Play Synopsis - Macbeth

Online Shakespeare

PLAY SYNOPSIS, THE CHARACTER OF MACBETH & ANALYSES - MACBETH

SIMPLE STORYLINE:

When Duncan the Meek reigned king of Scotland, there lived a great thane, or lord called Macbeth. This Macbeth was a near kinsman to the king, and in great esteem at court for his valour and conduct in the wars; an example of which he had lately given, in defeating a rebel army assisted by the troops of Norway in terrible numbers.

The two Scottish generals, Macbeth and Banquo, returning victorious from this great battle, their way lay over a blasted heath, where they were stopped by the strange appearance of three figures like women, except that they had beards, and their withered skins and wild attire made them look not like any earthly creatures. Macbeth first addressed them, when they, seemingly offended, laid each one her choppy finger upon her skinny lips, in token of silence; and the first of them saluted Macbeth with the title of thane of Glamis. The general was not a little startled to find himself known by such creatures; but how much more, when the second of them followed up that salute by giving him the title of thane of Cawdor, to which honour he had no pretensions; and again the third bid him 'All hail! king that shalt be hereafter!' Such a prophetic greeting might well amaze him, who knew that while the king's sons lived he could not hope to succeed to the throne. Then turning to Banquo, they pronounced him, in a sort of riddling terms, to be lesser than Macbeth and greater! not so happy, but much happier! and prophesied that though he should never reign, yet his sons after him should be kings in Scotland. They then turned into air, and vanished: by which the generals knew them to be the weird sisters, or witches.
While they stood pondering on the strangeness of this adventure, there arrived certain messengers from the king, who were empowered by him to confer upon Macbeth the dignity of thane of Cawdor: an event so miraculously corresponding with the prediction of the witches astonished Macbeth, and he stood wrapped in amazement, unable to make reply to the messengers; and in that -point of time swelling hopes arose in his mind that the prediction of the third witch might in like manner have its accomplishment, and that he should one day reign king in Scotland.

Turning to Banquo, he said: 'Do you not hope that your children shall be kings, when what the witches promised to me has so wonderfully come to pass?' 'That hope,' answered the general, 'might enkindle you to aim at the throne; but oftentimes these ministers of darkness tell us truths in little things, to betray us into deeds of greatest consequence.'

But the wicked suggestions of the witches had sunk too deep into the mind of Macbeth to allow him to attend to the warnings of the good Banquo. From that time he bent all his thoughts on how to compass the throne of Scotland.

Macbeth had a wife, to whom he communicated the strange prediction of the weird sisters, and its partial accomplishment. She was a bad, ambitious woman, and so as her husband and herself could arrive at greatness, she cared not much by what means. She spurred on the reluctant purpose of Macbeth, who felt compunction at the thoughts of blood, and did not cease to represent the murder of the king as a step absolutely necessary to the fulfillment of the flattering prophecy.

It happened at this time that the king, who out of his royal condescension would oftentimes visit his principal nobility upon gracious terms, came to Macbeth's house, attended by his two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, and a numerous train of thanes and attendants, the more to honour Macbeth for the triumphal success of his wars.

The castle of Macbeth was pleasantly situated, and the air about it was sweet and wholesome, which appeared by the nests which the martlet, or swallow, had built under all the jutting friezes and buttresses of the building, wherever it found a place of advantage; for where those birds most breed and haunt, the air is observed to be delicate. The king entered well-pleased with the place, and not less so with the attentions and respect of his honoured hostess, lady Macbeth, who had the art of covering treacherous purposes with smiles; and could look like the innocent flower, while she was indeed the serpent under it.

The king being tired with his journey, went early to bed, and in his state-room two grooms of his chamber (as was the custom) slept beside him. He had been unusually pleased with his reception, and had made presents before he retired to his principal officers; and among the rest, had sent a rich diamond to lady Macbeth, greeting her by the name of his most kind hostess.

Now was the middle of night, when over half the world nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse men's minds asleep, and none but the wolf and the murderer is abroad. This was the time when lady Macbeth waked to plot the murder of the king. She would not have undertaken a deed so abhorrent to her sex, but that she feared her husband's nature, that it was too full of the milk of human kindness, to do a contrived murder. She knew him to be ambitious, but withal to be scrupulous, and not yet prepared for that height of crime which commonly in the end accompanies inordinate ambition. She had won him to consent to the murder, but she doubted his resolution; and she feared that the natural tenderness of his disposition (more humane than her own) would come between, and defeat the purpose. So with her own hands armed with a dagger, she approached the king's bed; having taken care to ply the grooms of his chamber so with wine, that they slept intoxicated, and careless of their charge. There lay Duncan in a sound sleep after the fatigues of his journey, and as she viewed him earnestly, there was something in his face, as he slept, which resembled her own father; and she had not the courage to proceed.

