...In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the murder of King Duncan is not so easily culpable as many characters hold a certain level of responsibility. While it is easy to hold Macbeth responsible, as he was the one that committed the act, Macbeth is not the only one that played a hand in the inevitable downfall of Duncan. Upon a closer look at the events leading up to the murder, other influences in Macbeth’s decision emerge. While some were more influential than others, it still cannot be ignored that Duncan’s death may not have ever occurred if it weren’t for these other characters. The Weird Sisters, also known as the three witches, are ultimately the ones that unfolded these long series of events leading up to Duncan’s murder and even the events to follow....
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...Macbeth is presented as a suffering victim, who then plummets into a downward spiral where he becomes a symbol of evil. When we first encounter Macbeth, the witches have just foretold the three prophecies. Macbeth is enamored with the idea of becoming king one day. Looking for advice Macbeth confided in his wife, Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s immediate reaction is that she has always pinned for the throne and was going to find a way to obtain it. Ultimately Lady Macbeth conjured up the idea to kill King Duncan. She later presents her matoltocal plan to Macbeth. At first Macbeth is not willing to go through with her plan. He thinks it is unjust and that there are other ways to obtain the throne. However Lady Macbeth uses her power of persuasion and lores her husband into a trap. She does this by stating, “When you durst do it, then you were a man.”(Shakespeare 1.7.49) Lady Macbeth tries to take away Macbeth sexuality by saying in the quote that if he does not complete this deed he will be less of a man in her eyes. She continues to go into more depth and say that she will no longer love him either. Lady Macbeth picks apart Macbeth until there is nothing left. She took away Macbeth...
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...When characters meet their plans in Act 2, action replaces anticipation; as a result of the monumental events that take place, the very fabric of their world unhinges. When Macbeth enters Duncan’s chambers to kill him, Lady Macbeth waits outside. While she waits, she announces, “It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, / which gives the stern’st good-night. / He is about it (2.2.5-6). The owl cries out to announce Duncan’s impending death as Macbeth murders him. The night no longer represents a time of anticipation: characters go “about” their plans and actually achieve them. However, they must face consequences: the cry of a "fatal bellman" announces not only the death of Duncan, but also the death of Macbeth's morals. The darkening...
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...Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare and is about the tragic downfall of a Scottish lord who committed multiple murders. Macbeth, the protagonist of the play, killed numerous people to get what he wanted; however some of the murders were unavoidable. Although some of the murders were unavoidable, Macbeth is still guilty for the wrongful murders of Banquo and the Macduff family. He killed his fellow countrymen for power, which is unacceptable in any circumstances, but in Duncan’s case Macbeth was pressured by others to commit the deed. Macbeth is personally responsible for the death of Banquo, but he is not responsible for Duncan’s and the Macduff family’s deaths. To begin with, Macbeth is not responsible for Duncan’s death as Macbeth was pressured to kill him. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife, pressured him into killing Duncan. Macbeth is innocent in this murder as he was being emasculated and used by his own wife. The guilt should be on Lady Macbeth as it was her that told Macbeth to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth. Was the hope drunk/...
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...Macbeth Journal Entry # 9 Keep up with your Journals for Macbeth—you will turn all of them in at the end of the unit. “Dispute it like a man.” “I shall do so; / but I must also feel it as a man…” “Let grief / convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it.” 1. Write these quotes at the top of your entry and identify the speakers. 2. Respond to the three quotes above. Use the questions below as guides, but if other things come to your mind, feel free to DV8. Remember, as always, journals are informal, so content is much more important than grammar. a. Do you blame Macduff for abandoning his family? Why or why not? b. Compare this opinion of “manhood” to Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s view from earlier in the play. Which is more familiar? Explain any connections you see between your view of manhood and the two from the play. c. How is the theme of revenge portrayed through the play? Positively? Negatively? Necessary? Unnecessary? When is revenge warranted? How is a “man” supposed to handle his grief? Do the two speakers agree? d. Who is the “bigger man” Macduff, who wants to stand and fight, but weeps for the loss of his family, or Macbeth who, despite initial misgivings, is guided by his ambition for money and power despite the consequences? Macbeth Journal Entry # 9 Keep up with your Journals for Macbeth—you will turn all of them in at the end of the unit. “Dispute it like a man.” “I shall do so; / but I must also feel it as a man…” “Let grief...
