Evil Macbeth Essay, Research Paper
EVIL MACBETH
Darkness in our society is indicative of evil. For instance, a black cat, a dark night, a dark place are all symbols of evil. There are only a few good people out there today. In Macbeth William Shakespeare proves to us that there is evil in all of us but in the end the good triupths. In this play the main character Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth represent evil the king and queen of Scotland become murderers and the most hated people. The evilness in them brigs out the good in other characters in the play.
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 the 3 prophecies. They are that he will become the thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor and the king of Scotland.
” All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis
All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor
All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter.”(I, III, l. 50-53)
Soon after the meeting with the witches Macbeth realises that he is the thane of Glamis and the thane of Cawdor. He realises that the only way for the 3rd prophecy to come true is to kill Duncan the king of Scotland. So Macbeth and his wife decide to kill Duncan and Macbeth becomes the king. He then decides he should kill Banquo because he could betray him, the witches said that Banquo would be the father to the line of kings and that means Macbeth will not be king for a long time. The murder of Banquo lead to Macbeth’s downfall.
Lady Macbeth an evil and weak woman made her husband kill Duncan, the king of Scotland at the time. With her words and her love for her husband she changed his mind. Besides who would ever suspect them as being the murderers.
” Art thou afeared to be the same ion thine own
Act and valour as thou art in desire? Woulds thou
Have that which thou esteem’s the ornament of life.
And live a coward in thine own esteem, letting I dare not
Wait, wait upon I would, like the poor cat I the adage.”(I, VII, l.42-48)
Making Macbeth feel bad and not strong enough she changed his mind. He was now ready to kill Duncan. When she became the queen of Scotland something that she never thought would happen happened. She could not sleep because she could not stop drea
Banquo is Macbeth’s former best friend who knows about the witches and knows that there is something-weird going on. He is an honest and loyal friend that served the king. When he realised that Macbeth killed Duncan he knew that it would be his turn.
“Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all. As
The weird women promised; and I fear thou play’dst
Most foully for’t yet it was said. It should not stand
In thy posterity”(III, I, l.1-4)
Banquo realised that Macbeth wants to kill him as well, the witches said that he would be the father to the line of kings. That means that Macbeth could not be king for a long time, so the only thing that Macbeth could do is kill him and his son. Macbeth killed Banquo but his son Fleance escaped and that is why Banquos murder led to Macbeth’s downfall. Fleance would live to tell everyone what happened. After Banquo’s murder Macbeth would forever be haunted by his soul and Macbeth would never rest in peace.
Mucduff was another of the king’s loyal friends who knew Macbeth was the murderer. Macbeth killed his children, his wife and destroyed his life. The only thing that was left for him to do was get revenge. He said that if he doesn’t kill Macbeth he will not be able to sleep and he will never rest in peace.
” If thou be’st slain and with no stroke
Of mine, my wife and children ghosts will
Haunt me still”(V, I, l.20-22)
Revenge was the only thing that Macduff had on his mind. He could not rest in peace if he did not kill Macbeth. The only way to prove to himself and his wife that he cares about her like he did before is to kill Macbeth. At the end of the play Macduff gets his revenge, he kills Macbeth.
This play represents the evil and the darkness but on the other hand it also represents good and justice. All of the characters in this play that represented evil got what they deserved but there is character such as Duncan and banquo who did not get what they deserved but if it was not for them the evil would of not been destroyed. The message of this play is that what goes around comes around.
Shakespeare, William Macbeth Toronto: Harcourt,
Brace & Company, 1988