Exploring Ambition in Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, first performed in 1606, and is a play that dramatises the consequences that ambition can have, especially the ambition of men involved in a political structure. Interestingly, the play was written during the reign of the Scottish King James I, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and given that Macbeth was Scottish and hungry for the throne, many believe it was Shakespeare's way of reminding the King. of what could happen to him if he was too ambitious, or a tyrant, like Macbeth. At the time, there was a feeling of uncertainty amongst the English about having a Scottish king, and many argue that Shakespeare was conveying this unease in Macbeth, especially when we notice that England is a benign nation with a benign ruler in the form of King Edward in Macbeth. Meanwhile, Scotland is plagued with the likes of Macbeth and his murderous ways. In some ways, many consider Shakespeare to have been perpetuating, or at least implying, that with a Scottish king, only blood would follow. Interestingly, King James asserted that kings were always right, regardless of what his subjects thought, and that loyalty to the king was an absolute must. He went on to say in the book The Tree Law of Three Monarchies that even if a king is a tyrant, his subjects should still be loyal to him. It could be seen then that Shakespeare's Macbeth was produced in direct retaliation to King James, showing what tyranny can do to a nation and that sometimes the king can and will be disposed of by his own subjects, if need be. The source for Macbeth originates from the Holland Shed Chronicles, which features an account of the characters Macbeth, Macduff and Duncan. You may have also heard in the world of theatre that Macbeth is often referred to as the Cursed Play, sometimes referred to only as the Scottish Play. It had been something of an omen to mention Macbeth inside of a theatre, with many opting to refer to him as MacB, because of a belief that Shakespeare had actually consulted with real witches when crafting Macbeth, and whilst they helped him create such a masterpiece, they also cursed it. Others believe that because Shakespeare had portrayed the witches as ugly and scheming, the witches got mad and placed a hex on it. Thus, saying the word Macbeth inside a theatre is thought to doom the production to a failure, and could even cause cast members to suffer accidents, or even death. Others believe that the reason Macbeth is a curse is because back in the day, if a play was bombing in sales, it was usually replaced by Macbeth, which was tried and tested to please audiences. Still, you can see why the cast and production of The Replaced Show would come to see Macbeth as a curse. The play opens to a storm, where we see three unsightly witches deciding to meet with the one known as Macbeth. We also understand that there is a bloody war going on, and see a wounded sergeant reporting to the King of Scotland, named Duncan, that his generals, including Macbeth, who happens to be the thane of Glamis, and the general Banquo, have defeated the forces of MacDonwald, the thane of Cawdor, and his combined arms of Norway and Ireland. Macbeth is described as a valiant warrior, and one who turns into a mad killing machine on the battlefield, and is offered great praise and respect by the king for his prowess. Macbeth and Banquo discuss their victory, and they wander their way back home after the battle, only to stumble upon the three witches. The two men are cautious, unsure as to whether they are even human, before the witches speak to them, telling them that Macbeth will become the thane of Kordor, and subsequently, the king himself. Macbeth is stunned at this prophecy, but Banquo doesn't take it too seriously, and goes on to ask if there is a prophecy for him. They tell him that he will not be as successful as Macbeth, but he will father a line of kings. The witches vanish, leaving the two men perplexed over what they have heard, but they are interrupted by another, the thane named Ross, who tells Macbeth that he has now been made the thane of Cawdor, just like the witches had told him. Immediately, Macbeth begins to cultivate ambitions in his head, and begins to ponder on the likelihood of him actually becoming king, given that the witch's words had already come half true. King Duncan meanwhile greets Macbeth and Banquo and gives them a hero's welcome for their hard fought battle. Here we also see Duncan name his son Malcolm as his heir, meaning that Macbeth will either be waiting a hell of a long time before he is named king, or that something terrible will have to happen to Malcolm that prevents him from being crowned. So Macbeth writes to his wife, known simply as Lady Macbeth, and tells her of the witch's prophecy. But whilst Macbeth is uncertain about how to go about making the prophecy come true, or whether he should make it come true, Lady Macbeth is adamant that Macbeth should seize the opportunity. She does not doubt the witch's words, and truly believes that the only way he will become king is if King Duncan is murdered. While still unsure of this, Lady Macbeth overrides Macbeth's objections to this ploy. and is able to persuade him by insinuating he is not man enough to do it. Interestingly, we also learn that King Duncan is on his way to Macbeth's household to celebrate their victory, where he plans to stay the night. Lady Macbeth plots with Macbeth to get King Duncan's two chamberlains so drunk that they pass out. She then intends to frame these two sleeping drunks for the murder of the king, and because they are so drunk, they will not remember anything from the previous night. Whilst Duncan sleeps, Macbeth creeps past the sleeping Chamberlains and kills him. Prior to this, we see Macbeth suffer from a series of hallucinations, including a flirting dagger, right before his eyes. He becomes so absolutely shaken by what he is seeing, that Lady Macbeth has to take control of the situation, whereby she takes the murder weapons and leaves them with the drunk servants. The next morning, a Scottish nobleman named Lennox arrives with the Thane of Fife, known as Macduff. After entering Macbeth's home, they find the body of the king murdered in his bed. Macbeth feigns his distraughtness and tells the two men that the servants had done it, for he had found their bodies marked with Duncan's blood and in possession of the murder weapons. He also reveals that he suffered such a fit of rage that he killed the servants himself. Duncan's sons, Malcolm, who was heir, and his brother, Donald Bane, flee to England and Ireland respectively. fearing that whoever killed their father would likely seek their demise next. They also aren't so convinced that Macbeth's story checks out. However, because they have fled from the land, it also raises suspicion that they themselves had something to do with it. With lack of a suitable leader, Macbeth assumes the throne and becomes the King of Scotland, just as the witches had predicted. However, one other man who is suspicious of this turn of events is Banquo. For Banquo was present when the witches delivered his prophecy, thus making him wary of the new king. Despite now being king, Macbeth seems to become quite paranoid, particularly about the part of the witch's prophecy that Banquo's sons would become king next. Surely it should have been Macbeth's potential sons who would become the next rulers, but the witches had detailed only Banquo's sons would fill the role. Of course, Macbeth comes to believe that in order to prevent this from happening, he will need to kill Banquo and his son Fleance, ensuring that none of Banquo's legacy can ever take away that which Macbeth holds. He invites Banquo to a royal banquet, only to discover that Banquo is already suspicious, for he and his son intend to flee the kingdom that very same night. Fearing the worst, Macbeth hires three murderers to assassinate Banquo and Fleance. The assassination job is botched though, and only Banquo is murdered. his young son Fleance is able to escape the encounter. When Macbeth learns of this, he becomes furious and is only sent further into a state of unease, paranoia and madness. At the royal banquet attended by many of the lords and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost. In fact, he sees the ghost so vividly as it takes his seat that he begins to converse with it openly, appearing to everyone else to be completely insane. It becomes such a scene that Lady Macbeth has to ask everyone to leave. By this point, Macbeth is consumed by his thoughts and troubled feelings. This compels him to visit the witches once more, in a desperate attempt to reveal more of their prophecies and to seek guidance on how best to approach his dilemmas. The witches take this moment to troll Macbeth, and they conjure up a series of spirits that feed him with various proclamations. First, there appears to be an armoured head, which tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff. Secondly, there appears to be a bloody child, one that tells him that no one born of a woman will be able to harm him. Thirdly, there appears to be a crown child holding a tree, which tells him that he and his kingdom will be safe, until the great Burnham Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill, where Macbeth lives. This puts Macbeth at ease, because every man is born of a woman, and so that would mean that no man could harm him. Furthermore, the woods could not move, and so there was no need for alarm. Macbeth goes a step further though, and inquires into their last prophecy, that said Banquo's sons would be kings, and so the witches conjure up a procession of eight crowned kings, all of which have striking resemblance to Banquo himself. The last king actually holds a mirror, one which boasts the reflection of an even further line of kings. Here Macbeth determines that these are indeed all of Banquo's descendants, and that they do achieve kingships, but in other countries. The witches leave, and Lennox enters to tell Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. In light of this, Macbeth orders the seizing of Macduff's castle, and in one of his more spiteful acts, has Macduff's servants, his wife and his children, slaughtered. Meanwhile, we see Lady Macbeth is going even more insane than her husband, evidently succumbing to the guilt of having murdered Duncan. A doctor and a woman are seen to be observing Lady Macbeth as she sleepwalks, watching her move about her bedroom and muttering the truth about her involvement in Duncan's demise. In one of the most famous scenes, we see Lady Macbeth trying to wash her hands of the blood, all the while confessing all the terrible things that she goaded her husband into doing. Whilst the doc- Doctor and the woman can't be sure of her words, given that she is in a state of delirious ramble, they are struck nonetheless by what they have seen. Over in England, Macduff is informed by Ross that his castle was sacked by Macbeth, and his servants, his wife and his children were all killed. Macduff is grief-stricken by the news, and swears vengeance upon Macbeth. Malcolm, the son of Duncan and the true heir to the throne who had fled to England, is seen to have raised an army, one which Macduff eagerly joins. Together with other Scottish nobles who detest Macbeth, and some English figures such as the Earl of Northumberland, Silwood the Elder, they make their way through Burnham Wood on their way to do battle with Macbeth. Here the soldiers are ordered to sever the branches and leaves of the trees so as to disguise their advancement. Macbeth goes about fortifying Dunsinane Castle and is seen to be quite anxious of the arrival of his enemy. It is here he also learns that Lady Beth has killed herself, an event that takes place off screen, and this causes him to sink into even more despair. Still, he clings onto the witch's prophecy that he is invincible, given that he can only be killed by a man not born of a woman, and only be defeated when Burnham Wood physically moves against him. However, he is then struck with fear when it is reported that the Woods themselves are indeed moving, and when Macbeth goes to look, he sees Malcolm's men creeping towards him under the foliage of the forest, and so just like that, it appears that one of the prophecies has come true. The battle is a long and bloody one and comes down to a confrontation between Macbeth and Macduff, but still even as the English army overruns Macbeth's forces, Macbeth does not back down and proceeds to fight to the very end with Macduff, for the prophecy still declared that he could only be killed by a man not born of a woman. Through this, despite his kingdom now crumbling around him and his men all surrendered or killed, Macbeth does not concede, for he still believes in his invincibility. But here, Macduff shatters Macbeth's hopes, as the witch's prophecy comes true yet again, for Macduff reveals that he was not born through normal means of a woman, but born by a caesarean section. Realising that he has misinterpreted the witch's words, and realising he is now doomed to die, Macbeth, to his credit, goes down swinging. Despite knowing his death is upon him, he attacks Macduff with everything he has left, but in the end, he is killed. Macduff actually decapitates Macbeth and brings his head to Malcolm as proof that the tyrant has been slain. With Macbeth gone, Malcolm assumes rule as the King of Scotland. We first see Macbeth introduced in the utmost positive light. Macbeth is a warrior hero. whose deeds on the battlefield earn not only accolades but the respect of his peers and the king. He is a most ruthless fighter, one who is courageous and keen to fight for the honour of his King Duncan. The valour he demonstrates in the opening battle is already a testament to his profound character, as well as to the loyalty he has for his kingdom, given that he risks his own life to turn the tide of the battle between Scotland and the combined forces of Ireland and Norway. In essence, Macbeth is established, at least in the beginning, as the play's hero. And this is supported by how the captain of the army reports to King Duncan in the opening moments of the story, where Duncan asks him whether Macbeth and Banquo were scared at the prospect of fighting both the Irish and the Norwegians. Yes, as sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion, the captain tells Duncan, if I say sooth, I must report they were as cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe, except they meant to bath in reeking wounds. memorise another Golgotha. What he is explaining to the king here is that whilst Macbeth was scared, he still went in on the enemy and was not discouraged from giving his all as he spilled their blood. The captain tells that Macbeth was so fierce that at times it seemed like he was killing to see how much blood he could spill or to try to match the grimness that occurred at Golgotha, the site in which Jesus was crucified. We haven't even seen Macbeth yet. but we are already excited by the prospect of him. The nobleman Ross refers to Macbeth as the husband of the goddess of war when speaking to Duncan in the same scene, and this only makes us more eager to see what Macbeth is like in person, how he is going to affect the state of Scotland and what this slayer of men is going to do next. In a way, Shakespeare is already building him up as a force to be reckoned with, and this plants something of an insidious seed in the early stages of the play. for we can already guess that someone so bloodthirsty as Macbeth is probably going to be bad news in the long run. When we meet Macbeth, we are given a well-spoken, mild man who hardly seems like this ravenous killer previously described. It is partly to be expected, given that he is a thane, but I was certainly expecting someone a bit more gruff, someone a bit rough around the edges, and maybe a little savage even. But Macbeth is much more like his fellow nobleman. calm and collected, as he and Banquo enjoy a nightly stroll home after such bloody deeds. But we do see Macbeth's composure crack very early on when he is stunned by the witch's proclamations. Whilst Banquo seems to pay them less mind, Macbeth becomes entranced, perhaps showing us how naive he is and that he is most certainly superstitious. He appears so eager to learn more of the witch's prophecy that he demands it, saying Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence, or why upon this blasted heath you stop our way with such prophetic greeting. Speak, I charge you. Already we get a sense as to what type of man Macbeth is, one who is deeply affected by the words of others, and one who takes matters like this very seriously. He is quite self-absorbed, considering the prophecy pertains to him, which is a complete contrast to Banquo, who, despite being a part of the prophecy, kind of just brushes it off. Macbeth becomes so fixated on what he's been told that he begins to ponder on it vividly, even as both he and Banquo are met by Ross and Angus, who tells Macbeth that he is now the Thane of Kordor, just like the witches had said. He tells us, Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme. This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor, I good. Why do I yield to that suggestion, whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, and may seated hearts knock as my ribs, against the use of nature? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings. We get an even greater insight into how Macbeth's mind works, and how fallible he is as a man to be so compelled by the mutterings of the witches. He recognises that their prophecy has come half true, and this has him pondering on the second half, that he will become king. Whilst he confesses that the thought of him being king is exhilarating, he also realises that he's imagining the way in which he can become king, and that is to commit horrible deeds, such as killing Duncan and seizing the throne by force. At best, we get a glimpse of a man with a moral compass, in that he is able to deliberate on his choices. and that he is able to recognise that his want to be king is certainly seeded in a dark and wicked place. The fact that he is able to conceive these thoughts gives us the belief that Macbeth despite everything, is a good man, but a man who might very well become victim to his own thoughts, and more importantly, his burning ambition. In the next act, where we see Macbeth earnestly declare his affections for Duncan, we see him actually begin to strategize how he is going to get the throne. Just prior, he had concluded his thoughts with, Which is basically him deciding that if he is going to be king, fate will see to it, and he won't have to do a thing. But by the next scene, his obsession with the prophecy is only reignited, as he begins to envision the conditions for which he would need in order to become king. He tells us, Let not light see my black and deep desires, that I wink at the hand, yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done to see."This is perhaps the checkpoint of which Macbeth's road into wickedness begins, for he is literally pondering over how he is going to step over Prince Malcolm in order to gain the throne. He also gives way to the thought of his more sinister nature, asking the stars to look away so that he may do his dark work without witness. In this, he has already resolved that he is going to kill Duncan, but that he still lacks the courage, possibly because his morals are still resisting, and possibly because he knows he cannot do it without getting caught. What was once a courageous hero quickly descends into a scheming coward as Macbeth spills into the role of antagonist. By Act 1 Scene 7, we see one of the most powerful moments in Macbeth's inner conflict. We hear his trail of thoughts in a long monologue. whereby he declares that the crime of killing the king will certainly not go unpunished and that his soul will be damned for doing such a terrible thing. He also keeps in mind the terror he will be spreading through the land and that by doing this he will be inspiring others to murder for that which they seek. Here he is aware of becoming a bad example to others and it is again perhaps the last remnants of his more virtuous side ringing out, reminding not only us but also Macbeth that he was once a good man and can still be a good man if he stays his hand. He also ponders on the trust that Duncan has bestowed on him and finds himself listing all of Duncan's great qualities as a king and a