Evil. Immoral. Good.

These are words which with we use to define people, define their actions, their
purpose and inevitably decide how we react to them. As we view Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, the
principal character Macbeth, is witnessed as a hero, an extraordinary soldier, someone who is
honourable, valorous and someone who we might define and picture as good. As the nature of this
portrayal changes, relative to his ambition, one sees the notion that corrupting power is the result.

A result that leads to a pinnacle, a point in which one’s achievements are no longer satisfying, pleasing,
and yet one is still forced to maintain that position, carry that burden simply because one cannot go
back down, just as one cannot change one’s past. And it is at this point that one sympathizes with the
character, the person who made his choices, who we considered evil, immoral, despicable, yet we still
see as someone moral and most importantly good, who just took the incorrect path and cannot go back.

Macbeth was an honourable man, a man who felt emotions such as love. Love for his wife, his kingdom
and truly his king whom he was considered “his kinsman”, “his subject”. A man who was recognized as
“brave Macbeth”, who’s skills and courage were compared to “Bellona’s bridegroom”, the god of war, to
show that Macbeth himself surpassed any man, and was only equal to that of a god himself. But, not
only were his fighting skills impeccable, but his will to sacrifice, as he is compared to “another
Golgotha”.

That in fact he is not only fighting for himself, but fighting for his people, his country and the king; the
king who sat in “his great office”. For it was only when Macbeth’s honesty, ambition, self-doubt and
honour were kept in tact with his loyalty to the “the crown” was he truly a man. However, the bonds
that kept Macbeth’s dormant ambition locked were released and fueled, through his subconscious
thought, but consciously by the manipulation of his own wife and most prominently by the prophecies
of the three witches.

This is first seen when the witches prophecy proves to be true. That he had become “thane of Cawdor”,
and that if such is true, even possible, then king is also within reach. Two paths lay in front of Macbeth,
two choices, and inevitably Macbeth chose the path of power and immorality. However, without a
doubt the full of this ambition and decisions was through his own wife, Lady Macbeth. Through her use
of words and manipulation on Macbeth, she proved he was “a coward”. “Like” a “poor cat i’th’adage” .
That in fact he wants power, but is not willing to do anything about it.

Not only that but that she would of “pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums/And dash’d the brains
out, had I so sworn/As you have done to this (1. VII. 57-58) That she would of killed her own baby, a
mother’s greatest treasure, for this power, this opportunity, yet Macbeth would not shed a little blood
on his hand. Through this manipulative language, we see that Macbeth is inevitably trapped, between
his bonds of loyalty and his wife’s demands, but not only that, but the witches prophecies and their
words harness him one way more than the other.

That ultimately going along with his wife still holds promise, promise of safety and power, and also
because of the witches prophecies, moreover, the fact that one of them has already come true.
However, the reality is that Macbeth chooses his ambition over his loyalty to the king who ‘his virtue’,
‘will plead like angels’ and how ‘tears shall drown the wind’, that the world would feel his senseless
actions. His senseless actions at killing someone who respected, and prized Macbeth. Macbeth knows
what is just, but ironically doesn’t possess the fighting skills that he was proclaimed to have on the
battlefield.
The fighting skills of a ‘god’. For when Macbeth kills Duncan one sees the truth, Macbeth is not an evil
person but a weak person, someone who is coward without a sword and that not even ‘Neptune’s
oceans’ will clean the evil deeds that have stained him. That he was not strong enough to stand up to
the forceful drive and temptation of his ambition by his wife, and the prophecies. And that he will feel
the remorse, the guilt, and regret forever. He is trapped along a fate that he can no longer change. A
fate in which he chose, yet didn’t choose.

For he had begun the ascension up the pinnacle, the beginning of a journey, in which he would be
forced to lie or murder to continue up, to save himself from an inescapable end in which it could only
lead him to a point, a point of no return. That the bond of loyalty to the king was broken already, just as
he cancelled and tore “to pieces that great bond” which kept him pale. (III. ii. 49-50) That he ended all
religious attachments, his belief of Christianity, for power, power which he could not control, by killing
his own king, ‘his host’.

