Examples Of Nobility In Macbeth

After he had attained his destiny, Macbeth felt that Banquo would become a serious threat. He did not like the fact that Banquo was destined to be a father to a whole line of kings. "Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared...If `t be so, for Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; for them the gracious Duncan have I murdered..."(85). The path Macbeth chooses to take in order to stay at the throne was to have Banquo killed. But, Macbeth was never destined to kill anyone. Killing Duncan, Banquo and Macduff's whole household were all his decisions to attain his destiny.

Macbeth fears Banquo’s descendents will take his kingship. He thinks that Banquo should be murdered to stop it from happening, “And though I could / With barefaced power sweep him from my sight / And bid my will avouch it” (3.1.134-136). In the quote, Macbeth is says that he would kill Banquo and offer his desire for Banquo’s death as sufficient justification for killing him (Shakespeare 88). Macbeth does not murder Banquo but cons murderers into committing the violence. Macbeth is not thinking clearly though because he would know that violence only breeds more violence. The murderers kill Banquo and further continue the

Macbeth was honored and looked highly upon by the soldiers he commanded. He was a brave fighter and trusted by everyone around him. When a soldier is telling the events of the battle he says to King Duncan “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name” (4). This showed how much his subordinates trust him on and off the battle field. After the battle Macbeth was promoted to Thane of Cawdor, on top of his current position, Thane of Glamis. King Duncan honored Macbeth for his courage on the battlefield. At this point in the play, Macbeth had no intentions on hurting or turning on his king.

King Duncan was an honest king favored by many. His generosity is shown when he titles Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. King Duncan proclaims, “No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, and with his former title greet Macbeth” (Shakespeare 8). King Duncan is munificent, but gave Macbeth this title because he cares for the people of Cawdor. He is a fair KingKing since he did this for the better of the people. Morality is proven in the play after King Duncan is rewarded for his great actions. After King Duncan’s death Macbeth states, “So clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the deep damnation of his taKing-off” (Shakespeare 20). King Duncan was virtuous and was rewarded by being honored and well respected by everyone including his murderer. He was very

Macbeth thinks about what he’s going to do to Banquo, and he thinks on about what the witches had prophesied to him; “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my gripe, thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding. ”(3.1.61-64) Macbeth is analyzing the situation, causing him to realize that Banquo would become more powerful than him because Banquo was prophesied that his family would be royal. Macbeth is jealous of Banquo with his endless line of successful leaders, therefore Banquo and his family would end up having more power than Macbeth. Since Macbeth wanted more power, he needed Banquo dead.

Macbeth becomes dangerously ambitious to be crowned king and keep that, rather than having a son of Banquo take it away from him. The first action that he executed to reach his goal was the killing of King Duncan. Even though this may not be directly connected to the overall conviction of Banquo’s murder, it was the source of an evil chain reaction. For example, Macbeth states that he killed Duncan’s guard in the name of love and passion for the king (2.3.116). This can be reasonably inferred to be a lie as an attempt to cover up the initial lie concerning King Duncan’s murder.

    In the third scene of the first act, Banquo** asks, "...have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?" in response to the witches' prophecies.  Banquo is partly right in the assumption that Macbeth's mind is not pure.  When Macbeth says "The Prince of Cumberland!  That is a step/ On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap" (Act 1, Scene 4, 48-49), we see that Macbeth may have already the idea of killing Duncan.  Macbeth's ultimate goal is to become king; he does this with a certain amount of ease, but the process somehow awakens his tragic flaw, the ruthlessness with which he destroys his own reign.  After he kills the dead king's servents, his targets are Banquo and Fleance, who have heard or are involved in the third prophecy.  Macbeth sends the three murderers who stab the famous dying words out of Banquo's mouth: "Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! (Act 3, Scene 3, 17).  Macbeth must crush dissent  he kills Macduff's wife and children.  Macbeth's reign of non-stop killing erodes Scotland's confidence in him and he has no chance

Not only did he gain the kings trust by his act of loyalty, he was also titled to be the Thane of Cawdor. Later on, Macbeth gains a strong desire for wanting more than what he was entitled. For this

Duncan is a prime example of a king who is loved by his nobles and his people. He clearly states this when he arrives at Macbeth’s home and tells Lady Macbeth, “the love that follows us sometime is our trouble, which we still thank as love” (I.iii.12). This shows that Duncan is a respected king who knows he is greatly loved by his subjects, who see him as benevolent. Duncan's death impacted the people closest to him the most. The pain they feel is shown when Macduff found Duncan’s body and cried out; “most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope the Lord’s anointed temple, and stole these the life o’ th’ building” (II.iii.61-64).