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...than the rest of the people around them, then they suddenly lose that mentality, who is it to blame for their downfall? It could be a number of different instances, including internal and external influences. Internal influences would include their own thoughts and thought processes and external influences would include other people’s influence. Internal influences are the major ones here for they cannot be dealt with easily as the person is the only one who can fix it. While with external influences can just be ignored, internal cannot be ignored. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the downfall of Macbeth includes external influences by his wife, the witches, and internal influences from himself....
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...1. Do you blame Macduff for abandoning his family? Why or why not? I don't blame Macduff, but he certainly blamed himself. I don’t blame his because Macduff only left his family to bring down his country's murderous tyrant. 2. What are the predictions made by the second and third apparitions? Why does Macbeth readily accept these predictions? He accepts them because the second apparition came in the form of a blood child which told him not to fear the power of man, because no child born of a woman would defeat him. He agrees with this, because he believes that he can't be defeated by anyone and this apparition simply helps justify his thoughts. And the third apparition came in the form of a child with a crown holding a tree which told him not to fear those who hate him or conspire against him, because he shall not be defeated until the battle of Birnam Wood on Dunsinane Hill, and he doesn't even believe he would be defeated so the second part didn't even register in his mind....
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...The story Macbeth is like no other in plot and poetry. It sets itself apart from the rest by having a protagonist becoming evil. What makes Macbeth such a complicated character is the way his outlook keeps on changing throughout the play. This essay will prove that Macbeth is an evil man and was not overpowered by ambition to get what he wanted. This essay will also determine that certain characters like the witches did not force him to do evil; they simply triggered it. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is shown as a hero in the Scottish army that is ironic because Macbeth has defeated a traitor and he will become one. We feel that a person of his loyalty could never commit evil unless he had a good reason or if he would be provoked. After Macbeth's first meeting with the witches, we learn from his aside that he has thought about killing Duncan " My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical" 1(Macbeth 1.3.152). Macbeth also says " If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without my stir." 2(Macbeth 1.4.157-159) which means that maybe he does not have to murder the king to gain that title. Luck has been very generous to him and might continue and make him king. Macbeth's true evil thoughts about being king are first shown when he finds out that king Duncan has named his son Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland. He now shows his evil and his true feelings. " Stars, hide your fires; Let not night see my black and deep desires. The...
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...Macbeth: A Tragic Hero? William Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, attains a protagonist that evidently portrays himself as a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character that is not completely good or evil and has a tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall. Macbeth is the epitome of a tragic hero because he starts off as a noble man until his own actions, also influenced by others, bring him to his own death. The events that help take Macbeth to his end are the prophecies told to him by the three witches, Lady Macbeth's pressure that drives him into committing horrible actions, and his own ambition that takes over him and leaves him as nothing but a power and money hungry character. Macbeth starts off with Macbeth and Banquo being praised after battling bravely in a war against the Irish Invaders. “At the beginning of the play, he seems the epitome of a loyal subject, valiantly fighting the rebel forces to protect the king and preserve his power.” (Elaine Pilkington 1) King Duncan believed that Macbeth was tremendously heroic in the battle and decided to name him the new thane of Cawdor after executing the old one because of his betrayal. However, before hearing from the King, Macbeth and Banquo were on their way to the King's court when they were suddenly accompanied by three witches.The witches greet Macbeth as the thane of Glamis, which was his original and only title, and as the thane of Cawdor, which Macbeth was not yet informed of. The witches also tell Macbeth...
