The Elizabethans believed strongly in the supernatural, and associated the devil and witches with this. It was thought that witches were enemies of mankind, causing bad weather, crops to fail and bringing death upon families. As shown in act one, scene three, it was also thought that witches could see into the future. When Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches, they tell him that he will have two changes of title:
All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor
All hail Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter (Act I Scene III)
Macbeth receives this information with disbelief - he reminds the witches that he is already Thane of Glamis and unaware at this point of the Thane of Cawdor’s treachery. He tells them that their prophecies are wrong. However, when shortly after he is appointed Thane of Cawdor, the change of character begins as his ambition is triggered. Having previously been seen as loyal and honourable to his King and country, he quite instantly becomes untrustworthy and deceitful as he thinks of the third prophecy.
Before reaching home and Lady Macbeth, his desire for power begins to overwhelm him. In ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare has used soliloquies to reveal a character’s inner thoughts, hidden feelings and utmost intentions.
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eyewink at the hand; yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. (Act I Scene IV)
The above quotation is part of Macbeth’s speech, which is said in soliloquy. It implies that he already has plans of evil towards Duncan who is obviously the obstacle preventing him from taking the throne. Although we are given an immense clue as to what is going to happen next in the play, we can see that Macbeth is hesitant at this point and he needs more than his own ambition to overcome his evil plans. He acquires assistance from his wife and reassurance from the witches about his prophesies.
Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth possesses ‘fiend like’ qualities right from her first appearance in the play even though she is not yet ‘Queen’. The audience are given an immense clue that Lady Macbeth is evil, cunning and a source of power to iniquity. She also has a lack of feminine qualities because she condemns ‘the milk of human kindness’ in her husband; she is the driving force towards the murder of Duncan and the denying of her womanly nature. ‘Unsex me here’. In her first appearance (Act one Scene five), she is reading a letter from Macbeth, in which he writes that he has been named Thane of Cawdor and about the prophecy of the three witches, that he will one day be King of Scotland.
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet I do fear thy nature, (Act I Scene V)
Lady Macbeth thinks that her husband is too good a man to be able to actually become king. When a messenger comes to tell Lady Macbeth that the King of Scotland is coming to the castle, Lady Macbeth seizes the opportunity to plan his murder. At this point, the audience are assured that a murder is going to take place.
Lady Macbeth is convinced that her plans to kill Duncan will work. On the other hand, Macbeth still has doubts and is hesitant over the situation. ‘Not bear the knife myself’ Macbeth says this in soliloquy and he is worried about killing the king. After Macbeth’s soliloquy, Lady Macbeth enters and mocks her husband’s fears. Macbeth is overwhelmed by his wife’s ambitions to kill the king and not long after, together as ‘cruel ministers’ they carry out the murder. They also manage to successfully cover up by making it seem like it was one of the king’s guards who have killed him. At this point Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are ‘cruel ministers’. An unusual aspect of this murder was that Lady Macbeth had power over her husband and she took command. We would not expect this characteristic from a woman, especially during the time when Shakespeare wrote ‘Macbeth’.
Although Macbeth’s first impressions on the audience are heroic, brave and loyal, these qualities disintegrate as the play progresses. The murder of Duncan is the initial sign of greed for power in Macbeth and him as a ‘Butcher’. He kills Duncan in order to become king but fails to understand that he will have to do more than just one murder in order to remain king. In act two, scene 1; Macbeth is with Banquo speaking about the witches’ prophecy. Macbeth downplays the importance of their meeting with the witches’, but Banquo warns him about the evil that could come of the prophecy. When Banquo leaves, Macbeth has a hallucination in which he sees a bloody dagger floating before him. He is horrified about what he will do, but he proceeds anyway. This shows that Macbeth feels guilty about the murder and his inner feelings are shown through this phantasm.
However, despite his guilt of killing Duncan, Macbeth carries out the murder of Banquo after remembering that the witches foretold that Banquo´s children would one day rule Scotland. Macbeth plans on killing Banquo and Fleance to prevent this part of the witches’ prophecy coming true, but Fleance escapes.
But to be safely thus: our fears in Banquo
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be feared. (Act III Scene I)
After Banquo´s murder at their first banquet as king and queen, Macbeth sees his ghost, which only he can see. This is another sign that Macbeth is guilty over the murders that he is responsible for. In act four, scene one; Macbeth is informed about Macduff joining the army of Malcolm, which is why he orders his murderers to murder Macduff’s family for his disloyalty. At this point, Macbeth portrays that he is definitely a ‘Butcher’ and a ‘Cruel minister’. The first murder took place according to Lady Macbeth’s commands, but not long after this, Macbeth, with his own evil temptations, carried out the murders of Banquo and Macduff’s family. This shows what a cunning and sly character Macbeth is.
After a lengthy absence during act four, Lady Macbeth reappears in Act 5 as a weak, guilt-ridden woman, broken down from her former confident self. She no longer speaks in iambic pentameter or in soliloquy, but in prose, which portrays a minor character in the play. She has changed form the beginning of the play because her guilt has over ridden her and she is not unable to control or contain it.
