Explore Shakespeare s presentation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and their moral dilemma from the opening
William Shakespeare wrote ‘Macbeth’, the famous ‘Scottish play’, around 1606. ... Religion was an integral part of every English person’s life. ... James was very interested in witchcraft, which features heavily in the play, and was also a direct descendent of Fleance, Banquo’s son, which is how he inherited his throne. In the actual, historical story, Banquo helped plan Duncan’s murder, but in the play James is complimented, as Banquo is a good character. The play tells the story of Macbeth, a brave, loyal soldier and Thane of Glamis. ... When he becomes Thane of Cawdor, his ambition removes all reason from him, and he plots, persuaded by his wife, to kill the current king, King Duncan. The fight between good and evil is always apparent in the play, and I intend to explore his in detail in this essay. ... Shakespeare may have decided to open the play with this scene because it instantly gets the audience interested in the story and wanting to know more about the characters we learn about from the witches. ... The witches mention Macbeth is this scene, which might make you suspicious about Macbeth, but seeing as we are not sure whether the witches are good or evil, this is also uncertain. We do know however, that Macbeth won’t be killed in the battle, and will meet with the witches in the future. Our views of Macbeth are changed in Act One, Scene Two. The audience learns that Macbeth has been particularly brave on the battlefield, being victorious in battles against Macdonald, the Scottish rebel, and the Norwegians respectively. It could be said that Macbeth is a little bloodthirsty, from the description we are given as to how Macdonald was killed: - “Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements” Macdonald was sliced from the navel to under the chin; his head removed, and impaled on the battlements. It could certainly not be suggested that Macbeth is afraid of the sight of blood here, which is interesting when we compare this to how he reacts when seeing Duncan’s blood, I will discuss this further later. The injured Captain relays the news of Macbeth’s victory to the king, speaking of Macbeth very highly: - “For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name! ... King Duncan compliments Macbeth greatly by suggesting that he is a member of the Royal family: - “O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman!” Whilst in Act One, Scene One the audience may have been suspicious of Macbeth, Shakespeare now writes so that they respect him as a brave a loyal soldier. It is important to note that in this scene Duncan is told that the Thane of Cawdor has been a traitor and therefore pronounces Macbeth the new Thane of Cawdor:- “No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth” The first time we actually meet Macbeth is in Act One, Scene Three. We also learn that the witches are evil, from their dialogue at the beginning of the scene. One of the witches is refused a chestnut by a sailor’s wife. ... They also remove the ship pilot’s thumb, so that he will find it difficult to steer the ship. It is at this point that Macbeth arrives and is told the witches’ prophecies. ... Although Macbeth already is Thane of Cawdor, he doesn’t yet know this, so Shakespeare is using dramatic irony here. Initially Macbeth is unsure about the witches prophesies, but he wants to find out more and asks the witches to stay, “Stay you imperfect speakers! ... Although he is unbelieving, he makes a lot of demands on the witches, for example, he asks them where they got their information from, “Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence!” When Ross enters and informs Macbeth that he is now Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth does not believe it. ... After this confirmation, Macbeth is quick to believe that it is the witches’ intervention that has caused this. ... ” Whilst it could be suggested that Macbeth is a little gullible for believing the witches at all, he does try to rationalise the situation which could suggest to the audience that he is actually quite intelligent. Macbeth does contemplate killing Duncan so as to ‘take over’ as king of Scotland, his murderous thoughts are fuelled by the witches’ prophecies, but this unnerves him:- “My thought, whose murder is but fantastical, shakes my single state of man.” In Act One, Scene Four, Duncan meets Macbeth, addressing him as a brave a loyal soldier. This is obvious irony, as just a scene earlier, Macbeth was thinking of murdering Duncan, which could hardly be considered as loyal. ... Malcolm has become another obstacle, in the way of Macbeth’s ambition. This instils yet more anger and greed in Macbeth, so his murderous thoughts return, but this time Malcolm is the victim:- “The Prince of Cumberland, that is a step on which I must fall down, or else O’er leap, For in my way it lies.” Macbeth doesn’t show these feelings though. ... ” This is also an example of light and dark imagery, which Shakespeare often uses to represent good and evil. It could be suggested that if God is represented by light, Macbeth is saying here that he doesn’t want even God to see his evil thoughts. This scene ends with Macbeth inviting Duncan to his castle. ... We first meet Lady Macbeth in Act One, Scene Five.