friend. He is even able to conceive the thoughts that what he is thinking about doing is a betrayal of the highest kind, and because of this, his resolve is not absolute. He even tells us, I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent. but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other. And what he means by this is that whilst he has not the conviction to murder Duncan without hesitation, he does have a burning ambition that is prodding him in this direction. Here we recognise Macbeth's ambition as one of the main reasons for his murder of Duncan. Despite their friendship and his fealty to the monarch, he can and will kill him, simply because he wants to have his place. It is typical of envy and desire, in that Macbeth wants so desperately to be king, after hearing the prophecy, that he will resort to anything to obtain it. His morals though appear to be the only thing holding him back, that is until those very morals are stamped under the heels of his wife. Aside from his ambition, Lady Macbeth is the driving force which pushes Macbeth into killing Duncan. In fact, it is safe to say that if he didn't have an equally ambitious wife, Macbeth might have let the whole thing go and resisted killing Duncan at all. But his wife manipulates him and pushes him over the edge, making him feel like he has to act upon his plan, for if not, he would not be a man at all. She even threatens him with the declaration that she would think less of him for not continuing down this path. And through this, you might say that part of the reason why Macbeth commits to the murder is to maintain the love of his wife. By not acting, he stands to lose the respect of one he cherishes the most, and so the choice becomes far simpler for him. Not only will he become king, but he will also maintain the love of his wife, something that becomes far more poisonous for him than he can hope to realise. She tells him, Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? and wakes it now to look so green and pale at what it did so freely. From this time such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour, as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteemest, the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting I dare not wait upon I would, like the poor cat in the Adach? Not only is she challenging his resolve as a man, but also his resolve as a husband. She declares that she will review him thereafter as a coward and compares him to the softness of a cat, certainly not a man anymore, and therefore not someone she can be married to, let alone love. We then see Lady Macbeth orchestrate most of the murder, and we see Macbeth more like a lost child, querying parts of the plan with the utmost innocence, almost like he had never killed a person before in his life. It's safe to say that for the remainder of the story, Lady Macbeth assumes control of their relationship, dictates how Macbeth acts and even steers the man onto a path of even more evils by implying that she will not love him and challenging his role as a man. In fact, in one of the most famous scenes in the play, we see Macbeth slip further and further into madness as he begins to envision a floating dagger on the night of Duncan's murder. You know he starts losing his marbles when he starts talking to the dagger, saying Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee, I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Oh, art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? Macbeth views the dagger as an omen, and for a while, actually believes that he is seeing a floating dagger. He is baffled though when he tries to clutch at the dagger, but cannot grasp it, for it is not real. What's left of his rational mind convinces him that what he is seeing might very well be an illusion cast by his overactive mind, but nonetheless might not be a coincidence. He believes the dagger is leading him towards Duncan, and gains some reassurance in that he is doing the right thing in murdering the King. It is no longer good sense that guides Macbeth, but a combination of his ambition and his anxiety. that leads him towards Duncan's bedroom. We only see more of this madness when he reports the deed to his wife, whereby he says, Me thought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep. And he begins to give way to paranoia immediately, in that he believes someone had seen him, or that some ethereal voice will tell everyone of what he has done. This is a stark contrast to his wife, who is far more steely in her composure, and pretty much tells him to get a grip of himself. The morning after, we see how cunning Macbeth can be, as well as how, despite the fact he's losing his mind, he's able to seamlessly lie. When Duncan's body is discovered, Macbeth gives a compelling display of grief, saying, this vault to brag of. And as you can imagine, what he is saying here is that he wished he didn't have to experience the pain he now has. Here, Macbeth also wins the biggest bullshitter of the year award, being able to feign such distraughtness despite being the villain behind it all. Despite his bout with Madness, we do see Macbeth regain some control over his disposition, given the way he's able to lie so fluidly. He's even able to pin some of the blame on Malcolm and Donald Bane, as he tells Banquo We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed in England and in Ireland, not confessing their cruel parasite, filling their hearts with strange invention. And what he is saying here is that Malcolm and Donald Bain are guilty of having murdered Duncan, hence why they have fled to England and Ireland respectively. We cannot overlook Macbeth's uncanny ability to spin the events around him in his favour. Through this, we can see him less as the warrior-killer we are shown in the beginning, but more like a spineless politician who twists the happenings of the kingdom all to his benefit, and uses the circumstances to not only facilitate his crime, but also keep him afloat. One thing that always seems present though is Macbeth's paranoia. Gone is his courage and his bravery that he demonstrates on the battlefield. and in its place are the inner workings of his conscience, his very mind betraying him with each passing moment. He gives way to many great insecurities, none the least revolve around Banquo. Remember, the witches had already promised Banquo that his sons would be kings, but this same promise is not given to Macbeth. This of course implies that Macbeth either gives up his kingship or that Banquo and his lineage will take it from him. This realisation turns him suddenly resentful as he states, They held him farther to a line of kings, Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding, If murdered put rancours in the vessel of my peace, Only for them and mine internal jewel, Given to the common enemy of man, To make them kings, The seed of Banquo, kings. rather than so, come fate into the list and champion me to the utterance. Here we get a great sense of Macbeth's newfound murderous streak. He was so uncertain about killing Duncan, but now he seems adamant that Banquo must die so as to protect his throne. Perhaps here Shakespeare is showing us what a slippery slope that a man like Macbeth can find himself on, in that murdering someone does something to the soul, or that it changes a man, making the act of killing seem easy. It certainly paints Macbeth in a new chilling light, for at least before he had some regret about even possessing such thoughts. Now though he is almost eager to bring about Banquo's end, and even festers resentment for his sons, saying that it was he who went through the effort of killing the king, so why should another man's sons reap the reward? The worst thing is that Macbeth seems to be aware that he is heading further and further down this road of evil, for he tells his wife, things bad begun, make strong themselves by ill. And what he means here is that the bad deeds a man commits only leads him to make more bad deeds. In this, Macbeth implies that his fate is out of his hands, for having killed Duncan, he is now past the point of no return and cannot help but be wicked. Interestingly, we last saw Macbeth being led by his wife into murdering Duncan, and we see her take charge of the situation, implying that Macbeth isn't man enough to do it. and that he certainly isn't handling the situation as gracefully as he could. It is here we see her as the instigator of Macbeth's downfall, but he surprises both us and her when he takes it upon himself to hire the murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. In fact, it would appear that Lady Macbeth has created something in Macbeth far darker than she herself possesses, and something far darker than she could ever hope to control. For Macbeth is now making his own moves, without her watchful eye. Why, he even tells her not to worry about it, when she questions him of his plans, keen to keep her in the dark, as this new wicked streak resets the power dynamic of their relationship. You might argue that Macbeth's wicked side here is just a facade, or at least, a false sense of confidence. For when the murderers report to Macbeth that Fleance escaped the encounter, Macbeth reveals, whole as the marble, founded as the rock, as broad and general as the casing air. But now I am cabined, crippled, confined, bound to saucy doubts and fears."The fact that he is so unraveled by Flea and still being alive shows us what a fearful man he really is deep down, in that just the mere fact that a son of Banquo is alive causes him to descend once more into doubt and fear. This of course dramatically manifests in the next scene. where Macbeth sees Banquo enter as a ghost and proceeds to berate him for being alive in front of all the other guests at the banquet. We see his despair in the way he speaks right there in front of his guests, saying, He's basically saying that he's killed men before and they have always stayed dead, but this one in Banquo has risen, making this a far stranger thing than murder could ever be. He is so blatant here with his guilt that I'm surprised the other guests didn't figure it all out there and then. To me, the fact that Banquo is missing and Macbeth is spouting about his ghost and murder is a total admission of guilt. Had the guests been a bit more perceptive, they might have seized Macbeth there and then, and spared the likes of Macduff's entire family being slaughtered. By the fourth act, we see Macbeth at his most desperate. He actually returns to the witches and demands to know more of his future, so as to help guide him on his bloody path. A path he already knows he cannot turn back from. He isn't concerned with what power the witches have, nor the nature of the visions they show him, so long as he can set his might at peace. and foresee his destiny. Macbeth misinterprets the visions as we know, and the witches do not seem to correct him, but rather enable the false sense of calm he now possesses, after learning his downfall can only come when the woods move against him, and when a man who is not born of a woman confronts him. To Macbeth, these sound like impossibilities, and believes the witches are telling him that pretty much, he is invincible, and so no one can take away that which he has. In fact, he believes it so much that he states, From this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand. And what he is saying here is that no more will he ponder on his thoughts, no more will he allow his conscience to hold him back, and no more will he hesitate. Once he conceives a plan, he will act on it, regardless of the consequences. After all, there can be no consequences, given that he now believes himself to be untouchable. This is what spurs him onto sending forces to kill Macduff's household. We get another glimpse of how cocky Macbeth becomes in the final act, where he's defending Dunsinane Castle. He pretty much spouts from the safety of the battlements, bring me no reports, let them fly all, till Burnham would remove Dunsinane. I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm? Was he not born of a woman? The spirits that know all mortal consequences have pronounced me thus. Fear not, Macbeth. No man that's born of a woman shall ever have power upon thee. It is this proclamation that further reveals how untouchable he thinks he is, and possibly gives way to more of his madness, in that he puts so much weight in the words of the witches. He doesn't for a moment consider the possibility that the witches were lying, or that they had some ulterior motive for their prophecy, but instead accepts it blindly, and spouts it as if this will reinforce it in the minds of others. Perhaps you might say, that Macbeth here is trying to convince himself of his supposed invincibility, but also that he's actually quite a gullible, superstitious and foolish man, to believe so feverishly in the words of old hags. Furthermore, the Macbeth we see here chilling from the safety of the castle is an incredibly different Macbeth from the one in the beginning. There in the first act, he was noted as being a beast on the battlefield, wrecking both the forces of the Irish and the Norwegians. and that was before he was told he could only be killed by a man not born of a woman. With this newfound knowledge, he should have been tearing up the battlefield with an incredible vigour. Macbeth does not have this notion, and seems more to me like he is hiding behind the prophecy, deep down knowing it is not true, but hoping that everyone else believing it will somehow make it true. It's almost like he is scared of being proved wrong, for if he is killed on the battlefield, then the prophecy was a lie. and everything he had done would of course been for nothing. Whilst he does argue with the servant Satan to get his armour, he doesn't believe he'll have much use of it and seems more content to order more horses and scouts to go about doing the sort of work he probably would have done himself when he was a thane. Another compelling side we see to Macbeth is how little he grieves for his wife. When he learns of her death he says, she should have died hereafter, there would have been a time for such a word, tomorrow. and tomorrow and tomorrow. Not only is he seemingly dispassionate towards her death, but he seems to imply that her death was coming anyway. Perhaps this is that wicked side we spoke about earlier that establishes the power dynamic between husband and wife, in that he now resents Lady Macbeth for having called him a coward. Her death has little impact on him, and whilst this isn't a reflection of their marriage or even the lack of love between them, but more so how deranged Macbeth is now. that the only thing he cares about is defending his kingship. The sky could have probably fallen down around him and Macbeth would still only stick to his one-track mind and be more concerned with his crown and how best to keep hold of it. Shakespeare gives us a pretty compelling contrast to how Macbeth receives the news of his wife dying and the news of Burnham Woods moving. His response to the servants is far more emotional as he states, if thou speakest false, upon the next tree It is without doubt here that Macbeth cares more about the crown than he does his wife, for whilst her death is met with an, ah well, people die, sort of attitude, the news of Burnham Wood's moving and of the prophecy coming true is met with the utmost anger and a threat upon the messenger's life. Whilst Macbeth is at the zenith of his desperation here, we also see his more heroic side return too. It's almost like he takes that bravery, zeal and courage so praised in the opening scene and utilises it to regain a grip on the madness around him. He says, They have tied me to a stake. I cannot fly, but bear-like, I must fight the courts. Unlike many others in his position, Macbeth does not flee. He demonstrates an unusual trait for many villains. and that is the will to stare death in the face and not back down, even as the odds begin to stack against him. Astoundingly, despite his descent into madness, Macbeth still maintains awareness of those he has hurt. When he faces Macduff in the final fight, he tells him,"...of all men else I have avoided thee, but get thee back. My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already."Not only does Macbeth appear apologetic here, but he also recognises that what he has done is wrong. He wants to spare Macduff, for he believes he has already caused him enough pain. He doesn't try to blame Macduff, nor try to blame anyone else for what happens, but Macbeth shows a more mature side, in that he accepts responsibility for what has transpired, but also reserves that he has picked this path and nothing and no one will deter him from it. He becomes one of the most admirable villains Shakespeare has ever created, in that despite his wickedness, We cannot help but appreciate his willingness to see something through to the end. Even when he learns that Macduff was born through caesarean section and therefore not born of a woman exactly, he does not back down. Whilst he is tilted by this revelation and reveals he loses his courage in the wake of Macduff, he does not submit. He gives a passionate tirade that he will not kiss the ground that Malcolm walks on, that he will not be displayed as a tyrant to the common folk, and he will not be subjugated to torture or imprisonment for his crimes. True, he does display the typical trait of pride common across most villains in that he will not answer for what he has done by the court of law, but instead will answer for it at the end of Macduff's blade if need be. It is one of the final lines that struck me the most, particularly because he knows he's about to die against Macduff. It sums up Macbeth's character, whether through his delusions, his or his brutal resolve as he utters, I will not yield. Some might argue that the mean streak of Macbeth would have likely stayed buried had it not been for his wicked wife teasing it out of him. By contrast, Lady Macbeth is most certainly a cunning woman from the very beginning and does not need a group of witches to tell her her fate. There is no catalyst nor turning point by which Lady Macbeth becomes wicked, She simply is this way from the very beginning and is likely a representation of her nature. From the very get-go, we understand that Lady Macbeth is just as, if not more ambitious than Macbeth and it might be argued that she wants him to be king more than he actually wants it for himself, at least in the beginning. Whilst Macbeth is like a wide-eyed boy in the wake of the witch's prophecy, Lady Macbeth is certainly the mother. who isn't as enamoured by the concept of Macbeth becoming king, but more so focused on the actual process, something in which she has already conjured up. She says, Here she means to poison Macbeth's mind, having already insinuated in her monologue that Macbeth is a coward, and that while he may want for things, he doesn't have the balls to actually get them. She says that Macbeth doesn't possess that wicked streak that she does, and therefore can only want for the things that he desires. But with her by his side, she can invoke his wickedness and bridge the gap between him being Thane and him being King. Bear in mind, she only learns of Macbeth's prophecy via letter, and moments after having read the letter, she has already conceived the thought of killing Duncan. In fact, she even begins psyching herself up for his murder. before she's even discussed it with Macbeth, indicating that Macbeth didn't have much of a choice in the matter either way. She says, Come you spirits that lend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe, top full of direst cruelty. She's so adamant in this course that she calls upon spirits and demons to even change her form from woman to man in order to commit this deed. giving us a greater look at how Lady Macbeth's mind works, in that she is far more shrewd and cunning than her male counterparts. In fact, I think that if Lady Macbeth were a man, or at least had the physical strength of a man, she'd be king from the very beginning, and certainly wouldn't need the witches nor Macbeth to help her get there. As previously discussed, the roles of husband and wife are certainly switched in this relationship, given the time period. Lady Macbeth wears the trousers, And this is a testament to how powerful of a woman she is, given that she is able to manipulate and control that very same killing machine that is Macbeth. It is she who is his reassurance whenever he begins to back