Murder Essay, Research Paper
C.S. Lewis’ statement: “You can get your heart’s desire, and get despair instead” is
evident in both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth for the following reasons. Macbeth believed the
prophecies that stated that he would become king. Thus, he killed Duncan believing that was
the way to fulfill it. From then on, his ways were changed for the worse, being possibly the
worse king in Scotland’s history in Macduff’s eyes for example, believing that he must kill to
continue his reign as king. Lady Macbeth wished that Macbeth would become king with all her
heart. Going on a power trip right before they murder King Duncan. She then becomes bored as
queen, she thought there would be more to it, but is disappointed and wishes otherwise, this
occurs almost right before she begins to go insane.
In the beginning of the play Macbeth is a strong soldier who fights for the King without
mercy but his strive for ambition and his curious nature leads him to the witches who give him a
prophecy. Banquo realizes that there must be a trick hidden in the witches’ prophecies
somewhere but Macbeth refuses to accept that, and when Lady Macbeth finds out about the
witches her strong desire for ambition and her cold nature leads Macbeth astray. Macbeth is a
little ambitious at first, but Lady Macbeth’s far exceeds his and so she is able to get Macbeth to
agree with her to kill King Duncan. Macbeth still has a conscience at this stage because he is
very hesitant about killing the King but his weak nature overcomes him. He has a conscience
throughout the entire play as this is seen by the hallucinations of the dagger and the ghost of
Banquo and his vivid imagination and his constant worry also provokes him. This is also evident
in his terrible dreams which give the solid theme that he has indeed “murdered sleep.”
Throughout the play we see the character of Macbeth change not from just the way he thinks and
what we hear from the play, but from the actions he takes in the play, from killing Banquo, then
having Lady Macduff and her children murdered, shows the insecurity that was present in
Macbeth. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth becomes paranoid and his first step of killing
the guards is one of many that Macbeth takes to secure himself. Macbeth is also very
superstitious and this is shown when he believes the prophecy the witches told him that
Banquo’s offspring would become Kings. When Macbeth hires the murderers to kill Banquo and
his child that ride with him, he. Macbeth’s statement, “Tis better without than he within…” (III,
iii, 14), means that Banquo’s blood is better on the murderer than in Banquo, showing that
Macbeth is, in truth, happy
shows extreme selfishness; he cannot bear to see even his best friend’s sons succeed him on the
throne. However, a more important reason that Macbeth kills Banquo is because of Banquo’s
suspicion of him, and what Banquo will do to him once he finds out for sure that Macbeth has
committed the murder of Duncan. One can see that Macbeth becomes extremely harsh if he
wants his way. He will go to horrid extremes just so that he does not have to live his kingship in
fear, but instead “…to be safely thus.” (III, i, 49).
Lady Macbeth seems to be almost opposite compared to that of Macbeth in physical and
mental power. Lady Macbeth is the person who is able to persuade Macbeth into killing Duncan,
assuring Macbeth that it will succeed, as Lady Macbeth’s ambition is far greater than that of
Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is then able to exclaim in horror “What! In our House!” to the murder
of Duncan but whilst in complete control, to draw away the suspicion from Macbeth. When
however she finds out that Macbeth has killed the guards she faints, “Help me hence” she says,
but is this another sign of an act to again draw away the suspicion from Macbeth or did she faint
from shocked dismay. I believe she was shocked because I think that Lady Macbeth was
surprised that she was able to get Macbeth to commit the murder of Duncan, but was shocked at
how over one night and in fear, Macbeth could kill two more men in cold blood. This change in
the character of Lady Macbeth is apparent after she reads the letter from Macbeth as she goes
and talks to the evil spirits to make herself evil with lines such as “Fill me from the crown to the
toe-top full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood.” She goes to the extent of planning the
murder of Duncan and assumes full responsibility of this. 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
herself plus the persuasiveness on her words that makes Macbeth acts on her words without
hesitating.
Macbeth can be summarized into, although strong physically he is very weak mentally
and it is this weakness which causes the downfall and change of Macbeth. Other factors do
however also contribute to this change such as his wife whose ambition is very strong at first and
is much stronger mentally than Macbeth but it is also Macbeth’s ambition and his trust in the
witches which ultimately change him. The belief that the witches were true ultimately leads to
Macbeth’s downfall, due to his misinterpretations.
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