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...that in turn poses a threat to Macbeth and soon, his kingship. Because the witches’ prophecy about Macbeth becoming king came true, he questions whether they were going to be right about Banquo and his legacy. Although, Macbeth in this scene is too worried, he does not realize that he was the one who fundamentally caused the series of events to occur after killing King Duncan. Banquo might decide to keep the information he learned from the witches to himself because if he spoke up people might think that he was a part of Kind Duncan’s murder, because they may believe that he did this just to become king. Also, he probably does not want to sabotage his chances of his sons becoming kings if someone else finds out. 2. Macbeth might be curious about where Banquo is going because he wants to keep an eye on Banquo for two reasons. One reason being that he wants to kill him so that his sons are not the reason that he loses his thrown. He uses this as a safety mechanism and later on in the act we find out that Macbeth hires three murders to kill Banquo in order to carry out his plan of staying king. He also wants to keep an eye on Banquo so that way he does not find out that he was the one who killed King Duncan for the thrown. Banquo may have already been suspicious of the murder because he was with Macbeth and heard the witches’ prophecies. 3. The “bloody cousins” as referred to Macbeth in line 29 are Duncan’s sons. They are the ones that the blame was placed on and they are suspected...
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...William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, takes place in 11th century Scotland, and has its own portrayal of that society. Although it may not be entirely accurate, the society that Shakespeare develops has distinctive gender roles and societal expectations for each gender. In this society lives Macbeth, a military nobleman trusted by the king who eventually becomes king himself, but through a murder encouraged by his wife, Lady Macbeth. His reign is tainted with inhumane acts such as murdering the family of his former friends, and hiring assassins to kill one of his friends. At the conclusion of the play, Lady Macbeth dies from unknown causes, Macbeth is murdered by Macduff, another nobleman, and Scotland rejoices because Macbeth’s reign of terror...
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...Who has control over one’s life? Who makes the decisions? Is now the right time? A person’s life is controlled by their decisions. This is called free will. In the play Macbeth , Macbeth made many decisions, he decided to kill King Duncan, as well as his best friend, Banquo. Macbeth made these decisions to secure his position as king. After Macbeth completed what he wanted to do, he had a great amount of guilt. Although Macbeth’s life could have been influenced by his fate and the witches prophecies, his life was planned out by his decisions. One way Macbeth’s decisions controlled his life, was when he killed King Duncan. Macbeth made the decision to kill Duncan. In Act 2 Scene 2 line 19, Macbeth says, “I have done the deed/Didst thou not hear a noise?” Macbeth physically did the deed. He, himself, took the dagger into Duncan’s room and stabbed him. This led to Macbeth struggling immensely with guilt. He feared he would never be...
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...In the play of, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses free will and gender themes. His theme of free will is acting independently in spite of past outside influences. HIs theme of gender roles is Lady Macbeth having masculine features. Macbeth has free will to believe the prophecies and lose his confidence in the end of the battle. Lady Macbeth shows a different relationship to free will then Macbeth through manipulation and forcing Macbeth to kill the king, ambitious to being ruthless, and death by their guilt getting to them. Macbeth is being manipulated by the witches and Lady Macbeth. The witches tell Macbeth what his prophecies are going to be and what it’s all going to lead up to, he believes them. He’s forced to kill Duncan by his wife, “I dare...
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...Greetings people of Scotland, I came here today to inform you as your new king of Scotland, the rightful heir to the throne. Beside me is the head of Macbeth, who died like a coward. My father did not die in vain but with honor and his vengeance was soon to come. Macbeth’s treacherous acts have proven him to be the son of the devil. As I take for blame for leaving my country to such a monster was only to come back stronger and with a bigger army, so forgive me and accept me as your new king. As for Lady Macbeth, who was a fiend-like queen, lost her mind and took her own life today which brings even more justice to my father as she has helped Macbeth in his deadly plot. If we had only been in the castle sooner, we could have saved Young Siward,...
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...Macbeth dramatizes the effects of political ambition on those who seek the ultimate power; power to be king. Although, who can we blame to bear the lion’s share of responsibility of the tragedies that took place in that time? Most characters involved in the play could be placed as responsible but some characters are also more guilty than others might be assumed to be. The three witches of Macbeth’s fate, Macbeth himself, as well as his wife, Lady Macbeth can be seen as holding most of the responsibilities of the problems. The witches were the ones that inspired the first evil thought of killing King Duncan into Macbeth’s mind, Macbeth acted upon the vile thoughts and, Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth to even remotely act on those vile thoughts of his, so who is actually the most liable for their actions?...
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