She returned to confer with her husband. His resolution had begun to stagger. He considered that there were strong reasons against the deed. In the first place, he was not only a subject, but a near kinsman to the king; and he had been his host and entertainer that day, whose duty, by the laws of hospitality, it was to shut the door against his murderers, not bear the knife himself. Then he considered how just and merciful a king this Duncan had been, how clear of offence to his subjects, how loving to his nobility, and in particular to him; that such kings are the peculiar care of Heaven, and their subjects doubly bound to revenge their deaths. Besides, by the favours of the king, Macbeth stood high in the opinion of all sorts of men, and how would those honours be stained by the reputation of so foul a murder!

In these conflicts of the mind lady Macbeth found her husband inclining to the better part, and resolving to proceed no further. But she being a woman not easily shaken from her evil purpose, began to pour in at his ears words which infused a portion of her own spirit into his mind, assigning reason upon reason why he should not shrink from what he had undertaken; how easy the deed was; how soon it would be over; and how the action of one short night would give to all their nights and days to come sovereign sway and royalty! Then she threw contempt on his change of purpose, and accused him of fickleness and cowardice; and declared that she had given suck, and knew how tender it was to love the babe that milked her; but she would, while it was smiling in her face, have plucked it from her breast, and dashed its brains out, if she had so sworn to do it, as he had sworn to perform that murder. Then she added, how practicable it was to lay the guilt of the deed upon the drunken sleepy grooms. And with the valour of her tongue she so chastised his sluggish resolutions, that he once more summoned up courage to the bloody business.

So, taking the dagger in his hand, he softly stole in the dark to the room where Duncan lay; and as he went, he thought he saw another dagger in the air, with the handle towards him, and on the blade and at the point of it drops of blood; but when he tried to grasp at it, it was nothing but air, a mere phantasm proceeding from his own hot and oppressed brain and the business he had in hand.

Getting rid of this fear, he entered the king's room, whom he despatched with one stroke of his dagger. just as he had done the murder, one of the grooms, who slept in the chamber, laughed in his sleep, and the other cried: 'Murder,' which woke them both; but they said a short prayer; one of them said: 'God bless us!' and the other answered 'Amen'; and addressed themselves to sleep again. Macbeth, who stood listening to them, tried to say 'Amen,' when the fellow said 'God bless us!' but, though he had most need of a blessing, the word stuck in his throat, and he could not pronounce it.

Again he thought he heard a voice which cried: 'Sleep no more: Macbeth doth murder sleep, the innocent sleep, that nourishes life.' Still it cried: 'Sleep no more,' to all the house. 'Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.'

With such horrible imaginations Macbeth returned to his listening wife, who began to think he had failed of his purpose, and that the deed was somehow frustrated. He came in so distracted a state, that she reproached him with his want of firmness, and sent him to wash his hands of the blood which stained them, while she took his dagger, with purpose to stain the cheeks of the grooms with blood, to make it seem their guilt.

Morning came, and with it the discovery of the murder, which could not be concealed; and though Macbeth and his lady made great show of grief, and the proofs against the grooms (the dagger being produced against them and their faces smeared with blood) were sufficiently strong, yet the entire suspicion fell upon Macbeth, whose inducements to such a deed were so much more forcible than such poor silly grooms could be supposed to have; and Duncan's two sons fled. Malcolm, the eldest, sought for refuge in the English court; and the youngest, Donalbain, made his escape to Ireland.

The king's sons, who should have succeeded him, having thus vacated the throne, Macbeth as next heir was crowned king, and thus the prediction of the weird sisters was literally accomplished.

Though placed so high, Macbeth and his queen could not forget the prophecy of the weird sisters, that, though Macbeth should be king, yet not his children, but the children of Banquo, should be kings after him. The thought of this, and that they had defiled their hands with blood, and done so great crimes, only to place the posterity of Banquo upon the throne, so rankled within them, that they determined to put to death both Banquo and his son, to make void the predictions of the weird sisters, which in their own case had been so remarkably brought to pass.

For this purpose they made a great supper, to which they invited all the chief thanes; and, among the rest, with marks of particular respect, Banquo and his son Fleance were invited. The way by which Banquo was to pass to the palace at night was beset by murderers appointed by Macbeth, who stabbed Banquo; but in the scuffle Fleance escaped. From that Fleance descended a race of monarchs who afterwards filled the Scottish throne, ending with James the Sixth of Scotland and the First of England, under whom the two crowns of England and Scotland were united.