Subconsciously, she is repeating the same words Macbeth did, after killing Duncan and has become as insecure as he was at the beginning of the play. She is out of control; her tortured imagination is recalling memories from the past that she cast from her mind. She has now become afraid of the very things that she summoned previously: “she has light by her continually” she is afraid to be left in darkness, and needs light, yet, at one time, she called upon darkness “Come, thick night”. This is ironic yet pitiful since she is afraid of the very things she previously worshipped.
Lady Macbeth imitates Macbeth’s words concerning his bloodstained hands, and how all of the oceans could never wash them clean. Lady Macbeth talks of the bloods powerful smell and how she will never get rid of it “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”. She recalls conversations with Macbeth consoling him from Banquo´s ghost “I tell you yet again…on’s grave”. She repeats the phrase “to bed” five times, though her sleep is tormented and so will never sleep peacefully again. Her previous incantations to the spirits involved her repeating the word ‘come’, this was a very powerful word then, full of darkness and summoning of evil, but as we hear her repeat this same word now it is not as powerful “come, come, come, come”- more evidence showing her downfall.
She is repeating what she has said to Macbeth but is also reassuring herself in her madness “what’s done, cannot be undone”. A Psychoanalytical audience would say that the source of this change is due to the repression of feelings, memories or trauma, which in this case, would all be applicable. The doctor’s diagnosis is simply that only God “divine” can save her. ”Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles” the doctor realizes that she has committed a terribly evil act and thus an inhuman, unnatural act, so, will result in unnatural troubles, i.e. terribly evil troubles, these troubles compressed her sanity and made it disappear altogether.
Contrary to Lady Macbeth’s unfeminine characteristics, Lady Macduff possesses typical female attributes and is a mother figure. She represents all the good people murdered by Macbeth. She loves her family and is distressed at her husband's departure. She tells her son that her husband is dead ‘ Sirrah, your father’s dead,’ because she doesn’t think that her husband will come back. Her husband’s departure made her feel vulnerable and at risk. She doesn't really believe her husband is a traitor and is concerned only that he is safe when the murderers arrive.
Macbeth’s second encounter with the witches confirms that he will have no invasion. In act four, scene one, the witches and Hecate are casting spells on Macbeth over their boiling cauldron. When Macbeth appears, they create three apparitions to answer Macbeth’s questions. The first warns Macbeth against Macduff. ‘‘Beware Macduff’’. The second tells him, that no ordinary man i.e. ‘’none of woman born shall harm Macbeth’’. And the third apparition informs Macbeth that he will rule Scotland ‘’until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him’’. This meeting with the witches assures Macbeth that he will rule Scotland and there is no one to invade him according to the witches’ prophecies. After the meeting, Macbeth hears that Macduff has joined Malcolm’s army and for this he decides to murder Macduff for his disloyalty. The witches’ prophecies has made Macbeth more steadfast in his actions and he is prepared to fight Macduff because he knows that ‘no man born of woman can kill him.’
In Act five scene five, Macbeth gets the news that Lady Macbeth is dead. However the cause of her death is unknown. Following this scene is a very short scene where Malcolm, Macduff and Lord Siward get ready to climb the walls of Macbeth’s castle. Shakespeare has added these short scenes to create dramatic tension. This was an effective way to build tension while everyone was preparing for battle. Macbeth is victorious at the start of the battle by killing Lord Siward, but when it came to fighting Macduff, he was less successful. Macduff told Macbeth that he is not a "natural" product of his mother’s womb, but that he was ‘’ripped’’ from it and is not of woman born. With this message, he then kills Macbeth.
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripped (Act V Scene VIII)
Although the witches’ prophecies seemed almost impossible, as Macduff was not a man ‘’of woman born’’, he murders Macbeth. From this, we learn that Macbeth is not merely a victim of feminine plotting but a victim of his greed for power.
We associate ‘ministers’ with qualities of leadership but in ‘Macbeth’ ambition conspires with unholy forces to commit evil deeds, which, in their turn, generate fear, guilt and still more horrible crimes. Above all, ‘Macbeth’ is a character study in which not one, but two protagonists (Macbeth and Lady Macbeth) respond individually and jointly to the psychological burden of their sins. Macbeth is a ‘Butcher’ when he murders Duncan, the present king on the commands of his wife. Macbeth feels guilty but feels that Lady Macbeth will be frustrated if he did not carry out the murder. However, he does the next murder on his own without the control of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is presented as ‘Queen’ in one scene, which is her first appearance, the fifth scene in act one. But she is certainly ‘Fiend like’ when she is the source of power over Macbeth in the Murder of Duncan. In her sleepwalking scene she utters her remorse and talks about her blood stained hands. She is very weak in this scene and has no power over her words and actions.
Banquo witnessed the encounter with the witches and because they said that one day his children would rule Scotland, Macbeth felt threatened and ordered murderers to ‘butcher’ Banquo and Fleance. On hearing about Macduff’s flight to England, another threat to his position according to the witches’ was that no man of woman born could harm him. This prophecy made Macbeth keen on fighting with Macduff. However, Macduff proved that he could still murder and overpower him. We can see that Macbeth is responsible for many crimes and how power hungry he was. He has taken so many lives just to maintain his leadership. In the course of the play, Macbeth repeatedly misunderstood the guilt that he was suffering as being simply a matter of apprehension. His characteristic way of dealing with his guilt was to face it directly by committing more misdeeds and this of course, only led to more insanity.
