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In the final speech of the play, Malcolm describes the Macbeths as “this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen”. Is this the whole story?
During the play, the Macbeths’ behaviour sometimes fits in with Malcom’s description of them as a “butcher” and “fiend-like” yet this does not paint the full picture; their characters are not as unwaveringly cruel as this quotation suggests. Their cruelty can be seen on many occasions, for example, when Macbeth orders Macduff’s children and wife to be killed even though they are innocent.
Although the Macbeths commit many crimes both of them still have some “milk of human kindness” left in them, demonstrably when they doubt their own actions. Macbeth cries “I'll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done” after he murders Duncan, the king, a man he previously had great loyalty towards. This quotation shows that Macbeth refuses to commit any similar acts and is also hiding from the truth by fearing to acknowledge what he has just done .
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Throughout the play, the audience experiences varying degrees of sympathy towards Macbeth and his wife which affects their overall perception of these two characters.
The title includes the word “butcher” which can be interpreted in a number of different ways. It could refer to a type of killing without personal motive or killing animals dispassionately as a profession through which one would get paid. This alludes to the fact that Macbeth is carrying out work for the witches and his wife with prestige and personal ambition as his motivation.
The reason Lady Macbeth wants to kill the king is because she sees this as an opportunity to increase their wealth and become more powerful. This highlights the fact that she has a motive and therefore is killing for a reason. It does, however, disprove the fact that she and her husband are “butchers” because when they kill it is with a clear motive in mind. The witches, on the other hand, do not have a clear motive and it is unclear as to why they want to corrupt Macbeth or what they will gain from doing so.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth fights and risks his life in battle for his country and king demonstrating loyalty and is ready to give his own life in order to defend his king and country. He also has a very close relationship with the king and is friendly with him. The quote “he unseam'd him from the nave to the chops” shows how vicious Macbeth is in order to protect his king by showing his brutality and dedication in battle as he cuts his enemies in half. Although he is being shown here in a very violent way, this bloodthirstiness is only directed towards the enemies of his king. When Macbeth says “Let your highness command upon me, to which my duties are with a most indissoluble tie forever knit” it further reinforces his loyalty. Macbeth mentions “indissoluble ties forever knit” which suggests that his loyalty is indestructible and everlasting. This is in stark contrast to what he is about to do next, planning to kill his beloved king. Of course, this unexpected change in character does not happen without reason; many external factors affect Macbeth’s decision making. One of these factors is the witches who so drastically change his mind. Their influence on Macbeth makes his previous statements almost ironic since his everlasting faithfulness dissolves after their foreshadowings
Perhaps the most significant external factor to Macbeth is the influence of the witches, who are a supernatural and mysterious force within the play. They are introduced in the first scene and they play a key part in Macbeth’s transformation by giving him foreshadowings such as “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” He feels obliged to adhere to these predictions and this leads him to his otherwise unexpected actions. For example, the witches’ first prediction is “All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!” and after that happens he believes he needs to do everything in order to accomplish their second prediction of becoming king. He does this because the the witches exhibit superhuman powers such as disappearing “Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted”. This quotation also has another implied meaning: it shows how Macbeth’s principle of loyalty, something which was solid and strong, has dissolved after being influenced by the witches. Macbeth was written in a time in history when people strongly believed in supernatural forces of evil. This can also be seen after Macbeth first meets the witches. The way he speaks immediately changes to a different tone, echoing the witches, emphasizing his utter dedication towards their foreshadowings.“Speak, if you can: what are you?” is contrasted with “Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more”. The sentence “All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!” highlights the main aspects of the witches’ language: It is simple, straight to the point, factual and comes in the form of short and abrupt clauses. After meeting the witches, Macbeth immediately wants to know more and starts thinking in a very logical and determined way, attempting to figure out what he will need to do to become king.
In addition to the witches’ predictions Macbeth is also pressured by his wife. She plots to raise Macbeth to a higher political position by being “the serpent under’t” and helping kill the king. The reference to the serpent points towards the story of Adam and Eve where the serpent lures Eve into eating the apple. This reference compares Adam to Macbeth as they are both convinced into committing actions they would not otherwise do. This plan presents itself as Macbeth is searching for a way to kill the king after he hears the witches’ glimpses into the future. At first he says he will "proceed no further” because he believes there must be another way to achieve the same goal, or by remaining passive it will be given to him as his thaneship of Cawdor was. Or perhaps he is satisfied with his current position in addition to the realization that the murderous work required to achieve that end is too morally taxing. We see this because he hesitates on numerous occasions, searching for a way that does not involve bloodshed. However, he does not find an alternative. His searching shows that he still has some kindness remaining in him. Eventually his wife convinces him otherwise after she says he will “live a coward” and by doing so forces him to prove her wrong in order to maintain his honour.