At supper, the queen, whose manners were in the highest degree affable and royal, played the hostess with a gracefulness and attention which conciliated every one present, and Macbeth discoursed freely with his thanes and nobles, saying, that all that was honourable in the country was under his roof, if he had but his good friend Banquo present, whom yet he hoped he should rather have to chide for neglect, than to lament for any mischance. Just at these words the ghost of Banquo, whom he had caused to be murdered, entered the room and placed himself on the chair which Macbeth was about to occupy. Though Macbeth was a bold man, and one that could have faced the devil without trembling, at this horrible sight his cheeks turned white with fear, and he stood quite unmanned with his eyes fixed upon the ghost. His queen and all the nobles, who saw nothing but perceived him gazing (as they thought) upon an empty chair, took it for a fit of distraction; and she reproached him, whispering that it was but the same fancy which made him see the dagger in the air, when he was about to kill Duncan. But Macbeth continued to see the ghost, and gave no heed to all they could say, while he addressed it with distracted words, yet so significant, that his queen, fearing the dreadful secret would be -disclosed, in great haste dismissed the guests, excusing the infirmity of Macbeth as a disorder he was often troubled with.

To such dreadful fancies Macbeth was subject. His queen and he had their sleeps afflicted with terrible dreams, and the blood of Banquo troubled them not more than the escape of Fleance, whom now they looked upon as father to a line of kings who should keep their posterity out of the throne. With these miserable thoughts they found no peace, and Macbeth determined once more to seek out the weird sisters, and know from them the worst.
He sought them in a cave upon the heath, where they, who knew by foresight of his coming, were engaged in preparing their dreadful charms, by which they conjured up infernal spirits to reveal to them futurity. Their horrid ingredients were toads, bats, and serpents, the eye of a newt, and the tongue of a dog, the leg of a lizard, and the wing of the night-owl, the scale of a dragon, the tooth of a wolf, the maw of the ravenous salt-sea shark, the mummy of a witch, the root of the poisonous hemlock (this to have effect must be digged in the dark), the gall of a goat, and the liver of a Jew, with slips of the yew tree that roots itself in graves, and the finger of a dead child: all these were set on to boil in a great kettle, or cauldron, which, as fast as it grew too hot, was cooled with a baboon's blood: to these they poured in the blood of a sow that had eaten her young, and they threw into the flame the grease that had sweaten from a murderer's gibbet. By these charms they bound the infernal spirits to answer their questions.

It was demanded of Macbeth, whether he would have his doubts resolved by them, or by their masters, the spirits. He, nothing daunted by the dreadful ceremonies which he saw, boldly answered: 'Where are they? let me see them.' And they called the spirits, which were three. And the first arose in the likeness of an armed head, and he called Macbeth by name, and bid him beware of the thane of Fife; for which caution Macbeth thanked him; for Macbeth had entertained a jealousy of Macduff, the thane of Fife.

And the second spirit arose in the likeness of a bloody child, and he called Macbeth by name, and bid him have no fear, but laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born should have power to hurt him; and he advised him to be bloody, bold, and resolute. 'Then live, Macduff' cried the king; 'what need I fear of thee? but yet I will make assurance doubly sure. Thou shalt not live; that I may tell pale hearted Fear it lies, and sleep in spite of thunder.'

That spirit being dismissed, a third arose in the form of a child crowned, with a tree in his hand. He called Macbeth by name, and comforted him against conspiracies, saying, that he should never be vanquished, until the wood of Birnam to Dunsinane Hill should come against him. 'Sweet bodements! good!' cried Macbeth; 'who can unfix the forest, and move it from its earth-bound roots? I see I shall live the usual period of man's life, and not be cut off by a violent death. But my heart throbs to know one thing. Tell me, if your art can tell so much, if Banquo's issue shall ever reign in this kingdom?' Here the cauldron sank into the ground, and a noise of music was heard, and eight shadows, like kings, passed by Macbeth, and Banquo last, who bore a glass which showed the figures of many more, and Banquo all bloody smiled upon Macbeth, and pointed to them; by which Macbeth knew that these were the posterity of Banquo, who should reign after him in Scotland; and the witches, with a sound of soft music, and with dancing, making a show of duty and welcome to Macbeth, vanished. And from this time the thoughts of Macbeth were all bloody and dreadful.

The first thing he heard when he got out of the witches' cave, was that Macduff, thane of Fife, had fled to England, to join the army which was forming against him under Malcolm, the eldest son of the late king, with intent to displace Macbeth, and set Malcolm, the rightful heir, upon the throne. Macbeth, stung with rage, set upon the castle of Macduff, and put his wife and children, whom the thane had left behind, to the sword, and extended the slaughter to all who claimed the least relationship to Macduff.

Henry Fuseli 'The Three Witches' After 1783

These and suchlike deeds alienated the minds of all his chief nobility from him. Such as could, fled to join with Malcolm and Macduff, who were now approaching with a powerful army, which they had raised in England; and the rest secretly wished success to their arms, though for fear of Macbeth they could take no active part. His recruits went on slowly. Everybody hated the tyrant; nobody loved or honoured him; but all suspected him, and he began to envy the condition of Duncan, whom he had murdered, who slept soundly in his grave, against whom treason had done its worst: steel nor poison, domestic malice nor foreign levies, could hurt him any longer.

