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-JT-
11-04-2005, 02:54 PM
here is my Macbeth essay, its a bit short but i think it should do for school:
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“Macbeth”


The play “Macbeth” is written by William Shakespeare. It is the story of a knight who found out he was to become king after the current king (Duncan)’s decease. This discovery made the knight go crazy and eventually, with a little persuasion from his wife, killed the king. The knight’s name was Macbeth, he was known as the kings most loyal subject and was viewed highly by both the king and other knights. In this essay, I plan to discuss the characterisation of both Macbeth & Lady Macbeth, attempting to decide if either character is a victim or a villain, by discussing the different ways of looking at their situation. I will use both quotes and ****yses to back up what I am saying and hopefully draw some reasonable conclusions concerning both characters.
At the beginning of the play Macbeth is perceived as a loyal and trust worthy gentleman. The reader of the play can pick this out easily using the following quote, by King Duncan “O valiant cousin worthy gentleman” this is a perfect example of how the king views Macbeth as, if he didn’t see Macbeth as loyal then he most defiantly wouldn’t have said this. Macbeth is also viewed highly by some of the knights, a quote from captain, “for brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name. Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smok’d with bloody execution.” This is another outstanding example of how highly Macbeth was viewed, as it’s clear that this person sees Macbeth as a brave, fearless killer, if not then he wouldn’t have said this. However Macbeth isn’t all he is made out to be, he plotted and eventually carried out the king’s murder even though he knew he was viewed greatly by the king, he also knew that at some point in the future, even if he didn’t kill the king he would become king. He found out about him becoming king during a prophecy made by three witches on a lonely moor, “All hail Macbeth, who shalt be king hereafter” this got Macbeth thinking, and his wife also. They both decided on a plan to kill the king and plant evidence on a few guards. At the time they both agreed that this would bring them happiness, although Macbeth was a little weary he was still convinced that killing the king would pay off some how. On the other hand this most defiantly not the case, both Macbeth & Lady Macbeth went insane subsequently leading to both their deaths. It is clear that physically Macbeth is a extremely powerful man but his seems to lack emotional strength throughout the play. He allows himself to be persuaded by his wife to kill the king and by the end of the play he couldn’t care less about his wife, Lady Macbeth. “she should have died hereafter”. Macbeth said this at the news of his wife’s death. All in all Macbeth is a weak minded, who most defiantly isn’t completely to blame for King Duncan’s death. Macbeth is just easily led.
When we first meet Lady Macbeth she seems to be a pleasant, loving wife to Macbeth. However it isn’t quite like that. It’s Lady Macbeth that persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan, which is the reason that Macbeth went insane and ended up getting killed. Lady Macbeth, at one point in the play is undeniably as evil as evil comes. “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top full Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose.” This is most probably the quote which stands out more than any other in the play. It holds such devilish intentions that it would be almost impossible for a perfectly sane person to say, and mean it. There are other things which suggest she is evil, such as “I have given ****, and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.” This is further more proof of how evil lady Macbeth is, she claims that she would smash her baby’s face in which is probably one of the most evil things a woman could do. On the other hand, Lady Macbeth, however hardened she may seem, her mind can be weak at times and on more than one occasion Lady Macbeth reaches breaking point. For example, “Here’s the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” This is an example of the guilt Lady Macbeth feels, shortly before she commits suicide, she feels that her hand smells of rusty blood and all of the perfume in Arabia couldn’t make the smell disappear. Lady Macbeth’s relationship changes quite drastically throughout the play. To begin with, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have an extremely close relationship and they obviously keep no secrets from each other. At this point if one of the two were to die the other would be completely devastated, but by the end of the play Macbeth couldn’t give a dam about his wife, “she should have died hereafter” this is probably the best quote that describes his final feelings towards his wife, its could be that he doesn’t actually feel no feelings about her, it could just be that he is worried about his up and coming fate, as he knows he is very soon about to die. On the other hand it could be Lady Macbeths fault, she is the one who persuaded him to kill Duncan and he has perhaps has realised that all his un-happiness is her fault and it is down to her that he killed the person who he viewed higher than anyone else. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that he wasn’t concerned about his wife’s death. Overall I believe that Lady Macbeth is an extremely controlling, manipulative individual who was just over enticed by the thought of having the power of being the queen. This discovery made her think murderous thoughts and eventually the thoughts of murder turned into suicidal intentions.