out of the plan to kill Duncan, and whenever he begins to have second thoughts. It is she who sets him back on the dark path. She not only demands the murder of him, but also feeds him the insult that he is not a man if he does not act. She assumes position as the leader of the relationship, but also the most brutal character of the entire play as she tells him, I have given Suck 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 its boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you have done to this."Here she tells him that she will go as far as to smash her own child's head against the wall, if she had made a promise to, and that she is therefore more of a man than Macbeth is, for he is demonstrating weakness by going back on his word. That is the viciousness of Lady Macbeth. that she would do absolutely anything to achieve that which she has set out to do. Here she shames her husband by emasculating him to the point that he has no choice but to do as she says, for a warrior like him would likely have not bared the strain of having a wife more powerful than he. Ironically, it is Macbeth's obedience that only enhances Lady Macbeth's power, for he is doing everything she tells him to and thus solidifying her as the controller of the relationship. Funnily enough, Macbeth even recognises how strong of a character his wife is, for he says Bring forth men, children only, for thy undaunted nestle should compose nothing but males. And what he means here is that Lady Macbeth is so strong that she will likely only give birth to males. We do see a glimpse of Lady Macbeth's humanity in Act 2 Scene 2, as Duncan is being killed off screen. Lady Macbeth has already planted the dagger for Macbeth to use in killing the king. but also she tells us, had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done it. And here she is referring to Duncan, and that when she had planted the dagger, she had seen Duncan sleeping, and would have done the deed herself, had he not reminded her of her father. It is perhaps the only time we see Lady Macbeth hesitate, and it gives us the idea that somewhere under the conniving composure, she actually has some morals, or at least, a soft spot for her father. Perhaps she isn't completely awful going by this observation, but she still guides Macbeth's hand in the murder nonetheless. And this almost makes her worse, given that she wants Duncan dead, but doesn't want to get her hands bloody. Ironically, it is this metaphorical blood on her hands that we see her so desperately trying to cleanse during her later madness. Once the murder has been completed, we see Lady Macbeth assume control of the situation, where her husband begins to falter. We see Macbeth enter the scene holding the daggers in which he'd used to kill Duncan, already proving to botch the plan by not leaving them with the guards in which they were trying to frame. Macbeth walks in like a stunned boy who has no grasp of his surroundings and appears lost, holding the bloody daggers as gormless as a corpse himself. It is Lady Macbeth who has to remedy this situation, taking the daggers and doing what Macbeth should have done in the first place. She says, Inferm of purpose, meaning that Macbeth is messing up the entire endeavor. Give me the daggers, the sleeping and the dead are but pictures. Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I'll glill the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt. Here we see her chastise Macbeth for being as shook as he appears to be. He refuses to go back and place the daggers on the gods, because he is scared. And so Lady Macbeth refers to him as a child, and even asserts herself as the more brave one, by taking the daggers and planting them herself. She even smears the blood of Duncan on their faces, showing us that she is not squeamish, nor even put off by gore. The fact that she is so keen to get her hands dirty certainly subverts the expectations of the 11th century noblewoman, and gives her a more striking edge when compared to the women of the time period. Interestingly, Lady Macbeth is the only noblewoman in the play, and perhaps one of the only women in Shakespeare's plays who does not answer to a man, least of all her husband, who seems to answer to her, and one she openly demeans. Just look at what she tells him in the wake of Duncan's death. My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white. Basically meaning, I murdered Duncan too, but at least I'm not a pussy about it. Of course, by the third act, we begin to realise as does Lady Macbeth, that she has awoken something in her husband that not even she can control. It becomes her asking Macbeth what he is scheming, and it becomes her in the dark, as Macbeth plots the death of Banquo and Fleance. As mentioned, the dynamic shifts, and no longer does Lady Macbeth find herself chastising her husband for his weaknesses, but more so succumbs to the reality that he is now something far more wicked than she could ever imagine. By the third act, she even tells him to relax, to stop thinking about Duncan's murder, and to put on a happy face, so that he might make his guests feel more welcome. It's almost as if she's trying to re-establish some normality to their marriage, possibly reminiscing when things were simpler, and possibly feeling the weight of guilt for having orchestrated the murder of Duncan. At least then, Lady Macbeth had control over the situation. Now, as she watches Macbeth act in secrecy, and later sees him talking to an empty chair, which he believes is occupied by the ghost of Banquo, she realises she has no control over him, and that Macbeth is his own time bomb, one that not even her cunning can diffuse. The next time we see Lady Macbeth, we learn from the gentlewoman and the doctor that she has been sleepwalking. We see the infamous scene where she proceeds to wash her hands in a trance, trying to get the blood of Duncan of her skin, but failing to do so. We see her confess to the murder of Duncan in this strange trance, and before the gentlewoman and the doctor, no less, before she moans that she can even smell Duncan's blood on her hands. Wash your hands, put on your nightgown, look not so pale, I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried, he cannot come out of one's grave. We hear her say this, and it is evident she is arguing with Macbeth in this dream state, trying her best to convince her husband that Banquo has not risen from the dead and that the ghost he thought he saw was just a figment of his imagination. The washing of her hands becomes such an iconic scene because it reveals the guilt that Lady Macbeth has for killing Duncan, and that much like how she resists killing him because he reminds her of her father, we see a more humane side to her, that she is able to perceive feelings of regret at all. It is almost as if Shakespeare seeks to paint Lady Macbeth in a light in which we can feel some sorrow for her, for what was once a seemingly controlled woman has become a complete wreck. The irony is that she has become the very thing in which she condemned Macbeth for, and that for all her scheming and malice, her guilt has consumed her and made her even more demented than her husband. Furthermore, this is the last time we see Lady Macbeth alive before she commits suicide, and like Goneril in King Lear, This is done off-screen, at the point in which she realises there is no turning back. Other characters do not get the luxury of deciding their fate, as we see in the tragic character of Banquo. Banquo first appears as a close friend and brother in arms to Macbeth, and is offered the same level of appreciation and praise by the Captain and the King in the opening moments of the play. Like Macbeth, he too is described as this unstoppable warrior, who performed many valiant deeds on the battlefield, but yet it seems as if Banquo becomes overshadowed by Macbeth's status, as well as by the fact that he is seemingly snubbed when it comes to the receiving of titles. It is Macbeth who becomes the thane of Cawdor, and it is Macbeth who receives the honour of hosting the king at his house. Realistically, Banquo gets nothing but a pat on the back, but given what we know about his character thus far, we understand that Banquo isn't the sort of man who looks into these sorts of things too much. You might say that Banquo has a simple life, content with what he has, with no real need to aspire for more. We see this in how differently he reacts to the witches when compared to Macbeth, as he tells them, Speak then, to me, who neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate. Unlike Macbeth, Banquo here declares that whilst he's mildly interested in what the witches have to say about him, he doesn't really care. It's almost like someone asking for their horoscope to be read, whilst knowing it really has little effect on how their life is going to turn out. Bankroll is merely humouring the witches, and evidently does not take their words as seriously as Macbeth does. For when Angus and Ross arrive to deliver the news of Macbeth's promotion, Bankroll seemingly forgets the whole thing, as he revels in their conversation. Macbeth on the other hand gives way to a monologue about the witches'words, and becomes dazed by the whole thing. Whilst it's true that Macbeth puts more importance on the witches'words, it isn't true to say that Banquo is completely unaffected. He tells Macbeth in Act 2, Scene 2 that he has been having dreams of the witches, and this comes after he had previously told his son Fleance that he cannot sleep because of his nightmares and that,"...a heavy summons lies like a lead upon me, and yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers, restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature gives way to in repose." and this tells us that he has a lot on his mind and that it is preventing him from getting any rest. Whilst he seems to initiate a dialogue with Macbeth, possibly to relieve himself of these thoughts, Macbeth tells him that he himself does not think about the witches anymore, and never gives Banquo the platform to speak of what his dreams were actually about. Perhaps the words of the witches did indeed get to Banquo, but that he ended up concealing his feelings and was able to suppress his thoughts in a way that Macbeth was not able to. By the third act and after Duncan's death, Banquo becomes one of the first characters to suspect foul play. He says to himself, Thou hast it now, King Cawdor. Glamis, all as the weird women promised, and I fear thou playest most foully for it."By this he pretty much calls out Macbeth, believing that he had a hand in Duncan's murder, and that he is not the honourable man he thought he was, but indeed someone he will need to watch out for, especially given that the witches predicted it would be his sons who would be kings, and not Macbeth's. Whilst we don't get to see much in the way of the heroics of Macbeth and Banquo, but merely hear of their deeds from the other characters, We do get a glimpse of Banquo's courage as he tells his son to flee during his murder. Oh treachery, fly good Fleance, fly fly fly, thou mayest revenge. He bears little regard to his own safety and is focused only on the safety of his son, whilst also foreshadowing the potential for Fleance to return and exact revenge. Whilst Banquo suffers what some may seem a premature death, his demise echoes throughout the rest of the play and becomes the catalyst for the true turn of Macbeth, from an ambitious man to a madman. Interestingly, whilst we learn that Banquo's sons are destined to become kings in foreign lands, it is never actually specified whether Fleance himself becomes a king, nor whether he ever does return to Scotland. Given that Macduff assumes kingship, it would seem that there would be little revenge for Fleance to have. Amongst the side characters in Macbeth, none get their 15 minutes of fame as much as Mac- Duff does, mostly because he becomes the source of Macbeth's rage. With Banquo out of the way, Macbeth seems to require a new candidate to fuel his paranoia and guilt, and none are better suited for that than the man who had suspected him from the very beginning. Remember, it is Macduff who finds Duncan's body, and it is Macduff who expresses suspicion when he questions Macbeth as to why he killed the servants who had supposedly killed Duncan. This makes him a prime adversary of Macbeth, and perhaps a man with enough influence that he can do harm to Macbeth's rule, possibly enough that he can influence others into seeing Macbeth for what he truly is, a blatant murderer. Macduff is one of the more bold side characters in the way he adheres to his own morals and principles. For one, he does not attend Macbeth's coronation and chooses to flee to England instead. Unlike many of the other nobles who are unnamed in the play, Macduff does not pretend to support Macbeth. and this marks him out as one of the more virtuous characters of the play, although not so virtuous. Bearing in mind, this is the same man who flees to England and leaves behind his wife and son. While you might argue that Macduff fleeing was of the utmost urgency given that the death of Banquo may have triggered him into believing he was next, the abandoning of his family is not a heroic characteristic. Even his wife expresses the same disappointment in him. To leave his wife to leave his babies, his mansion and his titles in a place from whence himself does fly. He loves us not, he wants the natural touch. For the poor wren, the most diminutive of birds, will fight, her young ones in her nest, against the owl. All is the fear and nothing is the love, as little is the wisdom where the flight. So runs against all reason."And what she is saying here is that Macduff is a coward for leaving. and that even the smallest birds will fight for their family and their nests. Yet Macduff has left them in the very danger that he sought to relieve himself of. Personally, I agree with her. Even if Macduff feared his death was imminent, he should have still returned for his family and taken the honourable death. Because of Macduff's flight or fight system kicking in, in this case obviously flight, his wife and son pay the ultimate price and are brutally murdered, along with all their servants. Whilst this is undeniably Macbeth's doing, one might argue that Macduff shares in the responsibility of their death, for he surely could have done more to save them, instead of saving his own skin. In fact, Malcolm actually calls him out on his abandonment of them, saying, Why in that rawness left you wife and child, those precious motives, those strong knots of love, without leave-taking? He pretty much asks him how could you leave behind your wife and child? and how could he be expected to trust a man in battle who would do something so heartless? Surprisingly, Macduff does not offer a response. Even here, it's almost as if Macduff doesn't care about his wife and son. But that all changes when Ross brings him the news of their demise. Macduff gives way to a passionate, angry outburst, and it becomes clear that this cowardly man actually has a backbone, or at least, he attains one in the realisation that his children are dead. He says of Macbeth, He cannot even begin to fathom that Macbeth has done this, and points out the brutality of the kill, noting that Macbeth doesn't even have children, so what gives him the right to strike those that are not his? He continues in his grief, I cannot but remember such things that were most precious to me. Did heaven look on and would not take their part? Sinful Macduff, they were all struck for thee. Not that I am, not for their own demerits, but for mine fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now. It's here we do see that Macduff did care about his family and that perhaps, maybe, he did act a little too hastily in getting himself out of danger before his family. His neglectfulness cannot be excused however. And while Shakespeare does try to show Macduff as a tragic character, one who put his own needs before his family and ultimately regretting it, he's still a douchebag for doing it in the first place. In terms of plot however, it does set Macduff up quite nicely as something of a protagonist, and it at least gives him motive for wanting to kill Macbeth as much as he does. No longer is this about avenging Duncan, or even for the political state of Scotland, but instead it is now personal. Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself, within my sword's length, said him, Macduff announces, and it becomes clear that the only thing he wants now is revenge. It is through this revenge that Macduff is absolved, at least in the eyes of some of the audience, who believe that by killing Macbeth, he earned the justice that he was after. For me though, while I'm glad that Macduff gets to kill Macbeth, given that his family was horrendously butchered, we still can't overlook that had Macduff been a better husband and father, he wouldn't have needed the vengeance at all. Then again, it could also be true that without this driving motivation in Macduff's mind, he wouldn't have been able to kill Macbeth, and that given the witch's prophecy, he was one of the only men in Scotland who could have done so. One of the clear themes of the entire play is the ambition of man, Macbeth in particular. But in this instance, Shakespeare seeks to highlight the perils of said ambition going unchecked, and that there is a thing as being too ambitious. Shakespeare shows us how dangerous ambition can be, in that it can even lead a man to cost aside his moral obligations, and even his principles, if it means bettering himself and achieving that which he truly desires. I mean, just look at Macbeth, a man who ends up killing most of his closest allies, if only to maintain the facade that he is the true king. The same ambition is of course also seen in Lady Macbeth, and Shakespeare furthermore emphasises the power of ambition. in that it can even subvert the expectations of women, in that they can become just as bloodthirsty as men in that time period in order to get what they want. The problem with ambition is also identified quite prominently in this play, in that enough is never enough. It pokes at the idea that no matter how far a man comes, he will never be truly satisfied, and that those who are truly driven are almost cursed to feed a hunger that cannot be sated. We see this in Macbeth in the way he uses violence to warrant his control over the kingdom, and that after killing Duncan, he soon succumbs to the need to kill Banquo, and Fleance, and Macduff, and Malcolm, and the list would likely have never ended. There was always going to be someone to oppose Macbeth, and this is partly due to his paranoia, but also because of his obsession to secure his position, something that his ambition deems as an absolute necessity. Despite being pushed by the witches, It is arguable as to whether their hand in the matter was a catalyst for Macbeth's desire of the throne, or whether they'd simply accelerated the process of him becoming the tyrant that he is. What's most interesting is that neither Macbeth nor Lady Macbeth understand that it is their ambition which makes them cross such moral boundaries, and that they are so consumed by the gratification of having power that they neglect to observe the reasons why they want what they want so badly. As we've mentioned throughout this video, Macbeth's ambition becomes fused with his paranoia, making for a dangerous combination. Where most men would take pride and enjoy the fruits of their labour for having grafted to get to the top, Macbeth instead becomes anxious and volatile. In a sense, you might say that despite having achieved that which he schemed so hard to get, Macbeth truly ends up with nothing. You might say that here, Shakespeare is alluding to that age-old saying that one should be careful what they wish for. because they just might get it. Of course I learned that the hard way in becoming a YouTuber, and being a glutton for punishment, I went and opened two channels. Greed personified, eh? But with that shameless confession out of the way, if you are interested in helping a humble creator such as myself, then feel free to donate to the cause over on Patreon. A simple dollar a month will go a tremendously long way in helping me secure more artwork for the channel, and eventually boosting up the quality of each video. As always guys, if you've enjoyed today's video then don't forget to give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe. Until the next time.