While these things were acting, the queen, who had been the sole partner in his wickedness, in whose bosom he could sometimes seek a momentary repose from those terrible dreams which afflicted them both nightly, died, it is supposed, by her own hands, unable to bear the remorse of guilt, and public hate; by which event he was left alone, without a soul to love or care for him, or a friend to whom he could confide his wicked purposes.

He grew careless of life, and wished for death; but the near approach of Malcolm's army roused in him what remained of his ancient courage, and he determined to die (as he expressed it) 'with armour on his back.' Besides this, the hollow promises of the witches had filled him with a false confidence, and he remembered the sayings of the spirits, that none of woman born was to hurt him, and that he was never to be vanquished till Birnam wood should come to Dunsinane, which he thought could never be. So he shut himself up in his castle, whose impregnable strength was such as defied a siege: here he sullenly waited the approach of Malcolm. When, upon a day, there came a messenger to him, pale and shaking with fear, almost unable to report that which he had seen; for he averred, that as he stood upon his watch on the hill, he looked towards Birnam, and to his thinking the wood began to move! 'Liar and slave!' cried Macbeth: 'if thou speakest false, thou shalt hang alive upon the next tree, till famine end thee. If thy tale be true, I care not if thou dost as much by me': for Macbeth now began to faint in resolution, and to doubt the equivocal speeches of the spirits. He was not to fear till Birnam wood should come to Dunsinane; and now a wood did move! 'However,' said he, 'if this which he avouches be true, let us arm and out. There is no flying hence, nor staying here. I begin to be weary of the sun, and wish my life at an end.' With these desperate speeches he sallied forth upon the besiegers, who had now come up to the castle.

The strange appearance which had given the messenger an idea of a wood moving is easily solved. When the besieging army marched through the wood of Birnam, Malcolm, like a skillful general, instructed his soldiers to hew down every one a bough and bear it before him, by way of concealing the true numbers of his host. This marching of the soldiers with boughs had at a distance the appearance which had frightened the messenger. Thus were the words of the spirit brought to pass, in a sense different from that in which Macbeth had understood them, and one great hold of his confidence was gone.

And now a severe skirmishing took place, in which Macbeth, though feebly supported by those who called themselves his friends, but in reality hated the tyrant and inclined to the party of Malcolm and Macduff, yet fought with the extreme of rage and valour, cutting to pieces all who were opposed to him, till he came to where Macduff was fighting. Seeing Macduff, and remembering the caution of the spirit who had counselled him to avoid Macduff, above all men, he would have turned, but Macduff, who had been seeking him through the whole fight, opposed his turning, and a fierce contest ensued; Macduff giving him many foul reproaches for the murder of his wife and children. Macbeth, whose soul was charged enough with blood of that family already, would still have declined the combat; but Macduff still urged him to it, calling him tyrant, murderer, hell-hound, and villain.

Then Macbeth remembered the words of the spirit, how none of woman born should hurt him; and smiling confidently he said to Macduff. 'Thou losest thy labour, Macduff. As easily thou mayest impress the air with thy sword, as make me vulnerable. I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman born.'

'Despair thy charm,' said Macduff, 'and let that lying spirit whom thou hast served, tell thee, that Macduff was never born of woman, never as the ordinary manner of men is to be born, but was untimely taken from his mother.'

'Accursed be the tongue which tells me so,' said the trembling Macbeth, who felt his last hold of confidence give way; 'and let never man in future believe the lying equivocations of witches and juggling spirits, who deceive us in words which have double senses, and while they keep their promise literally, disappoint our hopes with a different meaning. I will not fight with thee.'

'Then live!' said the scornful Macduff; 'we will have a show of thee, as men show monsters, and a painted board, on which shall be written: "Here men may see the tyrant!"'

'Never,' said Macbeth, whose courage returned with despair; 'I will not live to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, and to be baited with the curses of the rabble. Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, and thou opposed to me, who wast never born of woman, yet will I try the last.' With these frantic words he threw himself upon Macduff, who, after a severe struggle, in the end overcame him, and cutting off his head, made a present of it to the young and lawful king, Malcolm; who took upon him the government which, by the machinations of the usurper, he had so long been deprived of, and ascended the throne of Duncan the Meek, amid the acclamations of the nobles and the people.

