Macbeth's Descent Into Evil

After this previously described battle, Macbeth is approached by the witches and they chant, “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!” (Shakespeare 1.3.51-70). At first, Macbeth is confused but, since the witches are telling him that he will soon obtain these titles, he becomes curious. Sure enough, he becomes Thane of Cawdor after the previous one is executed. Literary critic, Anthony Dimatteo, explains the notion that the witches are not capable of changing the future or expressing future events as fact by stating, “Witches are only capable of seeing what is likely to happen...Macbeth's moral downfall begins when he forgets this boundary and begins seeing the witches as having the power to define life's course” (DiMatteo). Macbeth begins to see the witches as beings who outline his life’s actual path and realizes that he will become king. This is when he takes matters into his own hands and kills the current king, Duncan, in order to secure his place on the throne. After committing this first atrocity, Macbeth is placed on a road of increasing violence and goes on a rampage, killing all who stand in his path to glory and ultimate

A guilty conscience can make anyone go mad it they let it. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is an ideal example of this. Macbeth, a noble of Scotland, lets his ambitions to be great and powerful get the best of him. His vaulting ambition makes him do terrible acts of violence continuously. The guilty conscience he holds on his back eventually becomes too heavy ultimately driving him insane. Greed and guilt cause the madness of this protagonist thus causing his downfall, not only as a King but also his life he strived so hard to make better.

William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” is a very violent and bloody play. In the exposition we see Macbeth on the Battlefield, as events unfold the violence worsens, as does Macbeth. After hearing the prophecies from the witches that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and “king hereafter”, Macbeth is appointed Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth becomes paranoid and almost excited that fate has been true to him, however Macbeth takes fate into his own hands and murders King Duncan. The murder haunts Macbeth and ultimately leads to his downfall. Although Macbeth caused his own demise, Lady Macbeth and the witches have a role in bringing Macbeth to ruins. Lady Macbeth has considerable influence in Macbeth’s life and she persuades him to do the deed. The

The actions of a person whom has lost their humanity can be described as, evil. Whereas

right to rule directly from God”, as J Schapiro states in “Divine Rights of Kings.” (Schapiro 198)

At first, their downfall begins with the temptation of power, and it consumes their thoughts and blinds their reasoning to think logically. This first shows when Ross and Angus announce Macbeth as the new Thane of Cawdor. The thoughts about the predictions being unbelievable then, become prophecies waiting to happen. As seen when Macbeth whispers to himself, “Glamis, and thane of Cawdor:/The greatest is behind…” (I.iii.116). As a result, his thoughts stray from his loyalty to King Duncan, to taking Duncan’s place. Then, when Lady Macbeth reads the letter from Macbeth, making her husband take the throne became her goal. As when Lady Macbeth says, “…All that impeds thee from the golden round, / which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem/ to have

In this story, Macbeth is a tragic hero due to his status in the beginning and his downfall at the end. A tragic hero is a hero whose downfall was caused by one or multiple of his character flaws. A classical tragic hero may have a singular bad aspect, and Macbeth's was his arrogance. At the beginning of the play, he was known as this great general who cares about the people and is loved by all. But, he had Lady Macbeth and the witches to ruin that for him. The witches and Lady Macbeth highlighted that single bad aspect of Macbeth and pushed it out of him, resulting in his corruption as a leader.

Macbeth explores the nature of evil by the gradual change in the environment and the people within the play. Various factors of individuals, society and politics and supernatural themes contribute to the nature of evil. Individuals and Supernatural influences cause Macbeth to become king of Scotland and his reign affects social and political factors.

In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the corrupt nature of humankind creates a basis for Macbeth’s downfall. It shows how his desire to have power and become king ultimately destroys him. The nature of evil in Shakespeare’s play comes from the immoral actions of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and the witches. This evil starts with only an influence; however, Shakespeare shows that evil truly originates in ones own heart. There are multiple outside influences that drive Macbeth into insanity, such as the witches. They plant diabolical ideas into Macbeth’s head and these ideas become reality when Lady Macbeth turns an idea into an action. Evil functions as a linear progression beginning with one action which leads to another then to another

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is shown to be a brave, virtuous man. However, after the weird sisters’ prophecy that Macbeth is soon to be the Thane of Cawdor and “...shalt become king hereafter” (1.3.48), Macbeth allows his curiosity and greed to slowly override his own morality. Prior to his murder of King Duncan, Macbeth comes to the realization that his only motive for murder is his own ambition and greed. Macbeth states:

     Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a recognized classic tragedy portraying the victory of good over evil. This paper will explore the various expressions of evil within the play.

     Macbeth by William Shakespeare represents unrelenting evil from beginning to end. Who is the most evil? What motivates the evil intentions and actions? This paper intends to answer these questions.

In the beginning Shakespeare's story, Macbeth is portrayed as a great man who risked his life for his country and his king. Indeed, he may seem to be a character of good worth, even better than the average man. As the plot thickens, he is told by the witches that he will be thane of Cawdor and king. Minutes after their prediction, Macbeth is announced thane of Cawdor for his heroic actions. After the first prediction becomes true, Macbeth takes matters into his own hands by murdering the king as well as many others in his desperate greed to get the crown and keep it. Macbeth's wife is also villainously scheming to help him.

Because Macbeth was soon named Thane of Cawdor--fulfilling the witches’ first prophecy--he begins to believe that he will also become king. In the beginning, Macbeth understands that his murderous thoughts are wrong and he decides to let fate take its own course. If he is meant to be king, he believes it will happen naturally; however, Lady Macbeth urges him to be more like a man and take the position he deserves. Although the witches performed no evil deeds, they planted the idea of royalty in Macbeth’s mind, and his wife watered the seed. Most likely, Macbeth never would have sought the Scottish throne if he had not received this prophecy. In addition, he decided to allow fate to run its course and not kill the king until his wife Lady Macbeth convinces him it is necessary for them to acquire power. As a result, Macbeth plots to kill King Duncan and seize his throne. While many tragedies of the time depicted deeds done in ignorance, Macbeth commits murder with full acceptance of its malevolence (Hibbs). Understandably, Macbeth feels conflicted about killing his king because he was once a loyal citizen. So ambitious to seize power, Macbeth is willing to commit any crime in order to become king. He knows that Duncan is a strong, faithful, ethical king; however, his ambition to fulfill the witches’ prophecy engulfs his morals and drives him to assassinate King Duncan in his sleep. The audience of the play knows the king’s murder is unjust

Robert Louis Stevenson, an author and poet, once wrote, “In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be, we are” (goodreads). This battle between good and evil is present in characters, and between characters throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Primarily, the thoughts that come to one’s mind, and the choices they make, causes many people to change from evil to good, or vice versa. A degrade in personality because of a series of unwise decisions is observed in the play as Macbeth, a noble and heroic character at the beginning of the story, changes into a tyrant hated by all. Furthermore, one of the main reasons why personalities are altered is because of external influences, and the effect they have on the decisions that person makes. For example, in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the three witches are the main external influences that lead to the destruction of the once heroic Macbeth, as they alter his perception of life, and trick him into making wrong decisions. Finally, along with external influences, the biggest motivation for change in a person is their own internal influences, and desires. In the play, it is clear that even though external influences like the witches affect the decisions Macbeth makes, it is his own ambition, his own hunger for power and wealth that turns him into a murderous tyrant.