FREE ESSAY ON MACBETH ANALYSIS

MACBETH ANALYSIS

"To Know My Deed, 'Twere Best Not Know Myself"
How was it possible for such an admirable and noble man, so established in society, to
fall so greatly into a dilemma, full of murderous plots and deceit? In William
Shakespeare's Macbeth, the idea of one character becoming both victim and villain is
introduced. Macbeth falls prey to others' deception, and is supplanted with greed and
hate when he is tricked by three witches. When told that he is going to be King of
Scotland, Macbeth does whatever he can to ensure his prophecy. In Macbeth's quest for
power, he gains a flaw that ends in a deteriorated relationship with Lady Macbeth, and
his eventual defeat.
"All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!" (I.iii.50) The three witches, with
their "prophetic greeting" (I.iii.78) gear Macbeth's drive for power. They embody the
supernatural element of this tragedy. With their imperfect predictions, they play on
Macbeth's security and nourish the seed of his tragic flaw, which flourishes in their
manipulative prophecies and drives him into becoming the King of Scotland. But the
Scottish aristocracy comprises of King Duncan, his two princes Malcolm and Donalbain, and
various other thanes and nobles, including Macbeth's friend, Banquo. His desire for
position on the throne overrides his respect for the King and his own dignity, leading
Macbeth to slaughter him, and murder all those who serve as obstacles in his treacherous
pursuit of the throne. 
"Yet I do fear thy nature. It is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the
nearest way. Thou wouldst be great; art not without ambition, but without the illness
should attend it." (I.v.16-20) In the beginning, Lady Macbeth has a kind of power over
Macbeth that she can only achieve through his devotion to her. She adds to his false
sense of security, and Macbeth confides in her and lets her persuade him. As the
murderous plots drag on, he loses his will to speak in confidence to her. As with Banquo,
Macbeth no longer looks to him as an ally, but rather a hurdle that he must defeat in
order to fulfill the divination that the witches have cast. Banquo is near enough to draw
blood, and like a menacing swordsman, his mere presence threatens Macbeth's existence
(III.i.115-117).
Macbeth is not sufficiently cultivated in good or evil to gather poise for all occasions;
thus he experiences difficulty in sleeping, he uses rhetoric inadequately in the presence
of others when disturbed, and even resorts to improbability. "That tears shall drown the
wind. I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which
o'erleaps itself and falls on the other..." (I.vii.25-28) Macbeth has a conscience that
plagues him throughout the story, prohibiting him from forgetting all he knows that is
right. But again, the words of his wife, Lady Macbeth, supplied with the warped
foresights of the three witches, impels him to stay devoted to his utterly selfish ends.

Macbeth's fall from grace into sheer misery is truly tragic in it's nature. Even his
soliloquies, notable for magniloquence and marked by voluptuous word-painting, show more
the stages of his corruption than its causes - the need for action to cover his lack of
poise in awaiting developments and the need to stifle the moral imagination that 
enables him to foresee the consequences of his actions. Macbeth was simply a weak soul
that had been unfairly hoaxed.