Macbeth Essay - Heroes

“Macbeth is a play without a hero.” Discuss.                                                                              

A hero is a person who is admired for courage or noble qualities. Shakespeare’s Macbeth does not essentially have a “hero”, but instead a “tragic hero”, which is a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. Many factors contribute to Macbeth’s description as a tragic hero. He is a victim of inevitable fate; his judgment is influenced and manipulated by Lady Macbeth, and his ambition drives his desire to be king. Macbeth's growing character degenerates from a noble man to violent individual.

Macbeth himself is a tragic hero because he is a victim of preordained fate. This is shown in Act 1, Scene 3, when three “weird sisters” appear. They call Macbeth “thane of Glamis”, “thane of Cawdor” and “king hereafter”. This incremental chant builds tension in the scene for the possibilities of Macbeth’s future.

In Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth goes to the three “weird sisters”, demanding a prophesy. The sisters answer Macbeth’s demands by showing him the future, but in a cryptic way. There is a certain doom implied in the witches’ prophecies. The first apparition is that of an armed head, which warns him to "beware Macduff", the second is a bloody child who eerily says that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth"; the third is a crowned child, who says “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” Macbeth accepts the prophesies with confidence, not expecting any harm from these cryptic apparitions. In Act V, Macbeth is told that Birnam Wood is moving against him, his Queen has taken her own life, and lastly, Macduff informs him that he is not of "woman born" but was "from my mother's womb untimely ripp'd." This results in Macbeth’s downfall, tragically beheaded by Macduff, becoming a victim of preordained fate.

The prophecies which were told by the sisters are one of the factors which contributed to the deterioration of his character. If it had not been for the sisters telling him that he was to be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and King of Scotland, Macbeth would still be his ordinary self with driving ambition. As a result of the prophecies, this provoked Macbeth's curiosity regarding how he could be King of Scotland. As the play progresses, Macbeth slowly relies on the witches prophecies to influence, manipulate and corrupt his character.

The influence and manipulation of Lady Macbeth also contributes to the degeneration of Macbeth’s character. In Act 1, Scene 5, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that King Duncan will be staying with them that night. Lady Macbeth sees this as a perfect opportunity to influence and manipulate Macbeth into becoming King, and, in her view, a true man.

Lady Macbeth plays an important role in this production as she provides the scheme that is used to assassinate King Duncan.  She is very provoking to Macbeth, saying that he is as easy to read as a book and that he must “look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” This is a biblical reference as “the serpent” represents cunning, deceiving and sly character, which is exactly what Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to be like. She says to “leave all the rest to me” showing her control upon the scheme. After Macbeth had killed King Duncan as planned, he later regrets his wrong doing. Macbeth's first unlawful murder was a trying experience for him, however after the first murder; killing seems to be the only solution to maintain his reign over the people of Scotland. Therefore, it is Lady Macbeth who introduced the concept of unlawful murder to Macbeth.

It is Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition” that drives him to commit the deed of killing King Duncan, but it is Lady Macbeth’s influence and manipulation that provokes his ambition to be King.

Macbeth's ambition influences the development of his character, which contained greed, violence, and a hunger for power. Macbeth shows this when he kills King Duncan.

Macbeth's ambition also influences his character as a tragic hero. Ambition is a trait that is mentioned throughout the play in relation to Macbeth, and is the trait that directly leads him to try to become king, being the driving force of both his success and his downfall. Macbeth's tragic flaw is his greed for power, blinding ambition and naiveté. He does not think about the consequences of killing King Duncan. This lust for power leads him to kill innocent people as a way to protect his power.

Once Macbeth starts his reign in an unlawful manner, all things that follow only become worse, and make him full of guilt and insanity, which he is responsible for.  This then leads Lady Macbeth to kill herself because of her isolation whilst he was trying to fulfil his ambitions and power. Macbeth’s false sense of security and conviction that nothing will harm him blinds him from the witches’ prophecies' and so he dies.

Generally, tragedy shows it is impossible to reverse problems. Macbeth realises his flaw is ambition, he cannot work to reverse the problems he has caused and this eventually leads to his death as a tragic hero.

Being a victim of preordained fate, Lady Macbeth's influence and manipulation, and his intensified ambition, all contribute greatly to Macbeth’s degeneration of character, which results in his downfall and death. Therefore, Macbeth’s character displays strong signs of a tragic hero, making him the ideal tragic hero shown in most Shakespearean plays.

Macbeth Essay - Witches

To what extent are the witches to blame for the Tragedy of Macbeth?

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is first shaped by the witches, although they are not the sole reason leading to the tragic ending of Macbeth. To a certain degree, the witches can be blamed for the tragedy, although the blame can easily fall amongst Macbeth’s ambitious nature, and Lady Macbeth’s profound influence on Macbeth.  Overall, the witches play an important role in the tragedy, but the blame cannot be purely placed on the witches as there are the other factors involved in the play, causing the tragic ending.

