"Yet birth, and lust, and illness, and death are changeless things, and when one of these harsh facts springs out upon a man at some sudden turn of the path of life, it dashes off for the moment his mask of civilization and gives a glimpse of the stranger and stronger face below." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Write a formal response using the above quote to analyze Macbeth and his "path of life" Discuss his path at the beginning of the drama, the murder of Duncan, his appetite to destroy any challenge to him and the end of the novel. Oh, and don't forget those witches.
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Macbeth was once an honorable man. He possesed no desire to commit morally corrupt crimes such as the murder of a child or to commit treason upon a friend. After Macbeth's encounter with the witches, his state of mind was altered to the point where killing the king was not out of the question. In the events following the regicide, the reader is exposed to a new Macbeth. It is obvious that Macbeth's mind is becomming more comfortable with the notion of murder and deception. Macbeth has been exposed to death and illness. He is sick with a raging lust for power and is forever changed by it. Macbeth's transformation will prove to be his downfall, beacause when one becomes entranced by feelings, they will blind them and keep reality out of sight.
Can fate destroy a life? Macbeth’s fate destroyed his life and others. If the witches did not tell Macbeth that he will become king, then maybe Macbeth would not murder so many innocent people. After the witches told Macbeth that he will be king, Macbeth killed king Duncan of Scotland. However, Macbeth was persuaded by his wife, Lady Macbeth, to kill Duncan. She was the cold hearted figure in the beginning of this story. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth was still determined that he is the only one to be king. To stay king, he had to eliminate his dear friend Banquo. After the murder of Banquo, Macbeth became more evil and did not want anyone to get in his way. In the end, Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s fate caught up to them. Lady Macbeth committed suicide and Macbeth was killed in a life and death battle. Maybe Macbeth should have never found out he would be king and none of this would have ever happened.
Before Macbeth’s life as a king, he was once able to feel emotion and the true character he was. When Macbeth entered his life from the witch’s terms he lost all his sense of morality. When the witches told him of his future it corrupted his mind into thinking this is what he truly will be. After his first step towards his inevitability (the killing of Duncan) he has his last glimpse of the truth that he had held. After the death had corrupted his thoughts he felt that nothing else could slow him down, so all must fall before him. He felt this was his true self so all must be the truth. When in total control he had nothing to gain but all to loose. He was a self made bomb ready to erupt at any moment. Only he himself could create and destroy what he had created.
This quote illusrates that all humans have certain desires and needs but there are some actions that are not made by all humans. The action in the novel that Macbeth takes unlike many other humans was the murder of Duncan. He started out a powerful man yet as he murdered one man and enjoyed the result of this action he felt the desire for more. This desire caused more murders and eventually led to Macbeth showing his true colors. The reader was able to understand that Macbeth may have started out as a good man but as he started to murder he knew of nothing else. Macbeth's "stranger and stonger face below" was conveyed as he murdered the many people to reach the top.
Macbeth demonstrated a drastic transformation in character. In the beginning of the play, there was no way Macbeth craved drawing the blood of the honorable King Duncan or the wife and children of Macduff. After his ill-minded wife recieved his letter mentioning his meeting with the Wierd Sisters, Macbeth's mind was overcome with malice but his heart felt an overwhelming sense of guilt regading the crimes he was about to commit. As Macbeth rose in the ranks, his heart no longer felt remorse for his irrational decisions. He had become King and in place of Duncan, a respectable man who everyone had admired. Proving to be a complete coward, Macbeth went on to kill Macduff's wife and children while Macduff was not home. Inevitabely, Macbeth's hunger for ultimate power was what killed him.
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. Going along with the three witches’ prophecies, Macbeth assumes that he will be king someday according to things that already happened that matches the witches’ predictions. Macbeth is a victim of the witches’ deception and his own ambition. At first, I thought Macbeth is a brave, noble and loyal man. But after he heard the three witches prophecies, Macbeth have the ambition to take over the throne from Duncan by murdering him. He plans out to murder Duncan with the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth. The capture of thane of Cawdor has claimed him the title of the new thane of cawdor. Macbeth’s ambition has made the downfall of him. At the beginning he seems to be a great, brave, noble and loyal thane. For his desire to be king, hes willing to turn his back on what he knows to be right.
Can changes in ones life really make an impact on their life? In Macbeth’s situation it does. Macbeth was once known as a hero. His actions helped him show that he was loyal and important to his country. He showed emotion toward his wife and friends but when he murdered the king of Scotland, Duncan, it seemed as his morals just disappeared into thin air. But what made him commit such atrocious events? As Macbeth approached the witches before the murder of Duncan, they corrupted his mind by telling him some day he is going to be this big almighty powerful man. There is no question in Macbeth’s mind that would change his thought of killing Duncan. His wife Lady Macbeth doesn’t help his situation as she pursues him to go on with the murder. Throughout life we set goals to reach and look forward to. Once those goals are reached we set new ones. In Macbeth’s case his goal in life was to become more powerful then he already was. Macbeth is becoming comfortable with the fact that he can kill anyone in order to get what he wants; he has been exposed to death and illness. His sickness is the brawl for further power. These changes in his life will prove to the readers that his downfall was caused by the transformations that he made. Only himself could create and destroy what he had become.
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