As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth becomes indirectly responsible for more and more deaths, for example King Duncan and Macduff’s children. After King Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth says “My hands are of your colour” to Macbeth, to try and convince him that she is complicit in this act. However, she goes on to say, “But I shame to wear a heart so white.” The use of “a heart so white” suggests that Macbeth is not acting as bravely as Lady Macbeth wants him to because he fails to frame the grooms after the murder, as requested by her. She proceeds to say “A little water clears us of this deed”, implying that a murder can be washed away and forgotten. This demonstrates that the murder has had very little psychological impact on her. The weight of her guilt shows later on in the play in her erratic behavior as she slowly goes insane. This fall into madness is shown in Act 5 Scene 1 when Lady Macbeth is caught sleepwalking and repeatedly trying to wash out a “damned spot” which alludes to King Duncan’s blood. This echoes Macbeth’s plea that “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand” but Lady Macbeth took a much longer time to become aware of her irreversible actions, and subsequent guilt. The fact that she goes insane and cannot control herself makes Malcolm’s accusation of Lady Macbeth being a “fiend-like queen” not completely accurate as it demonstrates that she is capable of feeling guilt and is more humane than at the beginning of the play.
Similarly to Lady Macbeth, her husband also crumbles into insanity although in a slightly different way. After he kills the king, he becomes very protective of his position and this drives him into committing unforgivable acts such as commanding his friend’s child to be killed since he perceives him as a threat. Before becoming king, Macbeth trusted the witches’ predictions but now he changes his mind and is trying to prevent them from happening rather than encouraging them. This can be seen in his commands to the murderers: “Fleance his son, that keeps him company, whose absence is no less material to me than is his father's, must embrace the fate of that dark hour.” In this statement, Macbeth is attempting to create a new form of “fate” for Fleance to replace the witches foreshadowings .This is similar to how his loyalty to the king completely reverses. On the other hand, unlike his wife, he feels guilt right after killing the king to an extent where he does not carry out the plan fully. This shows that he realizes that this type of cowardly killing is incorrect and inhumane.
Macbeth’s guilt is shown using another supernatural occurrence: the appearance of a ghost only he can see. This is shown when Macbeth says that “the table's full” but Lennox suggests that there “is a place reserved, sir.” Lady Macbeth explains this abnormality to the others at the table as a “fit” and assures them that it “is momentary; upon a thought he will again be well.” This event isolates him from the real world because he can no longer perceive what is real and what is false. This breaks up his logical characteristics and further demonstrates his guilt. The fact that he does not completely lose control of himself, unlike his wife, suggests that he has a stronger character and is more resilient. It also indicates that he is less humane because he learns to cope with his previous actions more successfully than Lady Macbeth does.
As the play nears its ending, the general impression the reader gets from the Macbeths is of a misguided and lost husband with a wife who has gone mad from the guilt of the murders she requested for her own personal benefit. Macbeth’s misguidedness is demonstrated most vividly when his relationship with the witches’ predictions changes drastically. Initially, Macbeth does everything in his power to make the foreshadowings happen but later on in the play, once he becomes king and his belief in the words of the witches remains strong, he attempts to to stop them from happening in order to remain king. Due to the many influences that act upon Macbeth, calling him a butcher is not entirely accurate as his actions are heavily influenced by outside sources.. However, Lady Macbeth’s character is completely different to that of her husband: early in the play, she displays “fiend-like” qualities when using her husband to satisfy the ambitious side of her character. Definitively classing Lady Macbeth as a fiend would be inaccurate as her personality changes later in the play. She is reduced to madness after her guilt takes hold of her; these feelings of guilt counteract Malcolm’s description of her being a fiend. The varying forms of madness that they have succumbed to indicate that they are not merely “butchers” or “fiends” but instead have human qualities that they are unable to get past.
William Shakespeare's Play: Analysis Of The State Of Mind Of Macbeth. (2024, Feb 22). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/william-shakespeares-play-analysis-of-the-state-of-mind-of-macbeth-essay
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