is a fascinating character because he is much more that a “bloody tyrant.” It is possible for the audience to feel repelled by the evil in Macbeth at the same time to feel sorry for the waste of all the good things in his character.
It is possible to prove that Macbeth is not a “Bloody tyrant” because he has many reasons not to kill his king but his wife knows how to persuade Macbeth to go against his own will this is evident in the quote, “ I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself.” Macbeth cannot make up his mind whether to kill Duncan or not. He says that the murder could be done quickly without the inevitable consequences, and then he would commit it. Macbeth tries to tell himself that Duncan is a good king and his murder is an evil act, as seen in the words. “So clear in his great office that his virtues, will plead like angels.” Shakespeare shows that Macbeth is fearful of the consequences of his crime. Images of heaven and hell are employed. Heaven would be angered by the death of King Duncan, and his murder would be condemned to hell.
When king Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle Duncan talks about how the it is a pleasant place to visit as seen in the words, “This castle has a pleasant seat.” They say the air “recommends itself” and “is delicate”. This is ironic in the view compared to the witches saying about the “Fog and filthy air” surrounding their evil deeds. On the night of the murder of king Duncan Lady Macbeth becomes anxious but at the same time determined and strong to achieve her goal to become queen. She seems to be confused and lost with her own thoughts and feelings. Earlier she is able to talk openly to her husband of the most terrible deeds. But soon she reveals a more sensitive side when it comes to the night of the murder this is evident when Lady Macbeth says, “Had he not resembled, my father as he slept, I had done’t.” She says that she could not carry out the murder herself because sleeping Duncan reminded her of her own father. This is the first sign of Lady Macbeth’s guilty conscience. She is starting to realise the horror of the murder. This makes the audience think whether Lady Macbeth is actually fit to be involved in this murder. Supernatural action had taken place because outside the castle it is very dark and the evil spirits has granted this. The castle was wrapped in, “The dunnest smoke of hell.”
As Macbeth enters he says that he has killed Duncan as he slept. Sleep represents the innocence, tranquillity and the peace. Macbeth believes that he also murdered these as well. As seen in the words, “Macbeth does murder sleep, the innocent sleep.” Duncan’s servants can say “Amen” in their prayers but Macbeth struggles to, this could indicate the evilness of his crime and he implies that now he has turned unholy. Since this is not an ordinary crime he cannot be forgiven but lady Macbeth calms him down by saying these worries are “Brain Sickly.” This shows that he is upset by his actions and begins to worry that God will be unable to ever forgive him for committing such an evil crime. He says that he heard someone say, “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.” He is already panicking regarding what he has done and hearing voices that foreshadow his sleeplessness. Macbeth during this particular part of the play is very shaken by what has happened he says, “They pluck out mine eyes,” this quote shows that Macbeth’s eyes are almost falling out of his head at the sight of his bloody hands and he is emotionally scared by seeing all blood. Therefore to complete the deed Lady Macbeth needs to take the daggers from her husband back to the drunken keepers. This scene creates a huge impact of blood imagery throughout. Another example is when Macbeth thinks that if he dipped his hands into the sea, instead of washing them clean it would turn red. As seen in the words, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” This shows that Macbeth is not sure that all the oceans in the world could ever clean the blood off his hands and keeps him clean from this bloody deed he has committed. Macbeth wonders if the whole ocean will wash them clean. This suggests the vastness of the sea and of the murder committed; these words are shown in contrast. Macbeth starts to regret what he has done he looks at his bloody hands and says, “This is a sorry sight” Macbeth is tormented by his own terrifying imagination. But his wife stays calm and practical Lady Macbeth’s method of coping with guilt is to avoid thinking about it as she says it will her both of them go mad this is evident in the text when she says, “These deeds must not be thought After these ways; so it will make us mad.” This is how Shakespeare conveys Lady Macbeth’s feeling to the audience in her dialogue and how she is feeling at that moment and foreshadows her own madness. Lady Macbeth realises that they should not dwell on their actions or the consequences will lead them to go mad or deeply insane.
The blood that Lady Macbeth can see and she is appalled by the amount of blood that has come from the murder they have committed soon terrifies Lady Macbeth. This causes her to say, “Old man” have “So much blood in him,” shows us how shocked Lady Macbeth was scared to find so much blood on her hands when she smears the Duncan’s guards with the blood. She becomes afraid of all the blood on her hands this causes her to say. “All the perfumes of Arabia mould not sweeten my hands.” This shows the picture of guilt that lies in the heart of Lady Macbeth and she is truly frightened by what has happened in her palace. But Lady Macbeth soon starts to speak some sense by saying, “All we need was to wash our hands and be clean of this deed.” However, she later has hallucinations of a spot of blood that cannot be washed from her hand with any amount of water and this is shown ironically in this scene. The image of water means washing away the guilt in the play. When Lady Macbeth goes mad she repeatedly makes the actions of washing her hands. The audience might see the water as life giving as well as cleansing. This is seen with contrast to the blood that is shown constantly throughout the play. Lady Macbeth cries, “Out, damn spot!” in her sleep the spots of blood she dreams about and she saw on her hands are symbolic of her guilt. This shows that even getting rid of her emotions and her feeling of compassion but the crime she has committed has take effect and has driven her to insanity. This shows that Lady Macbeth has got a guilty conscience and finds it hard to face the consequences of the murder her husband has committed.
From the assessment of the characters it is possible to say that Macbeth may not be a “Butcher” because at the start he has been presented as a noble character that has been given a high and new status by his King for winning the war. But due to the influence of the supernatural things going on around him this makes him eager and want to know more about what will happen to him in the future. His wife, Lady Macbeth is also a great factor that puts her husband under her great influence she is able to twist the thinking of Macbeth and she makes him believe that by committing the unthinkable deeds he can become successful in life by becoming King. The images of him becoming King help Macbeth become more eager to become crowned King. Therefore push him to murder the rightful king of Scotland with the great support of Lady Macbeth who convinces him with her twisted words that he is doing the right thing and the only way for him to be crowned is to commit a great sin against God. Lady Macbeth can be seen as a “Fiend Like queen” because she portrayed as evil and wicked because she forces and is able to persuade Macbeth with a great deal of convincing that killing King Duncan will be able to lead them to victory by becoming King and Queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth at this stage in the play is shown as a vile and cruel person with no feelings of guilt in her conscience. But after the murder lady Macbeth’s real identity comes out she turn into a weaker character that is scared of the dark because of the amount of blood she has seen on her hands from the murder. When Lady Macbeth says, “I would shame to wear a heart so white.” This shows that she is really ashamed of what she has done and is very upset and distressed that she will able to live with the fact that she has been involved in the murder of her king. This quote shows that Lady Macbeth could not be as cruel and wicked as she is presented at the beginning, as she is able to feel the regret and is filled with mixed emotions of what she has caused to happen.
