Looking through
the scenes of the play and finding the differences in characters I will map the
changes of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth .
In the second
scene of the play, Macbeth is praised for being loyal, brave and savage in
battle by the sergeant and Ross. Here Macbeth's violence and killings are
praised because they have preserved the rightful king. Duncan is grateful to Macbeth and says when
the treacherous Thane of Cawdor is captured he will be executed so awards
Macbeth the title 'Thane of Cawdor'. The
irony here is that Macbeth, the new Thane will be even more treacherous.
In the next
scene, act 1 scene 3, after Macbeth meets the witches, he tells us his thoughts
in his first soliloquy. He is already
thinking of murder by himself, without the witches giving him this idea. But for the moment he views a murder as only
'fantastical', meaning it only exists in his imagination. He asks himself, if the witches predictions
were evil, why have two good things they foresaw been true, and if the
predictions were good, why is he reacting so violently to himself.
In act 1 scene 4
Duncan says that his eldest son Malcom will succeed him as king. This is
unconventional as the Thanes normally elect
the king and Macbeth sees this as provocative. To him Malcom is just another obstacle
between himself and the throne. Macbeth
gives another soliloquy revealing his 'black and deep desires', although he
calls upon the stars to 'let not see' them. Macbeth's mask of loyalty and
honour hides these feelings from Duncan.
By this stage we
know that Macbeth's character is changing, and his inner greed to have more
power and be king is overcoming his loyal and brave personality. To show his gratitude to Macbeth, Duncan says
he will visit him at his castle. Doing
this he gives Macbeth the perfect opportunity to for-fill his ambition.
In act 1 scene 5,
when Lady Macbeth finds out from her husbands letter that the king is coming,
she sees the opportunity to kill Duncan and make Macbeth king. She knows Macbeth's ambitions, but says he
lacks the ruthlessness, and although Macbeth will take an opportunity, he wants
to earn his honours honestly. When
Macbeth arrives she tells him he must deceive Duncan and hide his real
thoughts, saying people can read his thoughts through his face. She tells him to
'Look like the
innocent flower but be like the serpent under it'.
In act 1 scene 7
Macbeth cannot decide whether to kill Duncan or not. He says that if the murder
could be done quickly and without consequence, he must do it quickly. He knows Duncan is his 'kinsman' and that
Macbeth is his host and subject, and should therefore protect him. He also knows the murder would be wrong and
he would end up paying for it. This is a
moral problem for Macbeth, who is a decisive man and it makes him
hesitate. Macbeth's conscience persuades
him not to kill Duncan because of Duncans kindness and goodness, and Macbeth
would be condemned to 'deep damnation if he kills the king. Macbeth admits that it is only his selfish ambition driving him and worries, as
Lady Macbeth did, if his ability to achieve it is as great as it needs to
be. When she comes in he tells her he
will not murder Duncan. He does not tell
her the reasons for not murdering Duncan he admitted earlier, but saying that
Duncan had given him 'new honours' and he wants to enjoy the 'golden' opinion
of everyone. He does this because he
does not want to admit to Lady Macbeth that he has a conscience and is unhappy
about doing wrong or evil, and does not want to be seen as weak. Lady Macbeth gives a strong and powerful
speech to him accusing him of being a coward and bringing into question his
manhood. She tells him that before she
went back on her word, as he did, she would throw her own baby sucking milk at
her nipple and
"dash'd the
brains out".
Her forceful use
of language conjures up images of horror, and it shows how far she would go to
get her own way. Macbeth again changes
his mind about the murder because of his wife's attack, but is still worried
what would happen to them if they failed.
She says that if he keeps his nerve they would not fail.
At the start of
act 2 scene 1 Macbeth talks with Banquo about the witches predictions. Banquo admits he has had disturbed sleep
caused by 'cursed thoughts' and has been troubled as the witches have made a
lasting impression on his mind. Macbeth
puts on the 'mask' as his wife had told him earlier and pretends not to have
thought about the witches predictions.
After he leaves Banquo and Fleance Macbeth sees a vision of a dagger
floating infront of him, covered in blood and is pointing towards him. He thinks the dagger is 'inviting' him to do
the murder. A once fearless soldier is
now tormented by visions of blood and
fear of the unknown. He fears he is
going insane. The bell rings and he goes
to commit the murder, the evil deep in him and his great ambitions driving him
to do it.
In the next scene
Macbeth comes in and says to Lady Macbeth that he killed Duncan as he
slept. He feels terrified and knows that
he will never be forgiven for this crime.
She tells him to wash his hands to get rid of the blood on them but he
says he has so much blood on his hands, rather than clean the blood off, he
would turn the water red. He starts to
feel that death is unimportant and he is no longer blessed.
When Duncan is
found dead and the guards are found drunk and with bloody knives Lennox says it appears to be the guards that killed
the king. Macbeth says that he was so
angry when he saw the dead Duncan, he killed the guards. This was not part of Macbeth's and Lady
Macbeth's plan and shows that Macbeth is starting to go his own way. Malcom and Donalbain flee the country afraid
that they may also be suspected of Duncans murder.
Macbeth now proclaims himself king, fore-filling his
ambitions.
Time passes and
Macbeth is an established king but still feels insecure. He remembers the witches predicting Banquos
sons being kings and also fears that Banquo knows too much about the meeting
with the witches and is becoming suspicious.
He also tells us he fears Banquo as he is brave, clever and wise and is
the only man he fears. He is so insecure
Macbeth arranges for Banquo and his son Fleance to be killed. By making others commit the murders Macbeth
does not feel guilty for the deaths of Banquo and Fleance. Until now Macbeth has counted on the witches
predictions being true, but now wants to prevent predictions that Banquos
children will become kings. He has again
not told Lady Macbeth about his further plans of murder. He does not need to rely on her any more and
does not tell her what is going on.
