Ruthless Lola
The Tragedy of Macbeth
In the play ‘Macbeth’ the main character is a noble man, in line with the natural order, controlled by his wife and horrified by murder, but as the play progresses he becomes greedy for power, independent of his wife, and ruthless if necessary to get what he wants at the cost of others who were once close to him.
At the start of the play, Macbeth is an honourable man who is respected by the King for his courage and loyalty. He would never dream of betraying the King and definitely would not consider harming him physically. So when his wife suggest that he should murder King Duncan he is horrified, ‘As his host, I should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.’ This shows that Macbeth believes he should be protecting the King not attempting to murder him. However after much persuading from Lady Macbeth he decides to take the opportunity to kill King Duncan. At first he is ashamed of what he had done but when he becomes king he convinces himself it was in his best interests. He becomes ruthless in his actions to protect his throne and when he is informed Macduff has fled to England he feels threatened. He decides to kill Lady Macduff and children, ‘The castle of Macduff I’ll surprise… give to the egde of my knife his wife, his babes.’ Macbeth is now willing to do whatever it takes to maintain his throne even if it involves killing an innocent woman and child. Through his actions he demonstates he has no qualms when it comes to brutal murder.
Throughout the play the relationship between Macbeth and his wife alters. In act two Lady Macbeth is very much in control of the relationship and is responsible for prompting many of the decisions made by Macbeth. She displays this when against Macbeth’s better judgement she convinces him to kill King Duncan. When he has reluctantly carried out the deed he returns with the murder weapons. Lady Macbeth becomes frustrated and demands ‘give me the daggers’ so she can return them to incriminate the guards. Also when there is knocking at the gate she tells Macbeth ‘get on your nightgown’ when he seems frozen to the spot. The use of ‘give’ and ‘get’ shows that she is in command. However as the play develops he becomes more and more independent of her and is able to make horrific decisions such as murder without her input. He shows this independence when he is told of his wife’s passing and simply responds ‘she should have died hereafter.’ This proves the relationship has broken down and he is no longer emotionally connected to her and has no time to grieve her death.
At the beginning of the play Macbeth is an honourable man who agrees with the natural order. When he talks to the witches on his travels with Banquo they say ‘All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be King herafter!’
Macbeth is shocked by this because although he is thane of Glamis, he knows he isn’t thane of Cawdor and he definitely is not King. Despite Banquos encouragement he dismisses them as crazy old ladies trying to stir trouble but when he reaches camp he is informed that the King has honoured him with the title Thane of Cawdor for is bravery in battle. This gets Macbeth thinking about the witches and that maybe one day in the near future he could be King. After telling Lady Macbeth of the day’s events she is certain he should take action and fulfil the prophecy. At first Macbeth thinks he should let the prophecy take its path. But later decides he should kill the King and become King himself. After killing King Duncan he returns to the witches for guidance. He now trusts the witches despite their main purpose being to cause mayhem in the natural order. They tell him to beware of Macduff as he opposes Macbeths reign as king but also that he can not be harmed by any man of women born. He is certain that every man is of women born and believes he must be invincible. ‘The mind I sway by and the heart I bear, shall never sag with doubt nor fear.’ This shows that he has the utmost confidence in himself and that he has no reason to fear anyone because he himself is unbeatable. This is also the reason why Macbeth is willing to go into war against hundreds of men on his own with no reluctance.
As the play develops Macbeth changes dramatically as a person. He starts the play as a kind hearted man but from the events which occur during the play he becomes sinister and untrustworthy. He also goes from being a respected Thane to being a back stabbing King, a husband who is controlled by his wife to a strong willed widower, and from being a law abiding member of society to a bringer of chaos to the natural order.
At the start of the play, Macbeth is an honourable man who is respected by the King for his courage and loyalty. He would never dream of betraying the King and definitely would not consider harming him physically. So when his wife suggest that he should murder King Duncan he is horrified, ‘As his host, I should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.’ This shows that Macbeth believes he should be protecting the King not attempting to murder him. However after much persuading from Lady Macbeth he decides to take the opportunity to kill King Duncan. At first he is ashamed of what he had done but when he becomes king he convinces himself it was in his best interests. He becomes ruthless in his actions to protect his throne and when he is informed Macduff has fled to England he feels threatened. He decides to kill Lady Macduff and children, ‘The castle of Macduff I’ll surprise… give to the egde of my knife his wife, his babes.’ Macbeth is now willing to do whatever it takes to maintain his throne even if it involves killing an innocent woman and child. Through his actions he demonstates he has no qualms when it comes to brutal murder.
Throughout the play the relationship between Macbeth and his wife alters. In act two Lady Macbeth is very much in control of the relationship and is responsible for prompting many of the decisions made by Macbeth. She displays this when against Macbeth’s better judgement she convinces him to kill King Duncan. When he has reluctantly carried out the deed he returns with the murder weapons. Lady Macbeth becomes frustrated and demands ‘give me the daggers’ so she can return them to incriminate the guards. Also when there is knocking at the gate she tells Macbeth ‘get on your nightgown’ when he seems frozen to the spot. The use of ‘give’ and ‘get’ shows that she is in command. However as the play develops he becomes more and more independent of her and is able to make horrific decisions such as murder without her input. He shows this independence when he is told of his wife’s passing and simply responds ‘she should have died hereafter.’ This proves the relationship has broken down and he is no longer emotionally connected to her and has no time to grieve her death.
At the beginning of the play Macbeth is an honourable man who agrees with the natural order. When he talks to the witches on his travels with Banquo they say ‘All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be King herafter!’
Macbeth is shocked by this because although he is thane of Glamis, he knows he isn’t thane of Cawdor and he definitely is not King. Despite Banquos encouragement he dismisses them as crazy old ladies trying to stir trouble but when he reaches camp he is informed that the King has honoured him with the title Thane of Cawdor for is bravery in battle. This gets Macbeth thinking about the witches and that maybe one day in the near future he could be King. After telling Lady Macbeth of the day’s events she is certain he should take action and fulfil the prophecy. At first Macbeth thinks he should let the prophecy take its path. But later decides he should kill the King and become King himself. After killing King Duncan he returns to the witches for guidance. He now trusts the witches despite their main purpose being to cause mayhem in the natural order. They tell him to beware of Macduff as he opposes Macbeths reign as king but also that he can not be harmed by any man of women born. He is certain that every man is of women born and believes he must be invincible. ‘The mind I sway by and the heart I bear, shall never sag with doubt nor fear.’ This shows that he has the utmost confidence in himself and that he has no reason to fear anyone because he himself is unbeatable. This is also the reason why Macbeth is willing to go into war against hundreds of men on his own with no reluctance.
As the play develops Macbeth changes dramatically as a person. He starts the play as a kind hearted man but from the events which occur during the play he becomes sinister and untrustworthy. He also goes from being a respected Thane to being a back stabbing King, a husband who is controlled by his wife to a strong willed widower, and from being a law abiding member of society to a bringer of chaos to the natural order.