Taken from: Papercamp.com

THE CHARACTER OF MACBETH

The play ‘Macbeth’ is a portrait of one man, Macbeth, showing how he changes. Although we are presented with his deterioration from good to evil, we can see his human side throughout the play, which makes it a tragedy. It is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, and has a very fast pace. Once Macbeth’s ambition has ‘set the ball rolling’, events happen quickly in the play as it gathers momentum. The themes of ‘Macbeth’ are ambition, effects of evil and violence, shown mainly by the language of the play, as in Shakespeare’s time plays were performed in daylight with very few props. Ambition is something that everyone can identify with, and ‘Macbeth’ is a compelling study of how ambition can destroy you, so the audience is interested in Macbeth’s character.
Our first impression of Macbeth is of a heroic, famous, popular man who is well liked by the king - Duncan refers to Macbeth as ‘noble Macbeth’.(Act 1 Scene 2,67) Macbeth is tempted by two sources of external evil - the witches and his wife, but he was already ambitious and they only increased this by making his ambitions seem like they could be reality. The war hero becomes a murderer and then dies a shameful and violent death. Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of evil and darkness mainly through his language, although scenes containing violent actions or the witches are often played in darkness. Shakespeare uses poetry (verse) as opposed to prose, as poetry often contains more metaphors and imagery, which he used to create a feeling of darkness and evil. The language gives an insight into the character of Macbeth - we see his ruthlessness and cruelty, but also fear, doubt and some scruples.
Macbeth’s first words, ‘So foul and fair a day I have not seen’ (Act 1:3, 36) immediately associate him with the witches because they say in the first scene ‘ fair is foul and foul is fair’ (1:1, 12), so evil is brought to mind. Macbeth is connected with the supernatural in the audience’s mind from the onset. This is the first thing that is not consistent with Macbeth’s image of a war hero.
In an aside later on in Act 1:3, Macbeth reveals that he is thinking of killing Duncan. Asides are very important because they give the audience an insight into the character’s mind. Once the audience knows how the character thinks, they tend to sympathise with him, which is another reason why ‘Macbeth’ is a tragedy. The aside follows closely Macbeth’s desires and doubts - he does not know whether ‘this supernatural soliciting’ is good or bad, but he dearly wants to be king. He describes the murder that he is imagining to be ‘horrible’(1:3, 137) and ‘makes my seated heart knock at my ribs’ (1:3, 135), showing that the whole idea disgusts and horrifies him, as it would any man who was brave and noble, but Macbeth cannot stop thinking about it, showing that he is considering the idea and is drawn to it, and that he has ambitions to be king within him already.
Macbeth is drawn to darkness, because he believes that it will hide his evil deeds. This is first shown when he says ‘stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires’ ( 1:4, 50). Macbeth is afraid that people will realise that he wants to be king and is prepared to kill for it, so he calls on the stars to hide their light, so people cannot see what he is thinking. This is again in an aside, so the audience are the only ones who know what Macbeth is thinking. Asides and soliloquies help the audience understand Macbeth and also paint the scene. The audience can see that he has become yet more drawn to evil.
Evidence that Macbeth has a human side and is very worried is found in a long soliloquy - a speech where Macbeth is alone on stage so we can again see what Macbeth is thinking. He is worried about his eternal soul, and what his punishment will be in Heaven if he kills Duncan. He thinks of reasons why he should not kill Duncan - ‘He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host he should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.’(1:7, 12-16) This shows that Macbeth is not totally evil, but his ambition spurs him on. Later in the scene, Macbeth decides not to commit the murder, but Lady Macbeth taunts him until he gives in, showing that he is weak, and Lady Macbeth is much the more dominant of the two. Lady Macbeth had said earlier ‘I fear thy nature, it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness’ (1:5, 14-15), showing that she knew that Macbeth was not strong enough or evil enough to murder Duncan on his own, and she would have to push him into it. This shows that Macbeth was decent, but not strong minded.
John Martin - 'Macbeth' 1820

