Mcbeth

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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Macbeth is "The Story of a Tragic Fall", Macbeth, the character, is a tragic hero. He is a fundamentally good man who is corrupted by the circumstances in which he is found and by forces beyond his control. In the beginning of the play Macbeth is introduced to the reader as a savior, the man who rode in on his white horse to save the country from the enemy. He is even referred to as the "lion" when the captain is explaining the battle to Duncan. By being synonymous with the lion, the king of the jungle, the one who is the head above all other, and the reader sees that he is highly by the rest of the population of Scotland. He is their hero. When Macbeth reach your disembarks and he is talking with Banquo he states, "so foul and fair a day I have not seen."

By this he means that it was a good day because they won the battle, however it was a "foul" day because he lost all his men. This yet again shows that Macbeth is a moral person; if he had not been he would have enjoyed the glory with which he was received with, without a second thought. Even so, he is distraught by the fact that all of his men lost their lives in order to set Scotland free; to him it was an empty victory.

When Macbeth interacts with Duncan in the beginning of the play the reader sees that he regards Duncan with respects, he treats him as the king, this is noticeable when Macbeth states, "the rest is labor which is no used for you." In this he means that all that is not done for Duncan is hard labor, however what is done for Duncan is done with a smile upon his face, it is gladly done. With his attitude towards Duncan at this point in the play Macbeth shows no signs of being jealous or even contemptful of Duncan's position as king. If he were he would not have risked his life or his men's lives for Duncan.

It is not until Macbeth encounters the witches and his own wife that he changes his feelings about Duncan. Throughout the entire play we are presented with three witches whom posses supernatural powers. These witches are dark and horrendous, and man like, they represent forces beyond anybody's control and they approach Macbeth. It is these forces which first plant the seed of inquisitiveness in Macbeth, just like the serpent in Adam and Eve. Eve was a good, honest person, it was not until the serpent approached her and instigated her to approach the apple trees, from then on a chain of events unfolded which were beyond her control. This was exactly what happened to Macbeth, the witches entrenched the seed of curiosity in Macbeth by telling him his future and although he tries to shrug it off he cannot he is still perturbed by the witch's predictions. This is shown in the letter, which he writes to Lady Macbeth in which he says that he is in awe of what the witches told him. He states that he "burned in desire to question them further" but was interrupted by the king's messengers. This letter shows that he wants to explore this prophecy further, but is not really sure of whether to believe it or not. It is here that he is still standing at the edge of the door, which separates good and evil; here he still has the capacity to turn back. It is at this point in which Lady Macbeth steps in and gives Macbeth the final shove through the door and closes it forever.

After she reads Macbeth's letter her mind starts churning with the ideas of greatness and royalty. She states that, "thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised." She is essentially saying that Macbeth should get what he deserves what was rightfully promised to him, he should fulfill his destiny. When Duncan arrives at Macbeth's home Macbeth is still having second thoughts about the murder. He states that if they did commit the murder, "we'd jump the life to come," meaning that they could risk the all for the nothing. He later says, "we will proceed no further in this business: he hath honored me of late, and I have bought golden opinions form all sorts of people, which would be worn now in their newest gloss, not cast aside so soon." Here he implies that why should he murder Duncan when he was just awarded such a great honor as being named Thane of Cawdor. Why should he cast aside such a great honor, which would be greatly received by so many others for something that does not belong to him? In this statement the reader still sees that Macbeth has a conscience and that he is not all to convinced by Lady Macbeth's arguments. Nonetheless, she strives to convince him and this time she attacks his manhood, she says in response to his arguments, "Wouldst thou have that which thou esteems the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,' Like the poor cat i'th'adage?" By saying this she basically, challenges Macbeth to take what he desires or to remain a coward for the rest of his life, she compares him to a cat who wants a fish but is afraid to wet his paw, in other words will not take risks to achieve what his heart desires. To this Macbeth responds that he is a man and that he has proven it one and a many times, but she articulates, "When you durst do it, then you were a man," meaning that if he commits the murder then he is a man, if not he remains a coward.

In the end Macbeth ends up assassinating Duncan. Even so, he was coarsed into it by the witches and Lady Macbeth, they used arguments that he could not resist, after all a person can only endure so much. After the assassination of Duncan came the murder of Banquo and the slaughter of Macduff's family. However this may be attributed to the "survival of the fittest" afterall the hard work Macbeth put into becoming king he was not going to let it go that easily. Banquo was standing in the way by killing him Macbeth was trying to protect himself he was looking out for his benefits and his life. The same thing goes for Macduff's family he Macbeth was merely trying to safeguard his own welfare and his family, he was warning Macduff not to intervene in his affairs.

Subsequently, Macbeth was purely a victim of circumstance. He was delt the wrong hand and was forced to play it. In the beginning he was a moral person who looked for the best in people. Nonetheless, he was human and it is human nature to make a mistake. Dark forces and a wife to whom he could not be rid of influenced him. His wife's ambition was stronger than his morals, he was vulnerable and that was his only flaw.