The witches and their prophecies are the first major influence on Macbeth's actions. Macbeth seems happy and content with himself until the witches tell him he will be king. He begins immediately to consider murdering Duncan. "If good, why do I yield to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, / Against

3. 157-159) Macbeth’s arrogance is made apparent with the immediacy of his thoughts of becoming king and it is clear that the supernatural has given him arrogant ambition as Macbeth is already beginning to think of how he will be crowned king. Macbeth eventually decides he will show his “Black and deep desires” (1. 4. 58) and murder Duncan, the current king of Scotland. This is a shift from Macbeth showing loyalty to Scotland and the king as he now has arrogantly, for the benefit of himself becoming king, murdered Duncan, the king of Scotland. Duncan was greatly admired and respected by the population of Scotland. Macbeth himself describes Duncan as “meek” (1. 7. 17) and being “so clear in his great office” (1. 7. 18). When Macduff first realizes the death of Duncan, he describes the scene as: “O horror, horror, horror!” (2. 3. 73) Macbeth acknowledges that the reaction to Duncan’s death would be mournful before murdering him: “Pity… / Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, / That tears shall drown the wind” (1.7. 21-25). However, Macbeth’s only goal is to become king, not to please the population of Scotland who admires their king greatly and sees him as a righteous person. After tempting Macbeth with the idea of becoming king, the supernatural gives Macbeth arrogant ambition, forcing him to contrast his loyal and courageous personality, which motivates him to kill Duncan.

After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is titled the King of Scotland. Having Macbeth murder Duncan to become King makes it seem to Macbeth that he can control his own fate. This only makes it worse for Macbeth, because it is now engraved in his mind that murder can change fate. Now that Duncan is taken care of, it is Banquo that Macbeth is worried about, for Macbeth is convinced that Banquo knows too much because he was the only other person with him when the witches prophesized his fate. It’s not only Banquo that Macbeth wants to murder, he also wants to change the prophecy of Banquo’s descendants becoming Kings by murdering them as well, as he states “To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!;/ Rather than so, come fate into the list,;/ And champion me to th’ utterance.” (III, I, 70-73). This line directly shows that Macbeth now thinks he is in control, and that he can challenge fate by murdering the sons of Banquo to change what the witch’s prophesized for the descendants of Banquo to become kings.

After killing King Duncan , Macbeth is starting to realize what it is that he has done, and becomes suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him by puting spy's in every castle and killing those who are any treat to him what so ever. Banquo is the only other person who knows of the meeting with the witches and he would assume that it was Macbeth who killed the King. The witches also said that Banquo would beget kings but he himself would never be king after Macbeth, and so Macbeth decides that Banquo is a threat to him. To get rid of the treat with banquo he decides to kill him and his son Fleance.

Macbeth is not condemned to his fate exclusively by his decision to murder Duncan but continues to make choices that result in his undoing after this point. These later decisions can, in fact, be seen as being more definitively Macbeth's own will, as they are made independent of Lady Macbeth's influence and, unlike Macbeth's first murder, in an attempt to avoid rather than achieve a prophecies completion. Macbeth organises Banquo's murder to fight

His desire to stay in power overcomes him as he realizes that Banquo’s son may take his place. Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s feelings about his best friend after becoming king in another soliloquy: “To be thus is nothing; but to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be fear’d…” (3.1.48-51). Macbeth’s fears of Banquo are expressed, and it all started because he heard that prophecy about Banquo. Macbeth does not see much point in becoming king if he in not “safely thus”. In order to preserve his power, he feels the need to sacrifice other people’s lives. The murderous path he has chosen will only lead him to death, as people will find out and kill him for it, contributing to the theme that death is inevitable. In conclusion, Macbeth’s desire to stay in power is what made him choose to take another life; however, if it was not for the witches, he would not have felt a need to carry out any of the deeds he has done.