At the time, there was a feeling of uncertainty amongst the English about having a Scottish king, and many argue that Shakespeare was conveying this unease in Macbeth, especially when we notice that England is a benign nation with a benign ruler in the form of King Edward in Macbeth. Meanwhile, Scotland is plagued with the likes of Macbeth and his murderous ways. In some ways, many consider Shakespeare to have been perpetuating, or at least implying, that with a Scottish king, only blood would follow.

Interestingly, King James asserted that kings were always right, regardless of what his subjects thought, and that loyalty to the king was an absolute must. He went on to say in the book The Tree Law of Three Monarchies that even if a king is a tyrant, his subjects should still be loyal to him. It could be seen then that Shakespeare's Macbeth was produced in direct retaliation to King James, showing what tyranny can do to a nation and that sometimes the king can and will be disposed of by his own subjects, if need be.

The source for Macbeth originates from the Holland Shed Chronicles, which features an account of the characters Macbeth, Macduff and Duncan. You may have also heard in the world of theatre that Macbeth is often referred to as the Cursed Play, sometimes referred to only as the Scottish Play. It had been something of an omen to mention Macbeth inside of a theatre, with many opting to refer to him as MacB, because of a belief that Shakespeare had actually consulted with real witches when crafting Macbeth, and whilst they helped him create such a masterpiece, they also cursed it. Others believe that because Shakespeare had portrayed the witches as ugly and scheming, the witches got mad and placed a hex on it. Thus, saying the word Macbeth inside a theatre is thought to doom the production to a failure, and could even cause cast members to suffer accidents, or even death.