As the time for Duncan’s murder draws nearer and nearer, Macbeth becomes more and more nervous, and is prone to hallucinations; for example when he says ‘Is this a dagger I see before me’ (2:1, 35) and ‘I see thee still and on thy blade dudgeon gouts of blood’(2:1, 45-46); he is imagining that he sees a dagger covered with blood pointing towards Duncan’s chamber. He later describes another hallucination - ‘Thou sure and firm-set earth, hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear thy very stones prate of my whereabouts’ (2:1, 56-58). He is afraid that the stones will call out to the people that he is a murderer. Both hallucinations show that he is sensitive and has big doubts about the murder, and he is not entirely a cold-blooded murderer, who would have no such scruples.
However, his language becomes more and more to do with evil as is shown by a large part of his soliloquy - ‘Now o’er the one half-world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates pale Hecate’s off’rings, and withered murderer alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf, whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, with Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design moves like a ghost.’(2:1, 49-46). At the beginning of this quote, Macbeth thinks that the world seems unnatural, and everything belonging to nature is dead, and nightmares are left to disturb sleep. He then goes on to think about the supernatural - Hecate was a goddess of witchcraft - and he thinks of murder as being an actual being, and describes it as creeping like a ghost towards its design with Tarquin’s ravishing strides (Tarquin was a Roman prince who raped a woman). Although this speech is all connected with evil, it shows that Macbeth is thinking deeply, and has a sensitive side.
When Macbeth has actually committed the deed, he is still imagining things, such as ‘Methought I heard a voice cry, "sleep no more: Macbeth does murder sleep"’(2:2, 38-39). Macbeth is afraid that he will never sleep again because of what he has done. Before this, he also said that he had ‘hangman’s hands’ (2:2, 30) which also shows that Macbeth feels guilty. The most significant imagery is when Macbeth is alone, and says ‘What hands are here? Ha! they pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No: this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.’(2:2, 62-66).Here Macbeth imagines that his hands are so stained with blood which signifies his guilt, that not even an ocean could wash his hands clean, but rather that his hands would stain the water with his blood, until everything he touched became as guilty as he was. The fact that Macbeth feels guilty shows that he is not just a cold-blooded murderer.
Macbeth by now is more dominant, and seems to rely more on darkness and evil than his wife, as he no longer tells her about his plans. When he decides to kill Banquo and Fleance, he does not tell her what he is going to do, but says ‘Then be thou jocund: ere the bat hath flown his cloistered flight, ere to black Hecate’s summons the shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums hath wrung night’s rote.’(3:2, 40-44) The language suggests that Macbeth is feeling more and more drawn to evil.
Macbeth shows that he is reliant on evil in his next speech - ‘Come, seeling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day and with the bloody and invisible hand cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale.’(3:2, 46-49). This also shows his insecurity after Duncan’s murder - he needs evil to destroy his conscience, so that he will not be overcome with guilt and back down at the last minute. Macbeth later seems to be on the brink of madness, when he imagines that he has seen Banquo’s ghost - his insecurity and guilt are driving him insane. At the end of that scene, Macbeth says, ‘I am in blood stepped so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er’(3:4, 136-138). He imagines himself to be in a river of blood, halfway across, so if he wanted to stop it would be as hard to go back as to go forwards. The blood signifies all of the evil and murders he has done and will do. Macbeth feels guilty, but he has gone so far that he is too consumed by evil to go back.
In the last act of the play, traces of Macbeth’s old, better character become more apparent. Macbeth seems wistful in one speech - ‘That which should accompany old age, as honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but in their stead, curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not.’(5:3, 24-28). Macbeth has realised that when he grows old he will not have the things that other people have, and that he would have had had he remained merely Thane of Cawdor, and a hero. No-one will truly love and honour him, but they will praise him because they are afraid of him and his tyranny. He has realised that he has paid a heavy price to become king, and now he is not sure if it is worth it.
Macbeth’s wife’s death sets him brooding on life’s futility. His speech: ‘She should hereafter; there would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle, life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.’ (5:5, 16-25),shows him to be bitter, and perhaps thinking about his own life ahead of him, now that his only ally is gone. He cannot see a meaning to his life.
Macbeth has been betrayed by the apparitions and Birnam wood is moving to Dunsinane, but Macbeth says ‘Blow wind, come wrack; at least we’ll die with harness on our back.’(5:5, 50-51). There is bravery in his decision to go down fighting.
When MacDuff finally finds Macbeth, Macbeth says ‘Of all men else I have avoided thee, but get thee back, my soul is too much charged with blood of thine already.’(5:8, 46). Macbeth feels guilty because he ordered the murders of MacDuff’s family already, and he knows that if he fights with MacDuff, he will win because he has a ‘charmed life’. There are traces of nobility in this - Macbeth does not want to use his unfair advantage unless he has to - he would rather not fight.
When Macbeth learns that MacDuff is not ‘of woman born’, he does not want to fight, but MacDuff says that he is a coward and he will exhibit him in captivity. Macbeth says ‘I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet and to be baited with the rabble’s curse. Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane and though opposed being of no woman born, yet I will try the last. Before my body, I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, MacDufff, and damned be him that first cries, "Hold, enough!"’ There is nobility in the way that Macbeth chooses to die fighting, and his remnants of dignity and pride make the thought of being subservient to Malcolm and being exhibited as a tyrant unbearable. Although Macbeth was hated as an ‘abhorred tyrant’(5:7 L10) by all, his pride and nobility were preserved by his decision to die rather than be captive.

http://papercamp.com/lit39.htm

ANALYSIS 1:

Macbeth is a play full of darkness, evil, and tragedy. It is the story of a man who goes against his conscience and commits a horrible deed which leads to his destruction and loss of everything he has around him. This includes the relationship he has with his wife, Lady Macbeth. In the end, he can blame no one but himself.

At the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a very strong relationship but this deteriorates later.

