Macbeth's Guilt

Before Macbeth meets with Macduff, he thinks of ways to handle Macduff so he would no longer be a problem. Macduff was considered to be a problem because he left the kingdom in order to assist an opposing force. Macbeth states “Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate.” (Act IV scn i, ln 82-84) He wants to make sure Macduff will not be a problem; he wants to keep Macduff out of his way. In this scene Macbeth is attempting to discover ways to inforce his superiority through the phrase “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls.” (Act IV scn i, ln 150-152) He hired men to kill Macduff’s family, so he will be depressed and will grieve; he wants to keep Macduff out of the way of him still being King. The main reason he did this, however, was to exert his leadership over Macduff and send a message. This paragraph explains how Macbeth was disloyal to Macduff and how he did anything to keep Macduff out of his way, but things did not turn out as he

Macduff is the thane of fife, the foil to Macbeth, and the greatest patriot of Scotland during the play. He first appears in act one scene six, the King Duncan and the nobleman come to Macbeths castle. Macduff’s fellow noblemen marvel about the greatness of Macbeth’s castle, though Macduff stays silent throughout the scene. This is generally how Macduff acts; only speaking when spoken to, and not making unnecessary conversation. In act two scene three Macduff and Lennox come to wake the king and he is the one to make the discovery that the king has been murdered. He exclaims to Macbeth and Banquo what has happened, saying that the King is the Lord’s appointed temple. This is common in the time period

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the story of an ambitious royal turns into the followings of a murderous tyrant. The Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth, is motivated by his fear that his deep desires will not come true, and his tyrant, gender role-breaking wife, Lady Macbeth, to kill off various successors to the throne. Macbeth is introduced as an ambitious heir to the the throne, but is quickly displayed as a raging king. In William E. Cain’s essay “Murderous Thinking in Macbeth”, he describes the relationship between the audience and Macbeth as “sympathetically connected.” Macbeth is seen as a vicious tyrant to the rest of the characters, but his deep desires are seen by the audience or readers. The audience is shown Macbeth’s guilt and remorse throughout the play, up until he kills Macduff’s family. Macbeth obtains the mindset of a power hungry, murderous tyrant when he kills Macduff’s family.

Act 1, Scene 2 presents Macbeth for the first time a strong and courageous warrior who serves his king to his best ability. The captain says that Macbeth ¨unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops¨ (1.2.24). This quotation describes Macbeth’s tremendous strength, and that he would do anything to keep his kingdom and king from harm. In my collage, I have included a picture of Macbeth during one of his battles. It shows a clear feat of strength and vividly shows the carnage that he has left from the Norwegian invasion. In another passage, the captain describes Macbeth was “Like valor’s minion”(1.2.21). This quotation show you Macbeth’s loyalty and that everything he does is honorable. In my picture, the king is acknowledging Macbeth’s actions that

The story of Macbeth begins when Macbeth becomes a great war hero by killing the enemy leader. He secures the victory for Scotland over Norway and earns the respect of his king, Duncan. Macbeth is named the Thane of Cawdor, taking the title from a traitor during the war. Macbeth was called “noble Macbeth” by King Duncan, showing the respect he had earned (I,ii,78). Later, honorable Macbeth is told a very implausible yet fruitful prophecy by three witches depicting him as the King of Scotland. This slowly turns Macbeth evil as can be seen through dreams and hallucinations. Dreams and hallucinations are a theme throughout Macbeth, and they show us how Macbeth is changing through more than dialogue alone.

Macduff's ambition in this play was to be loyal to his country by taking out Macbeth. Too much of his time is spent plotting against Macbeth, which throws off Macduff’s values. He abandons his family and left for England to find Malcolm so he could wage war against Macbeth. Later, Macbeth hears that the recent absence of Macduff at the banquet and at Duncan’s funeral was because he had fled to England, to find Malcolm. So Macbeth reacts to this by sending murderers to kill Macduff's family. Once Macduff finds out that his family is dead, he starts to exhibit some emotion. At this time he is about to wage war on Macbeth with Malcolm; Malcolm say's to Macduff "Dispute it like a man"(4.3.259). Macduff then replies,

Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! / Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; / Thou hast no speculation in those eyes / Which thou dost glare with! (III.iv.109-103). Macbeth’s deranged actions at the banquet show that any actions he takes past that point, including ordering the death of Macduff’s family, should not be held personally against Macbeth as his mental health has deteriorated to the point that he is no longer sane. Moreover, it is arguable that Macbeth is under the impression that Macduff and his family are dangerous to him. The witches, in the First Apparition shown to Macbeth, tells him to “Beware Macduff! / Beware the Thane of Fife” (IV.i.78-79). This is a direct mention of the danger posed by Macduff against Macbeth, and as Macduff has escaped, Macbeth can only attempt to punish Macduff’s family in order to dissuade him from acting against Macbeth’s regime. Finally, Macduff betrayed and committed high treason against King Macbeth for fleeing to a foreign power to assist an enemy of the state, Malcolm. Macduff’s goal to dethrone Macbeth is clearly shown when he requests that he and Malcolm must “Macduff.

The story revolving around Macbeth eventually leads to him controlling his country of Scotland. With this being true, it is apparent that he is inadequately prepared for this responsibility and title of king. The entire period of time Macbeth is in his role as king, he is listening to prophecies made by three witches. “ All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!” Witch 1 Act 1 Scene 3. A real

4. Angus remarks that Macbeth’s soldiers move only out of fear, not out of love for

Macduff’s character is used as an effective foil for Macbeth in the play. The foil serves to show the parallels between these two characters.

Macbeth’s major dilemma in putting what is actually there and what is imagined perceptive is proven above to have brought Macbeth to his corruption, his inhumanity, and at last to his downfall. Because he does not know what is real, he thinks he was pulled to kill King Duncan and so he did; he thinks that Banquo is there to haunt him, and so he starts slipping up and his false face starts to show what his heart knows; he

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth focuses on the subject of ambition and its psychological burdens. He makes it clear that Macbeth did commit to his hateful deeds responding to the psychological burden of his sins. A respected Thane, who has shown great loyalty to King Duncan, goes from a vigorous and worthy soldier to a shameless murderer presents himself as Macbeth

The clothing and disguises appear repeatedly in Macbeth, but they are especially significant in terms of the unfamiliar, foreboding atmosphere that begins to envelop the entire kingdom of Scotland. The Macbeths themselves are the characters that contribute to this motif the most, disguising their true feelings and intentions from their king, their friends, and even each other: “These deeds must not be thought/ After these ways. So, it will make us mad” (2.2.37-38).

A way that these characters describe another character is using the type of clothing they are figuratively wearing. This is important to the play because it shows how the characters feel about one another in the play, “Now does he feel his title Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe Upon a dwarfish thief” (Mac. V.II. 23-24). Angus says this about Macbeth when describing how he is acting as the king because he was being to powerful and doing things that were wrong. In the play it describes how a person can feel about oneself in the play.

" This is an obvious change from the royal and respectful titles at the beginning of the play and the reader can see the change not only in Macbeth, but what some people have begun to see in him. Lady Macbeth also tries to hide what her husband has done, using their nightgowns to mask their deeds of that night: killing Duncan. She says to Macbeth, "get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us / And show us no be watchers," telling him to hide under a new set of clothes and the illusion that they've been asleep. Macbeth has committed murder, yet we still do not see his truest desires because it is being masked. The middle of the play is comparable to a half mood; the reader is able to see Macbeth's dark heart, but it has