Others believe that the reason Macbeth is a curse is because back in the day, if a play was bombing in sales, it was usually replaced by Macbeth, which was tried and tested to please audiences. Still, you can see why the cast and production of The Replaced Show would come to see Macbeth as a curse. The play opens to a storm, where we see three unsightly witches deciding to meet with the one known as Macbeth.

We also understand that there is a bloody war going on, and see a wounded sergeant reporting to the King of Scotland, named Duncan, that his generals, including Macbeth, who happens to be the thane of Glamis, and the general Banquo, have defeated the forces of MacDonwald, the thane of Cawdor, and his combined arms of Norway and Ireland. Macbeth is described as a valiant warrior, and one who turns into a mad killing machine on the battlefield, and is offered great praise and respect by the king for his prowess. Macbeth and Banquo discuss their victory, and they wander their way back home after the battle, only to stumble upon the three witches.

The two men are cautious, unsure as to whether they are even human, before the witches speak to them, telling them that Macbeth will become the thane of Kordor, and subsequently, the king himself. Macbeth is stunned at this prophecy, but Banquo doesn't take it too seriously, and goes on to ask if there is a prophecy for him. They tell him that he will not be as successful as Macbeth, but he will father a line of kings.

The witches vanish, leaving the two men perplexed over what they have heard, but they are interrupted by another, the thane named Ross, who tells Macbeth that he has now been made the thane of Cawdor, just like the witches had told him. Immediately, Macbeth begins to cultivate ambitions in his head, and begins to ponder on the likelihood of him actually becoming king, given that the witch's words had already come half true. King Duncan meanwhile greets Macbeth and Banquo and gives them a hero's welcome for their hard fought battle. Here we also see Duncan name his son Malcolm as his heir, meaning that Macbeth will either be waiting a hell of a long time before he is named king, or that something terrible will have to happen to Malcolm that prevents him from being crowned.

So Macbeth writes to his wife, known simply as Lady Macbeth, and tells her of the witch's prophecy. But whilst Macbeth is uncertain about how to go about making the prophecy come true, or whether he should make it come true, Lady Macbeth is adamant that Macbeth should seize the opportunity. She does not doubt the witch's words, and truly believes that the only way he will become king is if King Duncan is murdered. While still unsure of this, Lady Macbeth overrides Macbeth's objections to this ploy. and is able to persuade him by insinuating he is not man enough to do it.

Interestingly, we also learn that King Duncan is on his way to Macbeth's household to celebrate their victory, where he plans to stay the night. Lady Macbeth plots with Macbeth to get King Duncan's two chamberlains so drunk that they pass out. She then intends to frame these two sleeping drunks for the murder of the king, and because they are so drunk, they will not remember anything from the previous night. Whilst Duncan sleeps, Macbeth creeps past the sleeping Chamberlains and kills him.

Prior to this, we see Macbeth suffer from a series of hallucinations, including a flirting dagger, right before his eyes. He becomes so absolutely shaken by what he is seeing, that Lady Macbeth has to take control of the situation, whereby she takes the murder weapons and leaves them with the drunk servants. The next morning, a Scottish nobleman named Lennox arrives with the Thane of Fife, known as Macduff.

After entering Macbeth's home, they find the body of the king murdered in his bed. Macbeth feigns his distraughtness and tells the two men that the servants had done it, for he had found their bodies marked with Duncan's blood and in possession of the murder weapons. He also reveals that he suffered such a fit of rage that he killed the servants himself. Duncan's sons, Malcolm, who was heir, and his brother, Donald Bane, flee to England and Ireland respectively.

fearing that whoever killed their father would likely seek their demise next. They also aren't so convinced that Macbeth's story checks out. However, because they have fled from the land, it also raises suspicion that they themselves had something to do with it. With lack of a suitable leader, Macbeth assumes the throne and becomes the King of Scotland, just as the witches had predicted. However, one other man who is suspicious of this turn of events is Banquo.

For Banquo was present when the witches delivered his prophecy, thus making him wary of the new king. Despite now being king, Macbeth seems to become quite paranoid, particularly about the part of the witch's prophecy that Banquo's sons would become king next. Surely it should have been Macbeth's potential sons who would become the next rulers, but the witches had detailed only Banquo's sons would fill the role. Of course, Macbeth comes to believe that in order to prevent this from happening, he will need to kill Banquo and his son Fleance, ensuring that none of Banquo's legacy can ever take away that which Macbeth holds. He invites Banquo to a royal banquet, only to discover that Banquo is already suspicious, for he and his son intend to flee the kingdom that very same night.

Fearing the worst, Macbeth hires three murderers to assassinate Banquo and Fleance. The assassination job is botched though, and only Banquo is murdered. his young son Fleance is able to escape the encounter.

When Macbeth learns of this, he becomes furious and is only sent further into a state of unease, paranoia and madness. At the royal banquet attended by many of the lords and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth begins to see Banquo's ghost. In fact, he sees the ghost so vividly as it takes his seat that he begins to converse with it openly, appearing to everyone else to be completely insane.

It becomes such a scene that Lady Macbeth has to ask everyone to leave. By this point, Macbeth is consumed by his thoughts and troubled feelings. This compels him to visit the witches once more, in a desperate attempt to reveal more of their prophecies and to seek guidance on how best to approach his dilemmas. The witches take this moment to troll Macbeth, and they conjure up a series of spirits that feed him with various proclamations.

First, there appears to be an armoured head, which tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff. Secondly, there appears to be a bloody child, one that tells him that no one born of a woman will be able to harm him. Thirdly, there appears to be a crown child holding a tree, which tells him that he and his kingdom will be safe, until the great Burnham Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill, where Macbeth lives. This puts Macbeth at ease, because every man is born of a woman, and so that would mean that no man could harm him. Furthermore, the woods could not move, and so there was no need for alarm.

Macbeth goes a step further though, and inquires into their last prophecy, that said Banquo's sons would be kings, and so the witches conjure up a procession of eight crowned kings, all of which have striking resemblance to Banquo himself. The last king actually holds a mirror, one which boasts the reflection of an even further line of kings. Here Macbeth determines that these are indeed all of Banquo's descendants, and that they do achieve kingships, but in other countries.

The witches leave, and Lennox enters to tell Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. In light of this, Macbeth orders the seizing of Macduff's castle, and in one of his more spiteful acts, has Macduff's servants, his wife and his children, slaughtered. Meanwhile, we see Lady Macbeth is going even more insane than her husband, evidently succumbing to the guilt of having murdered Duncan. A doctor and a woman are seen to be observing Lady Macbeth as she sleepwalks, watching her move about her bedroom and muttering the truth about her involvement in Duncan's demise.

In one of the most famous scenes, we see Lady Macbeth trying to wash her hands of the blood, all the while confessing all the terrible things that she goaded her husband into doing. Whilst the doc- Doctor and the woman can't be sure of her words, given that she is in a state of delirious ramble, they are struck nonetheless by what they have seen. Over in England, Macduff is informed by Ross that his castle was sacked by Macbeth, and his servants, his wife and his children were all killed.

Macduff is grief-stricken by the news, and swears vengeance upon Macbeth. Malcolm, the son of Duncan and the true heir to the throne who had fled to England, is seen to have raised an army, one which Macduff eagerly joins. Together with other Scottish nobles who detest Macbeth, and some English figures such as the Earl of Northumberland, Silwood the Elder, they make their way through Burnham Wood on their way to do battle with Macbeth. Here the soldiers are ordered to sever the branches and leaves of the trees so as to disguise their advancement.

Macbeth goes about fortifying Dunsinane Castle and is seen to be quite anxious of the arrival of his enemy. It is here he also learns that Lady Beth has killed herself, an event that takes place off screen, and this causes him to sink into even more despair. Still, he clings onto the witch's prophecy that he is invincible, given that he can only be killed by a man not born of a woman, and only be defeated when Burnham Wood physically moves against him.

However, he is then struck with fear when it is reported that the Woods themselves are indeed moving, and when Macbeth goes to look, he sees Malcolm's men creeping towards him under the foliage of the forest, and so just like that, it appears that one of the prophecies has come true. The battle is a long and bloody one and comes down to a confrontation between Macbeth and Macduff, but still even as the English army overruns Macbeth's forces, Macbeth does not back down and proceeds to fight to the very end with Macduff, for the prophecy still declared that he could only be killed by a man not born of a woman. Through this, despite his kingdom now crumbling around him and his men all surrendered or killed, Macbeth does not concede, for he still believes in his invincibility.

But here, Macduff shatters Macbeth's hopes, as the witch's prophecy comes true yet again, for Macduff reveals that he was not born through normal means of a woman, but born by a caesarean section. Realising that he has misinterpreted the witch's words, and realising he is now doomed to die, Macbeth, to his credit, goes down swinging. Despite knowing his death is upon him, he attacks Macduff with everything he has left, but in the end, he is killed. Macduff actually decapitates Macbeth and brings his head to Malcolm as proof that the tyrant has been slain.

With Macbeth gone, Malcolm assumes rule as the King of Scotland. We first see Macbeth introduced in the utmost positive light. Macbeth is a warrior hero.

whose deeds on the battlefield earn not only accolades but the respect of his peers and the king. He is a most ruthless fighter, one who is courageous and keen to fight for the honour of his King Duncan. The valour he demonstrates in the opening battle is already a testament to his profound character, as well as to the loyalty he has for his kingdom, given that he risks his own life to turn the tide of the battle between Scotland and the combined forces of Ireland and Norway.

In essence, Macbeth is established, at least in the beginning, as the play's hero. And this is supported by how the captain of the army reports to King Duncan in the opening moments of the story, where Duncan asks him whether Macbeth and Banquo were scared at the prospect of fighting both the Irish and the Norwegians. Yes, as sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion, the captain tells Duncan, if I say sooth, I must report they were as cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe, except they meant to bath in reeking wounds. memorise another Golgotha. What he is explaining to the king here is that whilst Macbeth was scared, he still went in on the enemy and was not discouraged from giving his all as he spilled their blood.