Act 1 Scene 5 is a key scene which shows just how close Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were at the beginning of the play; it shows their original relationship. Macbeth has written a letter to Lady Macbeth telling her of everything and in this letter states Iago that she helped him to get everything for him. The following speech where Lady Macbeth doubts that he can get to the title of King "he is too full of the milk of human kindness" shows just how close they were. It establishes the fact that she knew him so well, she knew what he was like and it emphasises the closeness of their relationship. She speaks of how he has enough ambition but not enough courage. His 'overriding ambition' is not enough. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth speak, they speak to each other with such closeness and bond; he calls her his "dearest chuck", his "partner of greatness". She knows that he is too weak to do anything and states her position in the murder "leave the rest to me".

In Act 1, Scene 7 establishes the force and power that Lady Macbeth possesses over her husband. Upon hearing of Macbeth's decision not to kill Duncan, she is outraged and starts to work her force and power upon him. She knows where he is most vulnerable and attacks him at his weak spot. She strikes him at his manhood and courage. This of course works on Macbeth and she knows that it will. No one calls Macbeth a coward. She says that he is a coward and attacks his manliness. "to be more than what you are, you would be so much more the man". She challenges his love for her and says that she would rather "dash the brains out" of her own child than break such a promise as Macbeth has to her. Whether she was bluffing, the imagery that Macbeth would have had in his mind at this point would have been frightening. To have the brains "dashed out" of his own child. Macbeth is so awed by this woman who is his wife, who has so much power that he cannot believe it. At this point in the play, Shakespeare re-confirms just how close the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is and that she has the power and he listens to whatever she has to say. Lady Macbeth is s major influence on Macbeth, but this of course changes later.

After the murder, Macbeth is still carrying the daggers and he seems to be quiet and uneasy. Lady Macbeth has to clean up what he has done wrong and has to return the daggers herself. Lady Macbeth is still very much in control. Here, Shakespeare defines both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's strong and weak characters. Lady Macbeth being the strong one yet as a duo, he tones them down to be nothing but two whispering, frightened villains.

Later on, when Macduff discovers the body of Duncan, Macbeth acts suspiciously and draws attention to himself. It is then that Lady Macbeth has to help him out and draw the attention away from him and to her by fainting. She does this later too, during the banquet scene. Lady Macbeth is always there to clean up after Macbeth and it shows that she is very concerned with him and he must not reveal himself. She tells him not to let himself be revealed.

In Act 3 Scene 2, the further deterioration of Macbeth and in particular, his relationship with Lady Macbeth is emphasised. Here, Lady Macbeth's character is shown to be a lonely woman who once knew everything that was going on in her life with Macbeth; she played a part in everything. She longs once again to have the relationship that she had with her husband, having a strong influence on him. She wants to know what is going on. He does not specifically tell her what is to be done but just hints that a "deed is to be done". This scene clearly shows what has become of their relationship. It is on a decline. They are no longer partners as Macbeth once said; his "dearest partner". They have swapped positions. She has lost the power that she once had and Macbeth has gained a power which he never had.

The banquet scene, apart from showing the guilt that Macbeth carries with him presents once again that Lady Macbeth is very alert and knows how to draw attention away from Macbeth, who fears the ghost of Banquo. She tells them to leave and she has once again saved himself from revealing himself, she has protected him again and this presents us with the fact that she still loves him and cares for him and wants to protect him. Something that Macbeth cannot give to her in return.

The sleepwalking scene in which Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and reveals her guilt and terror of what she has done is a contrast to what her character was like before. She was powerful and now she is so guilt ridden that she is at the state of sleepwalking. It presents us with an irony. In Act 2, where they have murdered Duncan she states that "a little bit of water shall clear us of this deed" and yet during her sleepwalking she says "out damn spot, out" and tries so hard to remove the blood. It proves the point that everything is not as easy as it seems. This woman who was once so powerful is now nothing more than a scared villain and although Lady Macbeth knew this about Macbeth, he doesn't seem to realise it about her.

The major scene in which the changes in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's relationship is shown is in Act 5 where he is told of Lady Macbeth's death. This scene shows just what the relationship has resulted to and the grief that he feels. The quote "she should have died hereafter" tells us that Macbeth is grieving and that he has lost all that he has. His wife, his "dearest chuck" and "dearest partner in greatness" has just died and he feels nothing. In contrast to Macduff's reaction to hearing of his wife's death, Macbeth is mild. His following speech "tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow" shows his weariness and his realisation that he has no future and that he has lost everything he ever had. He uses two metaphors about life. One of a "flickering candle" and the other "that life is just a series of phases". Shakespeare uses these to show what Macbeth's life has become.

Macbeth is a play that shows just what can happen when evil and strong ambition get involved. You deteriorate and in the process, can lose everything you have, including the relationship with that of your dearest wife.