Macbeth was a mortal, someone who knew his mistake, that his hidden ambition had been released.
That if he “Had… but died an hour before this chance,/” he would of “lived a blessed time”(II. iii 87-88).
That he was condemned, doomed when he struck that fatal blow on King Duncan. It was then that there
was “Nothing serious in mortality” to him anymore. He was set on a path which led only one way (II. iii.
88). He had given away the gift of happiness, for which he could have had. The path, the fate Macbeth
chose for himself.

He was merely playing life as a toy, something which was not real. Something for which he could
damage, because it no longer mattered anymore. As quoted in Act 5, “I’ll make assurance double
sure/And take a bond of fate thou shalt not live (IV. 1. 82-83) Macbeth understood the prophecies, that
there was no way for Macduff to kill, but he still chose to kill him. To murder him without intent,
without motive, but for the mere carelessness of life. And not only that, but also “His wife, his babes,
and all unfortunate souls/That traced him in his line” (IV. 11. 51-152) The no longer care for life, care for
anything led Macbeth to become what he is. That he has even forgotten “the taste of fears” (V. 5. 9) and
that is filled himself with so much regret, so much remorse, that he understands his mistakes clearly, but
is past the point of no return, from when he thrust that blade down, that not even his cries of his own
wife’s death can affect him anymore.

He knows, he comprehends, as he speaks that he has “fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf” (V. 111. 23)
and that he should be accompanied by “honour, love, obedience, troops of friends. (V. 111. 25) But, in
fact holds none of these, things that he did once have, such as of emotions of love, feelings towards his
wife, feelings that no longer exist, that he can no longer feel, even at her death. Yet, he still continues to
fight, to keep doing what is wrong because he has reached the pinnacle, the idea that he has “liv’d long
enough” (V. 3. 22) and has sustained that corrupted power for so long that in truth he knows that there
is no turning back and that he will not “play the Roman fool and die” (V. . 1) and ultimately will end the
way he began, fighting on the battlefield, with the slight hope of being saved by his faith in the witches
prophecies which he so much believed in and trusted, which deceived him, which hanged his proposed
‘blessed life’. For it inescapably filled his ‘vessel’ with too much guilt, guilt that cannot be removed, not
even by ‘Neptune’s oceans’ a ‘god’, and that only by ‘killing’ more will he become utterly submersed in
evil and forget about the mistakes he made.

The mistakes of condemning himself to evil, immoral deeds that a man like him should of not done. For
he had cancelled and torn “to pieces that great bond” which “kept him pale” (3. III. 49-50). And as
foreseen, in the end we see the fall of the once valorous Macbeth. A man who paid the consequences
for the one single choice he made. That the root cause, his ambition, his will to believe in falseness lies,
and his cowardness to negate it led to his change in his morals, into unrest and immorality.

And that all of it led him to a point, a peak where he spent all the effort to attain something that he did
not deserve, just as a “a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish thief”, and that eventually one’s strength to
uphold that great weight cannot last, even if you are a god. (V. II. 21-22) And it is here that we
sympathize with Macbeth, a man who killed people, murdered them with or without intent, yet was led
down this idea, this path simply by one wrong choice which led to another just as a butterfly flies from
one flower to another.

He was a villain, he was immoral, but that in itself is mankind’s faults, which we all understand, that we
all make mistakes, that we are led down paths in which we chose not too, and that Macbeth just went
down a path which had no end. For it was this prominent downfall which without a doubt showed us
that if someone recognized as a hero, a god can be deduced to such evil deeds, we can only sympathize
with him, see ourselves as more vunerable, easier to manipulate, and just like himself
Macbeth’s Tragic Downfall
Even the bravest and noblest are manipulated by peers to perform unnecessary actions, ultimately
leading them to construct their own destruction. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare effectively
demonstrates that characters are able to influence a noble war fighter, Macbeth, to cause his own
downfall. Moreover, this tragedy becomes clear when the effects of the characters on Macbeth result in
his poor decisions, which inevitably progresses into his downfall. Shakespeare initially presents Macbeth
as an innocent character who becomes the victim of circumstance leading to a sorrowful downfall, and
deserves the pity of the audience.