The captain tells that Macbeth was so fierce that at times it seemed like he was killing to see how much blood he could spill or to try to match the grimness that occurred at Golgotha, the site in which Jesus was crucified. We haven't even seen Macbeth yet. but we are already excited by the prospect of him. The nobleman Ross refers to Macbeth as the husband of the goddess of war when speaking to Duncan in the same scene, and this only makes us more eager to see what Macbeth is like in person, how he is going to affect the state of Scotland and what this slayer of men is going to do next. In a way, Shakespeare is already building him up as a force to be reckoned with, and this plants something of an insidious seed in the early stages of the play.

for we can already guess that someone so bloodthirsty as Macbeth is probably going to be bad news in the long run. When we meet Macbeth, we are given a well-spoken, mild man who hardly seems like this ravenous killer previously described. It is partly to be expected, given that he is a thane, but I was certainly expecting someone a bit more gruff, someone a bit rough around the edges, and maybe a little savage even.

But Macbeth is much more like his fellow nobleman. calm and collected, as he and Banquo enjoy a nightly stroll home after such bloody deeds. But we do see Macbeth's composure crack very early on when he is stunned by the witch's proclamations.

Whilst Banquo seems to pay them less mind, Macbeth becomes entranced, perhaps showing us how naive he is and that he is most certainly superstitious. He appears so eager to learn more of the witch's prophecy that he demands it, saying Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence, or why upon this blasted heath you stop our way with such prophetic greeting. Speak, I charge you.

Already we get a sense as to what type of man Macbeth is, one who is deeply affected by the words of others, and one who takes matters like this very seriously. He is quite self-absorbed, considering the prophecy pertains to him, which is a complete contrast to Banquo, who, despite being a part of the prophecy, kind of just brushes it off. Macbeth becomes so fixated on what he's been told that he begins to ponder on it vividly, even as both he and Banquo are met by Ross and Angus, who tells Macbeth that he is now the Thane of Kordor, just like the witches had said.

He tells us, Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme. This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor, I good.

Why do I yield to that suggestion, whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, and may seated hearts knock as my ribs, against the use of nature? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings. We get an even greater insight into how Macbeth's mind works, and how fallible he is as a man to be so compelled by the mutterings of the witches. He recognises that their prophecy has come half true, and this has him pondering on the second half, that he will become king. Whilst he confesses that the thought of him being king is exhilarating, he also realises that he's imagining the way in which he can become king, and that is to commit horrible deeds, such as killing Duncan and seizing the throne by force.

At best, we get a glimpse of a man with a moral compass, in that he is able to deliberate on his choices. and that he is able to recognise that his want to be king is certainly seeded in a dark and wicked place. The fact that he is able to conceive these thoughts gives us the belief that Macbeth despite everything, is a good man, but a man who might very well become victim to his own thoughts, and more importantly, his burning ambition.

In the next act, where we see Macbeth earnestly declare his affections for Duncan, we see him actually begin to strategize how he is going to get the throne. Just prior, he had concluded his thoughts with, Which is basically him deciding that if he is going to be king, fate will see to it, and he won't have to do a thing. But by the next scene, his obsession with the prophecy is only reignited, as he begins to envision the conditions for which he would need in order to become king. He tells us, Let not light see my black and deep desires, that I wink at the hand, yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done to see."This is perhaps the checkpoint of which Macbeth's road into wickedness begins, for he is literally pondering over how he is going to step over Prince Malcolm in order to gain the throne. He also gives way to the thought of his more sinister nature, asking the stars to look away so that he may do his dark work without witness. In this, he has already resolved that he is going to kill Duncan, but that he still lacks the courage, possibly because his morals are still resisting, and possibly because he knows he cannot do it without getting caught. What was once a courageous hero quickly descends into a scheming coward as Macbeth spills into the role of antagonist. By Act 1 Scene 7, we see one of the most powerful moments in Macbeth's inner conflict. We hear his trail of thoughts in a long monologue. whereby he declares that the crime of killing the king will certainly not go unpunished and that his soul will be damned for doing such a terrible thing. He also keeps in mind the terror he will be spreading through the land and that by doing this he will be inspiring others to murder for that which they seek. Here he is aware of becoming a bad example to others and it is again perhaps the last remnants of his more virtuous side ringing out, reminding not only us but also Macbeth that he was once a good man and can still be a good man if he stays his hand. He also ponders on the trust that Duncan has bestowed on him and finds himself listing all of Duncan's great qualities as a king and a friend. He is even able to conceive the thoughts that what he is thinking about doing is a betrayal of the highest kind, and because of this, his resolve is not absolute. He even tells us, I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent. but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other. And what he means by this is that whilst he has not the conviction to murder Duncan without hesitation, he does have a burning ambition that is prodding him in this direction. Here we recognise Macbeth's ambition as one of the main reasons for his murder of Duncan. Despite their friendship and his fealty to the monarch, he can and will kill him, simply because he wants to have his place. It is typical of envy and desire, in that Macbeth wants so desperately to be king, after hearing the prophecy, that he will resort to anything to obtain it. His morals though appear to be the only thing holding him back, that is until those very morals are stamped under the heels of his wife. Aside from his ambition, Lady Macbeth is the driving force which pushes Macbeth into killing Duncan. In fact, it is safe to say that if he didn't have an equally ambitious wife, Macbeth might have let the whole thing go and resisted killing Duncan at all. But his wife manipulates him and pushes him over the edge, making him feel like he has to act upon his plan, for if not, he would not be a man at all. She even threatens him with the declaration that she would think less of him for not continuing down this path. And through this, you might say that part of the reason why Macbeth commits to the murder is to maintain the love of his wife. By not acting, he stands to lose the respect of one he cherishes the most, and so the choice becomes far simpler for him. Not only will he become king, but he will also maintain the love of his wife, something that becomes far more poisonous for him than he can hope to realise. She tells him, Was the hope drunk wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since? and wakes it now to look so green and pale at what it did so freely. From this time such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour, as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteemest, the ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting I dare not wait upon I would, like the poor cat in the Adach? Not only is she challenging his resolve as a man, but also his resolve as a husband. She declares that she will review him thereafter as a coward and compares him to the softness of a cat, certainly not a man anymore, and therefore not someone she can be married to, let alone love. We then see Lady Macbeth orchestrate most of the murder, and we see Macbeth more like a lost child, querying parts of the plan with the utmost innocence, almost like he had never killed a person before in his life. It's safe to say that for the remainder of the story, Lady Macbeth assumes control of their relationship, dictates how Macbeth acts and even steers the man onto a path of even more evils by implying that she will not love him and challenging his role as a man. In fact, in one of the most famous scenes in the play, we see Macbeth slip further and further into madness as he begins to envision a floating dagger on the night of Duncan's murder. You know he starts losing his marbles when he starts talking to the dagger, saying Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee, I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Oh, art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? Macbeth views the dagger as an omen, and for a while, actually believes that he is seeing a floating dagger. He is baffled though when he tries to clutch at the dagger, but cannot grasp it, for it is not real. What's left of his rational mind convinces him that what he is seeing might very well be an illusion cast by his overactive mind, but nonetheless might not be a coincidence. He believes the dagger is leading him towards Duncan, and gains some reassurance in that he is doing the right thing in murdering the King. It is no longer good sense that guides Macbeth, but a combination of his ambition and his anxiety. that leads him towards Duncan's bedroom. We only see more of this madness when he reports the deed to his wife, whereby he says, Me thought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep. And he begins to give way to paranoia immediately, in that he believes someone had seen him, or that some ethereal voice will tell everyone of what he has done. This is a stark contrast to his wife, who is far more steely in her composure, and pretty much tells him to get a grip of himself. The morning after, we see how cunning Macbeth can be, as well as how, despite the fact he's losing his mind, he's able to seamlessly lie. When Duncan's body is discovered, Macbeth gives a compelling display of grief, saying, this vault to brag of. And as you can imagine, what he is saying here is that he wished he didn't have to experience the pain he now has. Here, Macbeth also wins the biggest bullshitter of the year award, being able to feign such distraughtness despite being the villain behind it all. Despite his bout with Madness, we do see Macbeth regain some control over his disposition, given the way he's able to lie so fluidly. He's even able to pin some of the blame on Malcolm and Donald Bane, as he tells Banquo We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed in England and in Ireland, not confessing their cruel parasite, filling their hearts with strange invention. And what he is saying here is that Malcolm and Donald Bain are guilty of having murdered Duncan, hence why they have fled to England and Ireland respectively. We cannot overlook Macbeth's uncanny ability to spin the events around him in his favour. Through this, we can see him less as the warrior-killer we are shown in the beginning, but more like a spineless politician who twists the happenings of the kingdom all to his benefit, and uses the circumstances to not only facilitate his crime, but also keep him afloat. One thing that always seems present though is Macbeth's paranoia. Gone is his courage and his bravery that he demonstrates on the battlefield. and in its place are the inner workings of his conscience, his very mind betraying him with each passing moment. He gives way to many great insecurities, none the least revolve around Banquo. Remember, the witches had already promised Banquo that his sons would be kings, but this same promise is not given to Macbeth. This of course implies that Macbeth either gives up his kingship or that Banquo and his lineage will take it from him. This realisation turns him suddenly resentful as he states, They held him farther to a line of kings, Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding, If murdered put rancours in the vessel of my peace, Only for them and mine internal jewel, Given to the common enemy of man, To make them kings, The seed of Banquo, kings. rather than so, come fate into the list and champion me to the utterance. Here we get a great sense of Macbeth's newfound murderous streak. He was so uncertain about killing Duncan, but now he seems adamant that Banquo must die so as to protect his throne. Perhaps here Shakespeare is showing us what a slippery slope that a man like Macbeth can find himself on, in that murdering someone does something to the soul, or that it changes a man, making the act of killing seem easy. It certainly paints Macbeth in a new chilling light, for at least before he had some regret about even possessing such thoughts. Now though he is almost eager to bring about Banquo's end, and even festers resentment for his sons, saying that it was he who went through the effort of killing the king, so why should another man's sons reap the reward? The worst thing is that Macbeth seems to be aware that he is heading further and further down this road of evil, for he tells his wife, things bad begun, make strong themselves by ill. And what he means here is that the bad deeds a man commits only leads him to make more bad deeds. In this, Macbeth implies that his fate is out of his hands, for having killed Duncan, he is now past the point of no return and cannot help but be wicked. Interestingly, we last saw Macbeth being led by his wife into murdering Duncan, and we see her take charge of the situation, implying that Macbeth isn't man enough to do it. and that he certainly isn't handling the situation as gracefully as he could. It is here we see her as the instigator of Macbeth's downfall, but he surprises both us and her when he takes it upon himself to hire the murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. In fact, it would appear that Lady Macbeth has created something in Macbeth far darker than she herself possesses, and something far darker than she could ever hope to control. For Macbeth is now making his own moves, without her watchful eye. Why, he even tells her not to worry about it, when she questions him of his plans, keen to keep her in the dark, as this new wicked streak resets the power dynamic of their relationship. You might argue that Macbeth's wicked side here is just a facade, or at least, a false sense of confidence. For when the murderers report to Macbeth that Fleance escaped the encounter, Macbeth reveals, whole as the marble, founded as the rock, as broad and general as the casing air. But now I am cabined, crippled, confined, bound to saucy doubts and fears."The fact that he is so unraveled by Flea and still being alive shows us what a fearful man he really is deep down, in that just the mere fact that a son of Banquo is alive causes him to descend once more into doubt and fear.

This of course dramatically manifests in the next scene. where Macbeth sees Banquo enter as a ghost and proceeds to berate him for being alive in front of all the other guests at the banquet. We see his despair in the way he speaks right there in front of his guests, saying, He's basically saying that he's killed men before and they have always stayed dead, but this one in Banquo has risen, making this a far stranger thing than murder could ever be.

He is so blatant here with his guilt that I'm surprised the other guests didn't figure it all out there and then. To me, the fact that Banquo is missing and Macbeth is spouting about his ghost and murder is a total admission of guilt. Had the guests been a bit more perceptive, they might have seized Macbeth there and then, and spared the likes of Macduff's entire family being slaughtered. By the fourth act, we see Macbeth at his most desperate. He actually returns to the witches and demands to know more of his future, so as to help guide him on his bloody path.