Taken from: Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet

ANALYSIS 2:

Macbeth was a true Shakespearean tragic hero. He had many noble qualities as well as several tragic flaws. He was a courageous, brave and good nobleman who was haunted by superstition, moral cowardice and an overwhelming ambition. Progressively through the play, his flaws started consuming his qualities until they are that can be seen of him.

He and Banquo were leaders of King Duncan’s army. His personal powers and strength as a general won him the battle as described by the captain (I,2, "But all’s too weak:/ For brave Macbeth -- well he deserved that name -- / Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/ Which smoked with bloody execution,/ Like valor’s minion carved out his passage/ Till he faced the slave;"). Macbeth was even undiscouraged when he was attacked by the King of Norway, "assisted by that most disloyal traitor, the thane of Cawdor." Lady Macbeth convinced her husband to murder Duncan by putting his manhood and courage at stake (I,7, "When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man"). As Macbeth started degrading he lost some bravery (IV, 1, "That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies"). In his fight with Macduff, some of his old courage and strength returned.

Macbeth could be brave when it came to action but when he started thinking he would hesitate and would have to be urged into action by his wife or by the sense of security that he obtained from the prophecies of the supernatural. He changed his mind five times before murdering Duncan. The witches’ prophecy that he would be king made him decide to leave it to "chance" but Duncan’s announcement that Malcolm was to be his heir made Macbeth realise that he would have to take a course of action for the prophecies to come true. He changed his mind again before he reached home until his wife persuaded him that it could be done safely. Then he changed his mind again before finally being forced by Lady Macbeth to make up his mind to commit the murder.

Macbeth also did not fear the moral consequences of his crimes (I,7, "We’d jump the life to come"). After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth sinks into continuous moral degradation. He was in a savage frenzy when he planned the murder of Banquo and Macduff’s family. His morals sink so low that even his enemies said "Who then shall blame/ His pester’d senses to recoil and start,/ When all that is within him does condemn/ Itself for being there?"
Macbeth had great ambition and wished to stand well with the world. He had absolutely no feelings for others and he only cared about what others would think of him. The witches’ prophecies only encouraged this ambition to be king. The witches who symbolized Macbeth’s evil ambitions put his thoughts into actual words. The idea of murder had already occurred to him (I,3, "great prediction/ Of noble having and of noble having and of royal hope,/ That he seems rapt withal," "My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical," and I,7, "What beast wast then/ That made you break this enterprise to me?"). Macbeth himself acknowledged his "vaulting ambition" that would drive him to murder after Duncan evaded fate (I,3, "If chance will have me King, why,/ Chance may crown me") by announcing Malcolm as his Successor.

Macbeth’s powerful imagination made him already victim to superstition. His superstition was seen by his susceptibility to the witches’ influence unlike Banquo who still was not sure about their credibility. It was his superstition that made him so unquestioningly the promises of the apparitions and rest so easily assured. It was all his superstitions that made him cling to his belief in these promises when circumstances became difficult. His imagination was so strong that when it was left to roam uncontrolled his "function/ Is smother’d in surmise." This was seen in the "dagger" scene and in the panic which Macbeth suffers after the murder of Duncan. This was also seen with Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. His ensuing excitement put him in great danger of exposing his crimes completely.

Macbeth loved his wife very much. At the beginning of the play she participated avidly in his life and he informed her of everything that was going on (for example he sent her a letter telling her of the witches’ prophecies). He widely accepted her advice and ideas and they were both avid partners in the murder of Duncan. Macbeth was very affectionate with his wife and when he was speaking to her he often used words of endearment (Dearest love," "Dearest chuck" and "Sweet remembrancer"). At the end, he was so weary from everything that was going on that when he received the news of his wife’s death he accepted it with only a yearning resignation.

Macbeth’s whole story after Duncan’s murder was one of continuous character deterioration. Once he had begun his life of crime he became further and further detached from his wife to the point where she had lost all control over him. He had become so accustomed to violence that he did not hesitate at all in the planning of Banquo and Fleance’s murder ("The very firstling of my heart shall be/ The very firstling of my hand"). He even went as far as to murder Macduff’s wife and family when he knew that their death would not aid him in any way. He became so isolated to the point where he could not trust any of the other lords ("There’s not a one of them but in this house I keep a servant fee’d"). His cruelty and treachery ended up making all of Scotland suffer ("Sighs and groans and shrieks that rend the air, are made, not mark’d").

Macbeth started as a courageous and brave general who loved his wife very much. But because of the faults that must accompany every tragic hero, he was led to his ruin by his overwhelming ambition, superstition and moral cowardice. Macbeth changed from a noble hailed as the savior of his country, a "valiant cousin," a "worthy gentleman," to a man of boundless cruelty.

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