Macbeth was most defiantly an evil man. His intentions, thought and actions were all based around evil, disregarding a few matters, he seems to be a through and through killer. The fist time we hear of Macbeth it is a tale of death and gore, “ his brandinsh’d steel which smok’d with bloody execution” since this is basically the first thing that is commented on about Macbeth in the whole play, it’s obvious that Shakespeare wants us all to see him as a brutal warrior. Fighting for his king or not, this still makes him an evil man, since killing is against the ten commandment which is what many people followed as law back then. This is far from the peak of Macbeths evilness, at the middle of the play Macbeth carries out Duncan murder, this is probably the worst action that Macbeth carried out, during the whole of the play. Towards the end of the play Macbeth looses all sense of emotion and after his wife’s death, he shows no sense of sadness and as his life nears it’s end, he still doesn’t seem to be emotionally struck at all. “I have almost forgot the taste of all fears”, this suggests that Macbeth has become fearless and he couldn’t care whether he lives, or dies. He has the idea in his head, at some points of the play that he thought he was almost invincible because the witches made the premonition that Macbeth could not be killed by a man who was woman born. It just so happens that Macduff was born by a suzerain, it turns out that Macduff kills Macbeth in the end. Macbeth arranged the murder of Mcduffs wife and children, but it wasn’t His family that he was angry with but his family seemed the easier target. Whilst Scotland was under the rule of Macbeth they went through mass fear, starvation and poverty, “Alas, poor country, be call’d our mother, but our grave, where nothing, but who knows nothing, where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rend the air are made, not mark’d; where violent sorrow seems a modern ecstasy. The dead mans knell is there scarce ask’d for who , and good men’s lives expire before the flowers in their caps, drying or ere they sicken.” This was said by Ross, which suggests he feels that Scotland is falling apart and no one wonders who has died when they hear a funeral bell. This is all Macbeths fault. He has not attempted to make Scotland a better place or even try to make sure it is a decent place to live, he was obviously a terrible king. Macbeth was, by the end of the play, a terrible king, a horrible husband and a just a dreadful person in general.
At first Lady Macbeth seems to be an extremely nice woman, who is loving and caring for her husband, and most probably wouldn’t hurt a sole. However as the play progresses Lady Macbeth just seems to change more and more. Shortly after we have established her good side an extremely evil side of her is revealed. The first hint we get that she is not as ‘nice’ as we seem is when she makes her first attempt to persuade Macbeth to kill king Duncan, “No Quote”. Lady Macbeth then goes on to become even more wicked and crooked, by saying the following, “make thick my blood, Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose.” This is where Lady Macbeth decides that she needs the help of evil spirits for her to carry out the evil deeds which lye before her.
Setting aside the fact the Macbeth killed Duncan, he can easily be seen in many aspects as a victim. Macbeth didn’t particularly want to kill Duncan but his weak mind forced him to do what his wife had told him. There are numerous quotes which backup the fact that Macbeth didn’t want to kill Duncan, “We will proceed no further in this business.” Macbeth says this just after Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have finished talking to Duncan. On a number of other occasions Macbeths mind starts to deteriorate and he almost reaches breaking point. “I have almost forgot the taste of all fears.” This is where Macbeth’s mind is so bad that he doesn’t even fear is nearing death. Furthermore Macbeth goes through long periods of guilt ridden thoughts for what he has done to Duncan. “I am afraid to think what I have done; look on it again I dare not. Macbeth was pressured a great deal by both the witches, and his wife, Lady Macbeth. “I have given ****, and know How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.” This was said my Lady Macbeth, she was implying to Macbeth that he was breaking promises to her, which is something which she herself would never have done to Macbeth. To me Macbeth appears as more of a victim than villain and I believe that he let himself be led by his wife far too easily.
It is hard to make out Lady Macbeth as a victim; she hasn’t really done much that makes me feel sorry for her. However her suicide could be seen as an opportunity to feel sorry for her. It is true that before she killed herself she felt great pain and extreme guilt, “All the perfumes in Arabia couldn’t sweeten this little hand”, and this makes her sound like she feels awfully guilty about the death of Duncan and the Macduffs. It other times she could be seen slightly as a victim for example after her suicide Macbeth couldn’t care less “she should have died hereafter” so she perhaps felt that she was un wanted and decided that since she felt so guilty and that her husband didn’t really care she would just kill herself.
IN my opinion I think that the witches are most to blame for what happened in the play. They are the ones who told Macbeth about him becoming king, Macbeth then told his wife who got overly excited and persuaded Macbeth to speed things up a little which eventually, just led to the both of them dieing, unpleasant deaths. It’s true that both Macbeth & Lady Macbeth had a lot to do with what happened but none of it would have happened if Macbeth hadn’t met the witches that day on the moor. Macbeth, to begin with was to highly viewed of to have killed the king, so the murderous thought almost defiantly weren’t thought before Macbeth met the witches.
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Rate it please

Crying-Angel
12-04-2005, 06:26 PM
;o wow! thats really good hun =] better than i ever did, i see a few places where it could do with atering a word or two, but other than that i think its great =]

Fruitbox.
18-04-2005, 05:55 PM
We had to do Macbeth when we was in yr 9.... i would have copied yours... Muahaha!! >:D

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