The cause for brave Macbeth’s downfall is due to the misleading truths which produce negative
thoughts and disables his mind to distinguish the right from wrong. To begin with, Macbeth’s confusion
starts by an encounter with three witches who intentionally entitle him with three prophecies, where
two of them, Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland, have not occurred. Macbeth stresses when the
second prophecy comes true, and he states “two truths are told,/ [but] this supernatural
soliciting/cannot be ill, cannot be good… I am Thane of Cawdor [now, if so] why do I yield to that
suggestion.” (1.3. 126-128, 133). Evidently, Macbeth debates whether the prophecy is genuine or not,
because he recognizes the King is still alive and for that to become true something dreadful will happen.
This creates ambition for power in naive Macbeth’s mind, demonstrating the effect of the witches.
Afterwards, Macbeth informs Lady Macbeth about his encounter with the three witches and his new
title as Thane of Cawdor, but Lady Macbeth begins filling negative thoughts in Macbeth’s mind for his
third prophecy to be true as well.

Macbeth wants to enjoy praises about his accomplishments, but Lady Macbeth wants him to kill Duncan
by telling him, “When you durst do it, then to were a man./ And to be more than what you were, you
would/ be so much more than a man.”(1.7. 49-51). Lady Macbeth pressures Macbeth to conduct King
Duncan’s murder by questioning his manhood, and tells him to strengthen his courage which
demonstrates how Lady Macbeth is being a negative influence on Macbeth. Lady Macbeth shows an
influencial character that strives for power, and she successfully manipulates Macbeth to kill the King.
Lastly, after he becomes King, Macbeth recalls the witches’ prophecy where they inform him that
Banquo’s children will be Kings. Banquo has doubts on Macbeth regarding the murder of King Duncan
and tells him that he has everything, “now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,/ as the weird women promis’d,
and I fear/ thou played’st most foully for’t… [but Banquo] should be the father/ of many kings …[and]
may they not be my oracles as well.”(3.1. 1-3, 5-6, 9). Macbeth believes in the prophecy as much as
Banquo does, and Banquo decides to take advantage of the circumstance by creating fear in Macbeth’s
mind to make him cause even more destruction to maintain his title. All in all, harmless Macbeth is
easily manipulated by the characters in the play resulting in a negative change in his character.

The creation of major flaws from characters becomes apparent in Macbeth as his influenced behavior
leads to his Downfall in morals and life, causing the audience to feel sympathetic for Macbeth’s
misguided death. Unlike the start, Macbeth’s thoughts directly lead actions, without hesitation or
second thought. Macbeth confesses that, “the very firstlings of [his] heart shall be/ the firstlings of [his]
hands. And even now/ to crown [his] thoughts with acts, be it thought and/ done.”(4.2. 145-148).
Macbeth demonstrates a lack of value and makes selfish decisions, making the audience pity him since
he has lost his moral due to other characters’ negative influence. Furthermore, Macbeth also shows a
downfall in his personality after he is informed about his wife’s death. Macbeth barely changes
expression upon hearing Lady Macbeth’s death, he believes, “[Lady Macbeth] should have died
hereafter;/

There would have been a time for such a word.”(5.5. 16-17). This thought reveals Macbeth’s downfall
through his loss of compassion, intense love, and feeling which are the qualities of a human being. The
audience pities Macbeth because he completely loses his family and his qualities that make him a
person. However, Shakespeare reveals his ultimate downfall in a dramatic fight scene against Macduff
resulting Macbeth’s death. Macbeth feels empowered when a Apparition summoned by the witches tell
Macbeth that, “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” (4.1. 79-80). While fighting with Macduff,
Macbeth is over confident due to the Apparition’s promise and eventually takes his last breaths, this
demonstrates another example that brings negative effects to Macbeth. Overall, the audience
acknowledges the fact that Macbeth loses his humanity and eventually life due to the major flaws that
the characters compose for Macbeth.

The most noble and heroic person at the beginning of the play Macbeth goes through a major downfall
from influences and ultimately loses everything slowly, until death. The characters, Lady Macbeth, three
witches, and Banquo play a significant role in misleading Macbeth to his doom. As a result, it is now
visible the audience would pity Macbeth since he is ripped from his morals and his soul. It takes a little
misunderstand and tragedy for even the bravest and strongest person to cause his own downfall.

