Macbeth’s path to evil Essay

In Macbeth, it is clear that Macbeth at the start of the execute is a different person to Macbeth at the end of the happen. During the course of the fiddle, he changes a great deal, most obviously from a good and faithful thane of Scotland to a cruel and ruthless king. At the beginning of the play, he is at his imposingst. He has shown great courage and loyalty brave Macbeth well he deserves that take, and is considered a hero by Duncan, the king, for ending the rebellion in Scotland, and is melodic theme trustworthy O valiant cousin worthy gentleman He is a great warrior and one of the leaders of the Scottish army identical valours minion carvd out his passage. unless he is ambitious, and this leads him to r all(prenominal) a terrible king, moving from one act of violence to a nonher, beholding one threat after another, so defeating conscience and pity.As he is king of Scotland, his black floods Scotland, making it horribly stirred and fill with consternation A falcon /Was by a mousing owl inclined at and killd. However, at the end of the play he still shows that he has not lost his courage as he dies fighting Exeunt, fighting, but it is somewhat diminished and his fear has bounteous as earlier in the play he is scargond of the apparitions nevertheless no more sights Yet at the beginning of the play he fought a bloody and gruesome battle in which a single, detached, armour head (the appearance of the first apparition) would not bring on been an uncommon sight.It could be said that at the end of the play Macbeth is a villain, as Malcolm does this deadened butcher, or that he is a tragic hero, as he fought, knowing that Macduff would kill him And thou opposd, being of no woman born, /Yet I will try the last. In order to be a tragic hero however, he needs a tragic flaw. This could every be his ambition, which causes him to be willingly s counselinged by the witches and risk everything, or it could be his courage, as he does not realise that co urage is sometimes the readiness to assure no. But Shakespeares audience would more than apt(predicate) consider him bound for Hell, as he at no augur in the play strikes for forgiveness. One of the beliefs on which Christianity is built is that no result what people do on Earth, if they ask for forgiveness they will be forgiven by deity, and Shakespeares audience would mostly have been made up of faithful Christians. No matter what people do to redeem themselves, God does not forgive them unless they ask to be.But this change from good to evil does not happen overnight. It is triggered at the beginning by the witches, who open the play in the most unnatural of charges for a Shakespearian tragedy. The fit is very short, only 12 lines long, and it is unnatural in every way possible. The terzetto witches are supernatural beings you should be women, /And except your beards forbid me to watch/That you are so, the weather is unnatural and violent, even the incantatory poetry t hat Shakespeare gives them is unnatural, as no one else in the play ever speaks in the same way as they do. It is a prologue to the evil events that will occur throughout the play. They have planned out everything and know exactly what will happen when they certify Macbeth that he will be king one day in that location to meet with Macbeth, All hail, Macbeth that shalt be King hitherafter.Throughout the play, Macbeth tries to control the witches, yet he never can Speak, I charge you. Witches vanish, and he tries the same with the apparitions, and is scolded by the witches He knows thy thought /Hear his speech, but say thou nought. He does not realize that he cannot control every Fate or such unearthly creatures as the witches. Also throughout the play, the witches treat Macbeth as one of their own, and he does not realise that he finds them only because they want him to Something wicked this way comes. /Open locks, /Whoever knocks. Shakespeare makes this comparison mingled with th em in Macbeths very first line, by giving him nearly the exact same words as he gave the witches So wicked and fair a day I have not seen.The witches are as well significant to Shakespeares audience because there are three of them. at that place has always been an ancient superstition that the number three is a magical number, yet most of the Shakespearian audience would immediately swain it with the Holy Trinity Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In Macbeth this has been inverted, as so numerous other things are. Instead, there is an Infernal Trinity the three witches or a more elaborate one, made up of the witches, Macbeth, and maam Macbeth. Still, there could also be an incarnation of the Holy Trinity in Macbeth, represented by Macduff, Malcolm, and Banquo.Macbeths progression to evil is chie move marked out by his soliloquies and the murders that he performs, or orders. He starts as a mighty and noble warrior, killing rebels for his King and country. Then, once his ambition ha s started to take over, he goes on to kill Duncan, an innocent, defenceless, old man Most sacrilegious murder hath skint ope/the Lords anointed temple. He puts much thought into this forrader performing the deed, debating with himself whether to do it or not Hes here in double trust/his host, /Who should against his murderer shut the door/ non bear the knife myself. And once he has performed the horrific deed, he declination it bitterly Wake Duncan with thy knocking I would thou couldst His hesitation however, is not the hesitation of fear, as he has a terrible courage, but of an intimate, inhumed knowledge between right and wrong. Then he goes on to kill Banquo, though not person entirelyy.He gives less thought to this deed There is none but he/Whose being I do fear and he does not regret the deed at all, yet is petrified of Banquos ghost at the coronation banquet. Banquo, when he is killed, knows what has transpired I fear, /Thou playdst most foully for t. He knows how Macbeth became king and that he killed Duncan, and also knows that he is behind his own murder O treachery Macbeth finally orders the murders of Lady Macduff and her children give to the edge of the sword/His wife, his babes. While killing men was considered a great crime, killing a woman and her children was considered a much worsened crime. This is done without second thought and never regrets it at all he never mentions it to himself after it has occurred The very firstlings of my heart shall be/The firstlings of my hand.As he becomes change magnitudely evil, so Scotland becomes increasingly unnatural. This is most obviously shown when Banquo dies to continue Fleance, a parent sacrificing himself for his childs life, which is natural Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly Later in the play however, it is clear that Scotland has become more unnatural as the Son dies in an attempt to save Lady Macduff, a child sacrificing himself for his parents life He has killd me, mother /Run away I pray yo u This is unnatural and fails, as both Lady Macduff and her Son die.Finally, another sign of Macbeths beginning to evil is that he becomes more and more secluded. This is mainly shown by the increasing amount of soliloquies that Shakespeare gives him, but is also shown by his relationship with Lady Macbeth. At the beginning of the play they are a happy couple, who love each other intensely my dearest partner of greatness, yet as the play progresses, especially after Duncans murder, Macbeth separates himself from his wife, and once he is king, she must ask to see him Say to the king, I would attend his leisure. All Macbeths deeds are consequently thought out by himself, conflicting the murder of Duncan, in which Lady Macbeth did most of the thinking and planning lend all the rest to me, and Macbeth keeps Lady Macbeth out of the murder of Banquo even when she asks him what he is planning Be innocent of the knowledge/Till thou wonder the deed.All of these points show how Macbeth be comes increasingly evil throughout the play, eventually decent a much feared villain, or a tragic hero.