The witches bring forth the initial events in the play, although as the play develops the witches’ influence on Macbeth deteriorates, meaning the witches cannot be held fully accountable for the tragedy of Macbeth. Macbeth first encounters the witches in scene three. In this scene, the witches state “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/All Hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter,” foretelling what will happen in the play. The witches in this scene have only given Macbeth a glimpse of what could be, playing to his weakness of ambition. In Shakespeare’s time, ‘weird women’ were known to not be trusted as they were seen as evil. To blame the events that occurred solely on the witches, after their meeting would be unfair, as Macbeth should have known not to trust the witches. Their riddles should have been an indication to not let them manipulate him into taking his destiny into his own hands. Being proclaimed Thane of Cawdor it should have been a sign that the predictions can happen without intervention being necessary.  The witches can be blamed for   giving Macbeth the idea, but they never made him take the actions. Macbeth had thought about killing the king “If good, why I yield to that suggestion” immediately after he was pronounced Thane of Cawdor, thus the witches never made him take action on his“ black and deep desires.” The witches spoke Macbeth’s inner most thought; they are almost his personified thoughts, making his thoughts a reality, giving Macbeth an excuse to act on his ambitions. The witches can only be blamed to a small extent for the tragedy, they can only be blamed for giving Macbeth the idea and the hope of being King that lead to the tragedy, not forgetting Lady Macbeth’s influence that drives the play towards disaster.

Lady Macbeth’s strong influence on Macbeth is the catalyst that unleashes the evil plans planted by the witches in Macbeth’s mind, meaning she must be blamed to more of an extent than the witches for helping Macbeth act on his ambitions. Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth “is too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” to complete the deed. The imagery of milk, often associated with babies, highlights the innocence of Macbeth, which by the end of the play has been completely drained from him. Lady Macbeth takes it upon herself to spur Macbeth on as she is his personified ambition, she is what gets Macbeth to take the first the leap that turns Macbeth into the monster, and as his ambition leads to his down fall, she also is led to her downfall. By manipulating his feelings, “And live a coward in thine own esteem,”, “When you durst do it, then you were a man”, and questioning his manliness for not wanting to commit the dead, Lady Macbeth convinces him to kill the king. The blame for killing the king, although it seems to be her fault, is not the only reason of for the tragedy as towards the end of the play their communication breaks down, and so does their relationship. By the relationship breaking down, Lady Macbeth’s significance and role in the play dramatically reduces, and the audience sees her appearing less frequently in scenes. Lady Macbeth has been excluded from the rest of the events and plans of murder. This means that the other events that strip Macbeth of his humanity, and make him reliant of the riddles of the witches, giving him a false sense of security, are other factors in which Lady Macbeth herself has no part. Lady Macbeth can only be blamed for triggering the first event, although Macbeth did not have to follow through. She can be blamed more than the witches for manipulating him further, forcing more ideas upon Macbeth, and being the bigger influence, but she cannot be blamed to a large extent either, as she and the witches both playing equal roles that sway Macbeth, but ultimately Macbeth must take responsibility for his own actions.

The witches cannot be blamed, nor Lady Macbeth, for Macbeth himself acting on his ambition and making his desires become reality. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth acknowledges his ambition as being a fatal flaw, stating, “I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent” using the imagery of horses to state “but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself/ And falls on the other”. This explains that his ambition is what drives him onwards, although it will jump too far, and crash down, foreshadowing his own tragic ending where his ambition leads to his eventual downfall. Throughout the play Macbeth also recognises what he has done, acknowledging “I am in blood/ Steeped in so far that, should I wade no more/ Returning were as tedious as go o’er”. He feels that after killing Duncan, then Banquo and finally Macduff's family, he can never go back, and return the person who had morality, and fought for Scotland rather than himself. Rather he must keep moving forward, even though he knows it is wrong, because his ambition continuously drives him forward. In his recognition of his deeds and knowledge that he will keep pushing, takes the blame away from the witches and Lady Macbeth as he has acknowledged himself that the events in the play are caused by his own hands, and the blood must remain on his hands as he gave into his immorality. Macbeth solely must take responsibility for the tragic ending. The blame can only be shared to a degree, as the actions of actually committing murder, and causing blood shed all come down to Macbeth’s rather extreme actions caused by ambition.

The witches give Macbeth ideas and hope the fulfilment for his inner most desires, whilst Lady Macbeth pushes for the desires to become a reality. Therefore, to a small extent, the witches can be blamed for giving him the idea, just as Lady Macbeth can be blamed for manipulating him into doing it. Ultimately the blame is placed on Macbeth for acting on desires and ambition, leading to the tragedy of Macbeth.