Macbeth- A Fallen Hero

Shakespeare’s tragedies have always appealed to me since my school days. We had The Drama Macbeth
in our syllabus for ISC Exam. As such I took great interest in reading the drama again and again. I had
sometimes problems to understand the diction .So the very first thing I did was to take a guide book
which was available in the market. Later on as I reached the graduation stage I opted to take Honors
course in English. The preference was chiefly due to the fact that I shall then get the opportunity to
explore English Literature, (particularly Shakespeare’s dramas which include his Tragedies and
Comedies). This was how I really began to love Shakespeare and his Works. In the college days, I
rediscovered the great dramatist once more. We had to study some of his poetical composition and with
special reference to his Sonnets. In order to increase my understanding of Shakespeare I chose to read
Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s best creative works in the sphere of drama. Now I shall concentrate on
my findings.About the drama Macbeth, I must begin with Characters Sketches as found from the Textual
part.

The very First scene of the First Act of the drama ‘Macbeth’ strikes the keynote of the play as it was
usual with all Shakespearean drama.

Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair’

This line strikes the keynote of the play “Macbeth’’. Shakespeare hints that whatever is good will turn to
be bad and worse and whatever is foul will turn to be good at the end. In the First scene we read about
the appearance of the Witches, who signify the evil that is going to be set in. The three witches in
weirdly attire give the audience a hint not only of the evil omen and impending danger that look into the
fate of the Kingdom, but the great doom that would beset on the tragic hero, Macbeth. We read about a
battle which have just been over in which Macbeth and Banquo, the two brave generals of King
Duncan’s army fought terribly and defeated the enemy camp. The play opens in an eerie atmosphere all
around and hints at one of the basic element of drama, which is conflict. As an introductory chapter
Shakespeare wisely introduces all the principal characters around which the drama revolves and grows.
The pivotal characters are all introduced with a definite dramatic purpose. So some of the essential
ingredients of drama are here signified.

It was a belief in the medieval days that Satan sent witches or other evil agents to create a disaster or
disharmony in nature or in natural element with an evil design.

Then we see King Duncan taking reports of the battlefield. In its very description we find how treason
has been defeated in the hands of good.

Macbeth is handsomely rewarded for his valiant fight against the traitor. He was awarded the title of
Thane of Cawdor, which is a natural event. To be rewarded for one’s good services is taken as a natural
event. But the very event of his promotion and award receiving, throws a hint that a natural event will
soon give its way to unnatural thing.

To be true, we can say that the prophecy of the witches has gained a momentum and has built in
Macbeth a greater confidence and a Trust on the weird sisters. He began to believe their prophecy and
was pondering over their third prophecy that he shall be king hereafter.

At the same time his moral conscience began to torment him as he was” too full of human kindness”, as
Lady Macbeth said in a later Scene. He would have it highly but not holily. First as his Kinsman and as a
host when Duncan pays a visit to his house Macbeth refused to choose a bloody path to achieve
kingship. Lady Macbeth knew well that Macbeth would not bear the knife himself.

In the same Act (Act ), we find in the Invocation Scene, how Lady Macbeth plans to assist Macbeth
in having the Crown. It was she who played the major role in pursuing her husband to kill King Duncan.
Her invocation to the Spirits to help her do the misdeed are reflected in the lines——-O murdering
ministers fill me from the crown to the toe full of
direst cruelty so that no compunctions visitings of nature may shake my fell purpose or without it, Again
lady Macbeth says, take my milk for gall, stop up the access and passage to remorse to shake my fell of
purpose etc etc She makes a fool proof plan to kill Duncan in their house at Inverness. Again after the
deed (the event of killing Duncan) Lady Macbeth tutored her husband how to put up a false appearance
to beguile the time.

The way she smeared the attendants with blood of King Duncan after the murder in order to make it
appears that it is the attendants who have killed the King in their state of drunkenness.

Thus Lady Macbeth acted as an agent to instigate her husband Sometimes the critics assign her the
place of fourth witch in the play in the evil deed.