Macbeths final words in this scene tell us he has committed himself to
the path of evil.
At Macbeths
banquet the murderers arrive and tell Macbeth that Banquo was killed but
Fleance escaped. He thinks he sees
Banquos ghost and his reaction throws the banquet into turmoil. Lady Macbeth makes excuses for his strange
behaviour saying he just needs sleep. The ghost he sees is a vision of his
inner guilt and evil, like the vision of the dagger earlier in the play. The ghost and the guests have left and
Macbeth tells us that he feels he is wading in blood and that his course has left
him so deep he may as well carry on:
" I am in
blood
Stepped in so
far, that, should I wade no more
Returning were as
tedious as go o'er".
At he beginning
of scene four Macbeth goes to see the witches for more predictions and is shown
three apparitions and a vision of the future.
He is still relying on the witches for information and is ready to
believe any predictions they have.
Macbeth is told
of Macduff leaving Scotland and being a man of action he orders all at Macduffs
castle to be murdered, including his wife and children. Macbeth is become ruthless and kill at will
without feeling guilt. He is now a tyrant, ruling with fear.
Macbeths enemies
have gathered and are approaching his castle ready to attack him. Macbeth tries to reassure himself that every
thing will turn out all right, but he really knows that, that is a false
hope. He admits that because of his
actions he does not have most of the things which come with old age, friends,
love and honour and regrets this. Inspite of all the dreadful things Macbeth
has done we are made to feel slightly sympathetic towards him. He does not give up though. He orders for his
armour to be brought to him and he will fight until the bitter end. This is the brave soldier we saw at the
beginning emerging again. Macbeth says
that once he would have been frightened by a shriek at night, but now he has
seen so many horrors he is no longer frightened. He is then startled by a cry. Lady Macbeth has died, and this makes Macbeth
feel numb. He talks about how life is
pointless ending in only 'dusty death'.
Macbeth sees Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane Hill in a way he had not
expected, and with that he goes out to battle.
Macbeth confronts
his enemies still feeling relatively safe knowing that the witches prediction
that Macbeth can not be killed by 'a man not born of woman'. After killing young Siward the castle is
captured and Macbeth meets Macduff.
Macbeth now learns that 'Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely
ripped'. Macbeth thinks the witches have
tricked him and he refuses to fight. In that case says Macduff, he will be put
on display like a rare monster. These
words are too much for Macbeth and he hurls himself at Macduff. Macbeth is
killed and his head severed and put on display for all to see.
By the end of the
lay Macbeth had become a butcher, killing at will, to suit himself, with no
feeling and little compassion for others.
From a loyal and brave soldier, he became too suspicious of people and
too trustworthy of the witches, he changed to a violent and obsessed man with
to great ambitions for his own good.
We first see lady
Macbeth is act 1 scene 5 as she reads her husbands letter. In this Macbeth
explains the situation and what has happened with the witches. At this point their relationship is very
close, sharing much with each other.
After reading the letter she says that he is
"Too full o'
the milk of human kindness"
to be able to
carry out the deed of a murder, so it is she that must persuade him and use
"the valour
of my tongue"
to do so. She is confident of herself and that she can
even control Macbeth to do what she wants.
When she hears that the king comes to their castle that night she sees
that opportunity for completing Macbeths ambition and making him king. She starts to make plans of what she will do,
and asks the spirits to 'unsex her' and
'"fill me
from crown to toe top-full of direst cruelty"
so she can evilly
plot and help murder Duncan.
We can see her
very dark side here, her almost violent way of talking and plotting, she really
is the fiend we will be told about. When
Macbeth comes she praises and congratulates him for his new title and says he
is still worthy of more - to be king.
She tells him to welcome Duncan into their castle, but to
'Look like the
innocent flower but be like the serpent under it'.
Later, in scene 7
Macbeth changes his mind about the killing of Duncan, and she breaks into a
rage, she insults him, calls him a coward, brings into question his
manhood. She says that she would have
murder a child feeding at her breast rather than breaking a promise as Macbeth
has done. Again she shows her cruelty
with use of such evil and horrific language. With this Macbeth agrees to murder
the king.
After the murder
they are both very tense and Lady Macbeth relies on drink to calm herself. She takes charge of the situation and also
says that she would have killed Duncan herself is he had not resembled her
sleeping father. This shows that maybe
she is not as cruel and unfeeling as she wants to makes out or she has weakness
to do with images of other loved ones.
At the sight of
the dead body of Duncan she pretends to faint, showing she can act and put on a
different 'face' in front of others.
We do not see her
for a while, and when we do, she is having disturbed dreams and cannot
sleep. Her relationship with Macbeth is
becoming worse as he does not tell her his plans to murder Banquo.
When Macbeth sees
Banquos ghost she tries to reassure guests and make excuses for him, again
showing her talents at acting and hiding things. Macbeth does also not tell his wife about the
murder of Macduff family and their relationship is breaking rapidly.
By act five Lady
Macbeth is walking in her sleep, and constantly re-lives the night of the
murder. the doctor says he cannot cure
her. By this stage her character has
changed from being a ruthless, cruel and evil person to being slightly
'innocent' losing through her madness the evil in her. She soon kills herself "by self and
violent hands". This makes us
slightly sympathetic with her, as we were with Macbeth.
Macbeth does end
up a butcher, but Lady Macbeth seems to change from a fiend to a mad and quite
innocent woman.
No comments:
Post a Comment