A path he already knows he cannot turn back from. He isn't concerned with what power the witches have, nor the nature of the visions they show him, so long as he can set his might at peace. and foresee his destiny.

Macbeth misinterprets the visions as we know, and the witches do not seem to correct him, but rather enable the false sense of calm he now possesses, after learning his downfall can only come when the woods move against him, and when a man who is not born of a woman confronts him. To Macbeth, these sound like impossibilities, and believes the witches are telling him that pretty much, he is invincible, and so no one can take away that which he has. In fact, he believes it so much that he states, From this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand. And what he is saying here is that no more will he ponder on his thoughts, no more will he allow his conscience to hold him back, and no more will he hesitate.

Once he conceives a plan, he will act on it, regardless of the consequences. After all, there can be no consequences, given that he now believes himself to be untouchable. This is what spurs him onto sending forces to kill Macduff's household. We get another glimpse of how cocky Macbeth becomes in the final act, where he's defending Dunsinane Castle. He pretty much spouts from the safety of the battlements, bring me no reports, let them fly all, till Burnham would remove Dunsinane.

I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm? Was he not born of a woman?

The spirits that know all mortal consequences have pronounced me thus. Fear not, Macbeth. No man that's born of a woman shall ever have power upon thee.

It is this proclamation that further reveals how untouchable he thinks he is, and possibly gives way to more of his madness, in that he puts so much weight in the words of the witches. He doesn't for a moment consider the possibility that the witches were lying, or that they had some ulterior motive for their prophecy, but instead accepts it blindly, and spouts it as if this will reinforce it in the minds of others. Perhaps you might say, that Macbeth here is trying to convince himself of his supposed invincibility, but also that he's actually quite a gullible, superstitious and foolish man, to believe so feverishly in the words of old hags. Furthermore, the Macbeth we see here chilling from the safety of the castle is an incredibly different Macbeth from the one in the beginning. There in the first act, he was noted as being a beast on the battlefield, wrecking both the forces of the Irish and the Norwegians.

and that was before he was told he could only be killed by a man not born of a woman. With this newfound knowledge, he should have been tearing up the battlefield with an incredible vigour. Macbeth does not have this notion, and seems more to me like he is hiding behind the prophecy, deep down knowing it is not true, but hoping that everyone else believing it will somehow make it true.

It's almost like he is scared of being proved wrong, for if he is killed on the battlefield, then the prophecy was a lie. and everything he had done would of course been for nothing. Whilst he does argue with the servant Satan to get his armour, he doesn't believe he'll have much use of it and seems more content to order more horses and scouts to go about doing the sort of work he probably would have done himself when he was a thane. Another compelling side we see to Macbeth is how little he grieves for his wife. When he learns of her death he says, she should have died hereafter, there would have been a time for such a word, tomorrow.

and tomorrow and tomorrow. Not only is he seemingly dispassionate towards her death, but he seems to imply that her death was coming anyway. Perhaps this is that wicked side we spoke about earlier that establishes the power dynamic between husband and wife, in that he now resents Lady Macbeth for having called him a coward.

Her death has little impact on him, and whilst this isn't a reflection of their marriage or even the lack of love between them, but more so how deranged Macbeth is now. that the only thing he cares about is defending his kingship. The sky could have probably fallen down around him and Macbeth would still only stick to his one-track mind and be more concerned with his crown and how best to keep hold of it. Shakespeare gives us a pretty compelling contrast to how Macbeth receives the news of his wife dying and the news of Burnham Woods moving.

His response to the servants is far more emotional as he states, if thou speakest false, upon the next tree It is without doubt here that Macbeth cares more about the crown than he does his wife, for whilst her death is met with an, ah well, people die, sort of attitude, the news of Burnham Wood's moving and of the prophecy coming true is met with the utmost anger and a threat upon the messenger's life. Whilst Macbeth is at the zenith of his desperation here, we also see his more heroic side return too. It's almost like he takes that bravery, zeal and courage so praised in the opening scene and utilises it to regain a grip on the madness around him. He says, They have tied me to a stake.

I cannot fly, but bear-like, I must fight the courts. Unlike many others in his position, Macbeth does not flee. He demonstrates an unusual trait for many villains. and that is the will to stare death in the face and not back down, even as the odds begin to stack against him.

Astoundingly, despite his descent into madness, Macbeth still maintains awareness of those he has hurt. When he faces Macduff in the final fight, he tells him,"...of all men else I have avoided thee, but get thee back. My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already."Not only does Macbeth appear apologetic here, but he also recognises that what he has done is wrong. He wants to spare Macduff, for he believes he has already caused him enough pain. He doesn't try to blame Macduff, nor try to blame anyone else for what happens, but Macbeth shows a more mature side, in that he accepts responsibility for what has transpired, but also reserves that he has picked this path and nothing and no one will deter him from it. He becomes one of the most admirable villains Shakespeare has ever created, in that despite his wickedness, We cannot help but appreciate his willingness to see something through to the end.

Even when he learns that Macduff was born through caesarean section and therefore not born of a woman exactly, he does not back down. Whilst he is tilted by this revelation and reveals he loses his courage in the wake of Macduff, he does not submit. He gives a passionate tirade that he will not kiss the ground that Malcolm walks on, that he will not be displayed as a tyrant to the common folk, and he will not be subjugated to torture or imprisonment for his crimes.

True, he does display the typical trait of pride common across most villains in that he will not answer for what he has done by the court of law, but instead will answer for it at the end of Macduff's blade if need be. It is one of the final lines that struck me the most, particularly because he knows he's about to die against Macduff. It sums up Macbeth's character, whether through his delusions, his or his brutal resolve as he utters, I will not yield. Some might argue that the mean streak of Macbeth would have likely stayed buried had it not been for his wicked wife teasing it out of him.

By contrast, Lady Macbeth is most certainly a cunning woman from the very beginning and does not need a group of witches to tell her her fate. There is no catalyst nor turning point by which Lady Macbeth becomes wicked, She simply is this way from the very beginning and is likely a representation of her nature. From the very get-go, we understand that Lady Macbeth is just as, if not more ambitious than Macbeth and it might be argued that she wants him to be king more than he actually wants it for himself, at least in the beginning. Whilst Macbeth is like a wide-eyed boy in the wake of the witch's prophecy, Lady Macbeth is certainly the mother.

who isn't as enamoured by the concept of Macbeth becoming king, but more so focused on the actual process, something in which she has already conjured up. She says, Here she means to poison Macbeth's mind, having already insinuated in her monologue that Macbeth is a coward, and that while he may want for things, he doesn't have the balls to actually get them. She says that Macbeth doesn't possess that wicked streak that she does, and therefore can only want for the things that he desires.

But with her by his side, she can invoke his wickedness and bridge the gap between him being Thane and him being King. Bear in mind, she only learns of Macbeth's prophecy via letter, and moments after having read the letter, she has already conceived the thought of killing Duncan. In fact, she even begins psyching herself up for his murder.

before she's even discussed it with Macbeth, indicating that Macbeth didn't have much of a choice in the matter either way. She says, Come you spirits that lend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe, top full of direst cruelty. She's so adamant in this course that she calls upon spirits and demons to even change her form from woman to man in order to commit this deed. giving us a greater look at how Lady Macbeth's mind works, in that she is far more shrewd and cunning than her male counterparts.

In fact, I think that if Lady Macbeth were a man, or at least had the physical strength of a man, she'd be king from the very beginning, and certainly wouldn't need the witches nor Macbeth to help her get there. As previously discussed, the roles of husband and wife are certainly switched in this relationship, given the time period. Lady Macbeth wears the trousers, And this is a testament to how powerful of a woman she is, given that she is able to manipulate and control that very same killing machine that is Macbeth. It is she who is his reassurance whenever he begins to back out of the plan to kill Duncan, and whenever he begins to have second thoughts.

