Macbeth Essay

“Macbeth is a cold blooded murderer who does not deserve our sympathy”

Macbeth seems to have lost all senses of what is right and wrong in order to become a man of power. The immorality displayed in the murders and associate murders of Duncan, Banquo and Macduff were second to none. The fact Macbeth noted his own deterioration made his behaviour seem sightly easier to come to terms with. Which raises the question of how someone may react to Macbeth’s methods and reasoning.

Macbeth is renowned as a brave, loyal and courageous soldier in the castle of Inverness. He is a positive and successful man in battle who is rarely scarred by the intensity of the war. Consider the three prophecies of the witches, “All hail thee, thane of Cawdor” “all hail thee, thane of Glamis” “for he shall be the king hereafter”. These statements may have made Macbeth think differently in terms of how he should act to make sure the predictions went as planned and therefore become King. I feel this made Macbeth power hungry and the fact that it made him think about the chance of gaining power went to his head and he lost all senses of what’s right and wrong. Once Macbeth realised that becoming king is quite in the realms of possibility, with the persuasion of his wife, he decided to pursue his quest for royalty. “My thought whose murder is yet fantastical” clearly illustrates his ruthless determination; he is suspicious, alert to possible betrayal by Banquo and keen to share his good fortune with his wife.

Later in the piece Macbeth had an even greater hunger for power and his mindset became more fixed on his goal. Once Macbeth’s courage was questioned by Lady Macbeth, there was no doubt in his mind that he was to go ahead and become the next king.

Once Macbeth has decided he is going to proceed with the murder of Duncan he is feeling reckless and ruthless. The fact that Macbeth has a second thought before killing Duncan gets the point across that although Macbeth may appear a...