It is she who sets him back on the dark path. She not only demands the murder of him, but also feeds him the insult that he is not a man if he does not act. She assumes position as the leader of the relationship, but also the most brutal character of the entire play as she tells him, I have given Suck 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 its boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I sworn as you have done to this."Here she tells him that she will go as far as to smash her own child's head against the wall, if she had made a promise to, and that she is therefore more of a man than Macbeth is, for he is demonstrating weakness by going back on his word. That is the viciousness of Lady Macbeth. that she would do absolutely anything to achieve that which she has set out to do. Here she shames her husband by emasculating him to the point that he has no choice but to do as she says, for a warrior like him would likely have not bared the strain of having a wife more powerful than he. Ironically, it is Macbeth's obedience that only enhances Lady Macbeth's power, for he is doing everything she tells him to and thus solidifying her as the controller of the relationship. Funnily enough, Macbeth even recognises how strong of a character his wife is, for he says Bring forth men, children only, for thy undaunted nestle should compose nothing but males. And what he means here is that Lady Macbeth is so strong that she will likely only give birth to males. We do see a glimpse of Lady Macbeth's humanity in Act 2 Scene 2, as Duncan is being killed off screen. Lady Macbeth has already planted the dagger for Macbeth to use in killing the king. but also she tells us, had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done it. And here she is referring to Duncan, and that when she had planted the dagger, she had seen Duncan sleeping, and would have done the deed herself, had he not reminded her of her father. It is perhaps the only time we see Lady Macbeth hesitate, and it gives us the idea that somewhere under the conniving composure, she actually has some morals, or at least, a soft spot for her father. Perhaps she isn't completely awful going by this observation, but she still guides Macbeth's hand in the murder nonetheless. And this almost makes her worse, given that she wants Duncan dead, but doesn't want to get her hands bloody. Ironically, it is this metaphorical blood on her hands that we see her so desperately trying to cleanse during her later madness. Once the murder has been completed, we see Lady Macbeth assume control of the situation, where her husband begins to falter. We see Macbeth enter the scene holding the daggers in which he'd used to kill Duncan, already proving to botch the plan by not leaving them with the guards in which they were trying to frame. Macbeth walks in like a stunned boy who has no grasp of his surroundings and appears lost, holding the bloody daggers as gormless as a corpse himself. It is Lady Macbeth who has to remedy this situation, taking the daggers and doing what Macbeth should have done in the first place. She says, Inferm of purpose, meaning that Macbeth is messing up the entire endeavor. Give me the daggers, the sleeping and the dead are but pictures. Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I'll glill the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt. Here we see her chastise Macbeth for being as shook as he appears to be. He refuses to go back and place the daggers on the gods, because he is scared. And so Lady Macbeth refers to him as a child, and even asserts herself as the more brave one, by taking the daggers and planting them herself. She even smears the blood of Duncan on their faces, showing us that she is not squeamish, nor even put off by gore. The fact that she is so keen to get her hands dirty certainly subverts the expectations of the 11th century noblewoman, and gives her a more striking edge when compared to the women of the time period. Interestingly, Lady Macbeth is the only noblewoman in the play, and perhaps one of the only women in Shakespeare's plays who does not answer to a man, least of all her husband, who seems to answer to her, and one she openly demeans. Just look at what she tells him in the wake of Duncan's death. My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white. Basically meaning, I murdered Duncan too, but at least I'm not a pussy about it. Of course, by the third act, we begin to realise as does Lady Macbeth, that she has awoken something in her husband that not even she can control. It becomes her asking Macbeth what he is scheming, and it becomes her in the dark, as Macbeth plots the death of Banquo and Fleance. As mentioned, the dynamic shifts, and no longer does Lady Macbeth find herself chastising her husband for his weaknesses, but more so succumbs to the reality that he is now something far more wicked than she could ever imagine. By the third act, she even tells him to relax, to stop thinking about Duncan's murder, and to put on a happy face, so that he might make his guests feel more welcome. It's almost as if she's trying to re-establish some normality to their marriage, possibly reminiscing when things were simpler, and possibly feeling the weight of guilt for having orchestrated the murder of Duncan. At least then, Lady Macbeth had control over the situation. Now, as she watches Macbeth act in secrecy, and later sees him talking to an empty chair, which he believes is occupied by the ghost of Banquo, she realises she has no control over him, and that Macbeth is his own time bomb, one that not even her cunning can diffuse. The next time we see Lady Macbeth, we learn from the gentlewoman and the doctor that she has been sleepwalking. We see the infamous scene where she proceeds to wash her hands in a trance, trying to get the blood of Duncan of her skin, but failing to do so. We see her confess to the murder of Duncan in this strange trance, and before the gentlewoman and the doctor, no less, before she moans that she can even smell Duncan's blood on her hands. Wash your hands, put on your nightgown, look not so pale, I tell you yet again, Banquo's buried, he cannot come out of one's grave. We hear her say this, and it is evident she is arguing with Macbeth in this dream state, trying her best to convince her husband that Banquo has not risen from the dead and that the ghost he thought he saw was just a figment of his imagination. The washing of her hands becomes such an iconic scene because it reveals the guilt that Lady Macbeth has for killing Duncan, and that much like how she resists killing him because he reminds her of her father, we see a more humane side to her, that she is able to perceive feelings of regret at all. It is almost as if Shakespeare seeks to paint Lady Macbeth in a light in which we can feel some sorrow for her, for what was once a seemingly controlled woman has become a complete wreck. The irony is that she has become the very thing in which she condemned Macbeth for, and that for all her scheming and malice, her guilt has consumed her and made her even more demented than her husband. Furthermore, this is the last time we see Lady Macbeth alive before she commits suicide, and like Goneril in King Lear, This is done off-screen, at the point in which she realises there is no turning back. Other characters do not get the luxury of deciding their fate, as we see in the tragic character of Banquo. Banquo first appears as a close friend and brother in arms to Macbeth, and is offered the same level of appreciation and praise by the Captain and the King in the opening moments of the play. Like Macbeth, he too is described as this unstoppable warrior, who performed many valiant deeds on the battlefield, but yet it seems as if Banquo becomes overshadowed by Macbeth's status, as well as by the fact that he is seemingly snubbed when it comes to the receiving of titles. It is Macbeth who becomes the thane of Cawdor, and it is Macbeth who receives the honour of hosting the king at his house. Realistically, Banquo gets nothing but a pat on the back, but given what we know about his character thus far, we understand that Banquo isn't the sort of man who looks into these sorts of things too much. You might say that Banquo has a simple life, content with what he has, with no real need to aspire for more. We see this in how differently he reacts to the witches when compared to Macbeth, as he tells them, Speak then, to me, who neither beg nor fear your favours nor your hate. Unlike Macbeth, Banquo here declares that whilst he's mildly interested in what the witches have to say about him, he doesn't really care. It's almost like someone asking for their horoscope to be read, whilst knowing it really has little effect on how their life is going to turn out. Bankroll is merely humouring the witches, and evidently does not take their words as seriously as Macbeth does. For when Angus and Ross arrive to deliver the news of Macbeth's promotion, Bankroll seemingly forgets the whole thing, as he revels in their conversation. Macbeth on the other hand gives way to a monologue about the witches'words, and becomes dazed by the whole thing. Whilst it's true that Macbeth puts more importance on the witches'words, it isn't true to say that Banquo is completely unaffected. He tells Macbeth in Act 2, Scene 2 that he has been having dreams of the witches, and this comes after he had previously told his son Fleance that he cannot sleep because of his nightmares and that,"...a heavy summons lies like a lead upon me, and yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers, restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature gives way to in repose." and this tells us that he has a lot on his mind and that it is preventing him from getting any rest. Whilst he seems to initiate a dialogue with Macbeth, possibly to relieve himself of these thoughts, Macbeth tells him that he himself does not think about the witches anymore, and never gives Banquo the platform to speak of what his dreams were actually about. Perhaps the words of the witches did indeed get to Banquo, but that he ended up concealing his feelings and was able to suppress his thoughts in a way that Macbeth was not able to. By the third act and after Duncan's death, Banquo becomes one of the first characters to suspect foul play. He says to himself, Thou hast it now, King Cawdor. Glamis, all as the weird women promised, and I fear thou playest most foully for it."By this he pretty much calls out Macbeth, believing that he had a hand in Duncan's murder, and that he is not the honourable man he thought he was, but indeed someone he will need to watch out for, especially given that the witches predicted it would be his sons who would be kings, and not Macbeth's. Whilst we don't get to see much in the way of the heroics of Macbeth and Banquo, but merely hear of their deeds from the other characters, We do get a glimpse of Banquo's courage as he tells his son to flee during his murder.

Oh treachery, fly good Fleance, fly fly fly, thou mayest revenge. He bears little regard to his own safety and is focused only on the safety of his son, whilst also foreshadowing the potential for Fleance to return and exact revenge. Whilst Banquo suffers what some may seem a premature death, his demise echoes throughout the rest of the play and becomes the catalyst for the true turn of Macbeth, from an ambitious man to a madman.

Interestingly, whilst we learn that Banquo's sons are destined to become kings in foreign lands, it is never actually specified whether Fleance himself becomes a king, nor whether he ever does return to Scotland. Given that Macduff assumes kingship, it would seem that there would be little revenge for Fleance to have. Amongst the side characters in Macbeth, none get their 15 minutes of fame as much as Mac- Duff does, mostly because he becomes the source of Macbeth's rage.

With Banquo out of the way, Macbeth seems to require a new candidate to fuel his paranoia and guilt, and none are better suited for that than the man who had suspected him from the very beginning. Remember, it is Macduff who finds Duncan's body, and it is Macduff who expresses suspicion when he questions Macbeth as to why he killed the servants who had supposedly killed Duncan. This makes him a prime adversary of Macbeth, and perhaps a man with enough influence that he can do harm to Macbeth's rule, possibly enough that he can influence others into seeing Macbeth for what he truly is, a blatant murderer.

Macduff is one of the more bold side characters in the way he adheres to his own morals and principles. For one, he does not attend Macbeth's coronation and chooses to flee to England instead. Unlike many of the other nobles who are unnamed in the play, Macduff does not pretend to support Macbeth.

and this marks him out as one of the more virtuous characters of the play, although not so virtuous. Bearing in mind, this is the same man who flees to England and leaves behind his wife and son. While you might argue that Macduff fleeing was of the utmost urgency given that the death of Banquo may have triggered him into believing he was next, the abandoning of his family is not a heroic characteristic.

Even his wife expresses the same disappointment in him. To leave his wife to leave his babies, his mansion and his titles in a place from whence himself does fly. He loves us not, he wants the natural touch.

For the poor wren, the most diminutive of birds, will fight, her young ones in her nest, against the owl. All is the fear and nothing is the love, as little is the wisdom where the flight. So runs against all reason."And what she is saying here is that Macduff is a coward for leaving. and that even the smallest birds will fight for their family and their nests. Yet Macduff has left them in the very danger that he sought to relieve himself of. Personally, I agree with her. Even if Macduff feared his death was imminent, he should have still returned for his family and taken the honourable death. Because of Macduff's flight or fight system kicking in, in this case obviously flight, his wife and son pay the ultimate price and are brutally murdered, along with all their servants. Whilst this is undeniably Macbeth's doing, one might argue that Macduff shares in the responsibility of their death, for he surely could have done more to save them, instead of saving his own skin. In fact, Malcolm actually calls him out on his abandonment of them, saying, Why in that rawness left you wife and child, those precious motives, those strong knots of love, without leave-taking? He pretty much asks him how could you leave behind your wife and child? and how could he be expected to trust a man in battle who would do something so heartless? Surprisingly, Macduff does not offer a response. Even here, it's almost as if Macduff doesn't care about his wife and son. But that all changes when Ross brings him the news of their demise. Macduff gives way to a passionate, angry outburst, and it becomes clear that this cowardly man actually has a backbone, or at least, he attains one in the realisation that his children are dead. He says of Macbeth, He cannot even begin to fathom that Macbeth has done this, and points out the brutality of the kill, noting that Macbeth doesn't even have children, so what gives him the right to strike those that are not his? He continues in his grief, I cannot but remember such things that were most precious to me. Did heaven look on and would not take their part? Sinful Macduff, they were all struck for thee. Not that I am, not for their own demerits, but for mine fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now. It's here we do see that Macduff did care about his family and that perhaps, maybe, he did act a little too hastily in getting himself out of danger before his family. His neglectfulness cannot be excused however. And while Shakespeare does try to show Macduff as a tragic character, one who put his own needs before his family and ultimately regretting it, he's still a douchebag for doing it in the first place. In terms of plot however, it does set Macduff up quite nicely as something of a protagonist, and it at least gives him motive for wanting to kill Macbeth as much as he does. No longer is this about avenging Duncan, or even for the political state of Scotland, but instead it is now personal. Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself, within my sword's length, said him, Macduff announces, and it becomes clear that the only thing he wants now is revenge. It is through this revenge that Macduff is absolved, at least in the eyes of some of the audience, who believe that by killing Macbeth, he earned the justice that he was after. For me though, while I'm glad that Macduff gets to kill Macbeth, given that his family was horrendously butchered, we still can't overlook that had Macduff been a better husband and father, he wouldn't have needed the vengeance at all. Then again, it could also be true that without this driving motivation in Macduff's mind, he wouldn't have been able to kill Macbeth, and that given the witch's prophecy, he was one of the only men in Scotland who could have done so. One of the clear themes of the entire play is the ambition of man, Macbeth in particular. But in this instance, Shakespeare seeks to highlight the perils of said ambition going unchecked, and that there is a thing as being too ambitious. Shakespeare shows us how dangerous ambition can be, in that it can even lead a man to cost aside his moral obligations, and even his principles, if it means bettering himself and achieving that which he truly desires. I mean, just look at Macbeth, a man who ends up killing most of his closest allies, if only to maintain the facade that he is the true king. The same ambition is of course also seen in Lady Macbeth, and Shakespeare furthermore emphasises the power of ambition. in that it can even subvert the expectations of women, in that they can become just as bloodthirsty as men in that time period in order to get what they want. The problem with ambition is also identified quite prominently in this play, in that enough is never enough. It pokes at the idea that no matter how far a man comes, he will never be truly satisfied, and that those who are truly driven are almost cursed to feed a hunger that cannot be sated. We see this in Macbeth in the way he uses violence to warrant his control over the kingdom, and that after killing Duncan, he soon succumbs to the need to kill Banquo, and Fleance, and Macduff, and Malcolm, and the list would likely have never ended. There was always going to be someone to oppose Macbeth, and this is partly due to his paranoia, but also because of his obsession to secure his position, something that his ambition deems as an absolute necessity. Despite being pushed by the witches, It is arguable as to whether their hand in the matter was a catalyst for Macbeth's desire of the throne, or whether they'd simply accelerated the process of him becoming the tyrant that he is. What's most interesting is that neither Macbeth nor Lady Macbeth understand that it is their ambition which makes them cross such moral boundaries, and that they are so consumed by the gratification of having power that they neglect to observe the reasons why they want what they want so badly. As we've mentioned throughout this video, Macbeth's ambition becomes fused with his paranoia, making for a dangerous combination. Where most men would take pride and enjoy the fruits of their labour for having grafted to get to the top, Macbeth instead becomes anxious and volatile. In a sense, you might say that despite having achieved that which he schemed so hard to get, Macbeth truly ends up with nothing. You might say that here, Shakespeare is alluding to that age-old saying that one should be careful what they wish for. because they just might get it. Of course I learned that the hard way in becoming a YouTuber, and being a glutton for punishment, I went and opened two channels. Greed personified, eh? But with that shameless confession out of the way, if you are interested in helping a humble creator such as myself, then feel free to donate to the cause over on Patreon. A simple dollar a month will go a tremendously long way in helping me secure more artwork for the channel, and eventually boosting up the quality of each video. As always guys, if you've enjoyed today's video then don't forget to give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe. Until the next time.

Transcript for:Exploring Ambition in Macbeth

Transcript for:
Exploring Ambition in Macbeth